Dying for Vengeance by J.M. West: Book Review

I took a chance on a new author this week because the topic intrigued me. I think I’m on a murder kick. Just kidding. But I do love a good cop fiction and thriller story every once in a while to review and this one fit the bill.

First in a series, this story holds a lot of promise. Check out my thoughts below.

Dying for Vengeance by J.M. West
Series: Carlisle Crime Cases
Publisher: Milford House Press (September 2, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1620064825

ABOUT:
Carlisle Homicide Detective Erin McCoy battles the jitters as the first woman in Homicide partnered with Senior Detective Christopher Snow. On their first case, they track a serial killer who’s stalking family members embroiled in an inheritance dispute. The perp dispatches his victims with toxic chemicals. As the detectives chase clues and connect the related victims, their mutual attraction blooms while she nurses him after a shooting incident. But sparks fly when FBI Special Agent Howard offers McCoy a job if she’ll train at Quantico. McCoy returns to Carlisle when she learns she has a rival for Snow’s affections.

Snow’s former partner, Reese Savage, returns to the CPD from Middle-East deployments expecting to resume their bachelor ways. Savage’s ire results in a PTSD spike while he’s tailing a suspect. In the interim, Chief March reassigns McCoy to the K9 Unit. When Mac becomes a target, she learns that she needs Chris to shove and shock her into life.

Review of Dying for Vengeance by J.M. West

This author has an interesting writing style from what I am used to seeing. Most of authors write in long complex sentences and this author writes in short sentences that are easy to read.

She also does not spend a lot of time on superfluous conversation or descriptive detail not pertinent to the story. I found I really liked that. I especially liked that when a conversation was occurring, it was not a long drawn out affair. Short, sweet, to the point, moving on.

The author focused on a great plot of multiple murders and the detectives working on solving the case. I love that this was also a romantic suspense as that also played a big part in the story.

One thing I did find was that there were parts of the story very difficult to follow. She used names that were extremely similar, which was a part of the storyline, but when you are trying to follow “who done it”, that made it very difficult. At one point, I was just wanting to get to the end and I don’t like that feeling.

I really enjoyed the main characters and the way that they worked together beautifully. They understood each other and the flow and the rhythm of their connection was smooth. I had wished for a little bit more romance in the beginning as that seemed very cut and dry. But overall I really like them together.

The last quarter of the book was a bit difficult, mainly from what I referenced above. However, we were thrown several surprises and the author managed to keep us on our toes a bit.

Overall the book was very interesting, good amount of suspense and thrills. But I felt the ending was a bit rushed and very convoluted. It left me feeling a little underwhelmed but she did leave the door open for future stories which I would definitely check out.

A fast-paced story loaded with engaging writing, thrills, sweet romance, and intrigue that will keep you guessing. 4 Stars

Disclaimer: Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free book out so she could evaluate and use it for this post. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.