Nancy Mehl’s Dead Fall is this week’s book for Reader Friday! This is a suspense book you won’t want to miss!
But first, the photo and verse. Can you tell I’m really having fun with the new camera? I had forgotten just how much fun (and hard work) it is to get the perfect photo. Not that I’ve achieved perfection or anything like that, but I’m loving the shots I’m getting. It took dragging a rocker from my porch to steady the camera on, but I finally captured a shot of the moon! I’ve tried and gotten closeups with my phone, but never like this. And the scripture just seemed to fit!
Now onto Dead Fall! Here’s the cover and back copy:
After facing the demons from her past, Alex Donovan is ready to move on and focus on her career at the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). When renowned profiler and BAU co-founder John Davis is found dead in his hotel room, the FBI is called in to work on the strangest case they’ve ever faced. How do you find a killer who murders his victims without touching them?
When it becomes clear that the killer is targeting agents in Alex’s unit, they are ordered into lockdown, sheltered in the dorms at Quantico. Alex bunks with a controversial agent, Kaely Quinn, who has returned after being dismissed three years earlier. As they work together, Alex discovers in Kaely the role model she’s never had, despite being warned away.
As Alex questions who she wants to become, things get personal when the brilliant killer strikes close to home. Now Alex will do anything to find the killer–even at the risk of her own life.
First Line: John Davis turned up the collar on his jacket as he swiftly walked away from the shrill voices bleeding through the hotel banquet hall behind him.
Oh, my goodness. Nancy Mehl’s Dead Fall kept me up the first night until 1 and the second night I read until 2 to find out who did it. What a surprise that was.
Dead Fall is the second book in the Quantico Files series and features Alex Donovan. Mehl does a great job portraying the work of the elite Behavioral Analysis Unit. I love the accurate way she shows what the BAU does! They don’t go out and solve crimes; instead, they create a profile of the perpetrator so the police can find him.
The case Alex Donovan is dealing with turns personal when the murderer tries to kill everyone associated with her unit. And that includes Kaely Quinn who has joined the unit. It was good to visit with Kaely again. I loved the earlier series she was in. And I’m anxious to see how the relationship between Alex and Logan Hart turns out.
The crime: someone is targeting successful BAU agents and every time team feels they have a viable analysis, the murderer changes his method of operation. This is a story with twists and turns and all kinds of surprises. If you’re looking for a book for your suspense reader this Christmas, this would make a perfect gift. You can find buy links here.
And Baker Books is running a sale–30% off with free shipping!! You can find Dead Fall here.
Your turn: What are you reading this week? Leave the first line in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a $10 gift card. (I may be a little late answering comments since I’m going to Ruby Falls for research!!)
Nancy Mehl's Dead Fall is this weeks Reader Friday book. It's one you won't want to miss! Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a November drawing for a $10 gift card! Click To TweetAnd if you have a suspense reader on your Christmas list, think about gifting them with a copy of Crosshairs, too (Or one of my other suspense books)!
Investigative Services Branch (ISB) ranger Ainsley Beaumont arrives in her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a three-month-pregnant teenager. While she wishes the visit was under better circumstances, she never imagined that she would become the killer’s next target–nor that she’d have to work alongside an old flame.
After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn’t bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly and unforeseen consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her. The only question is, will it be too little, too late?
Award-winning author Patricia Bradley continues her Natchez Trace Park Rangers series with a story about how good must prevail when evil just won’t quit.
You can find buy links here, including a link to Baker Books for 30% off and free shipping!
Comments 38
“My story starts with me on the lip of a waterfall in South America, in that split second when you can see everything that is about to happen but know it’s too late to change a thing.” (7 Lessons from Heaven by Mary C. Neal.
Good review, Patricia. And fabulous moon photo, too. I got up this morning and saw the lunar eclipse over the Blue Ridge. Pretty.:-)
Author
Priscilla, I do not know how I didn’t know about the lunar eclipse last night! I guess that’s one of the prices to pay for not watching the news. lol. I love the opening of the book you’re reading.
Wow! Both books sound like wonderful reads! (But won’t start either one before bedtime!)
Author
Thanks, MS Barb. I agree but that’s when I usually read. 🙂
I’m currently reading Deep Undercover by Lenora Worth. “K-9 Officer Gavin Sutherland held tight to his partner Tommy’s leash and scanned the crowd, his mind on high alert, his whole body tense as he tried to protect the city he loved.” Finally getting back to this series now that I’ve found them on my library app!
I love your review, Patricia, and can’t wait to read the book! I also really loved the Kaely Quinn series!
We were just outside tonight taking photos of the lunar eclipse! It was so beautiful, and a great reminder that we live this world in a rush, but creation takes its time, and you can’t rush a lunar eclipse!
Author
Monique, like I told Priscilla, I can’t believe I missed the lunar eclipse! I’ll have to do better. lol I’ll have to get Lenora Worth’s book. And no, you can’t rush the lunar eclipse!
Pat, I love your photo and connecting verse. The moon is so neat! I think there might be a tripod on someone’s Christmas list this year 🙂
I can’t believe how many first rate Christian suspense novels are dropping so close together. I’m going crazy keeping them all straight, and deciding which to read next. I just finished “Deadly Target” by Elizabeth Goddard, and immediately started on “Dead Fall”. Ms Mehl doesn’t waste any time putting the reader in the thick of the mystery. This is a powerful story! It’s also really good to have another book with the famous Kaely Quinn!
Author
Tim, I can’t believe it, either, about how many books are dropping right now. lol. Must be for Christmas. And can you believe that I actually have a camera tripod from years ago, but I’ll have to find it? It took several tries before I got this shot. And I love the books from both authors you mentioned.
Pat, regarding that tripod from years ago, I am not a pessimist. However, I bought a new digital camera several years ago. I thought a tripod would help. I pulled out one I had used for a long time with my 35mm camera. The screw in the tripod did not fit the hole in the bottom of the digital camera. No problem. I had a second tripod that I got with a video camera. It had a lot of plastic parts. Most of them were brittle and snapped off. Maybe you should do as Tim suggested and add tripod to your Christmas list. Just saying.
Author
Edward, you’re probably right. Pretty sure the heads won’t work together…planned obsolesce…
“They don’t listen, Michael. Why don’t they listen?” Gabriel paced, a flurry of frustration beating the air surrounding them.
Christmas Love Through The Ages
Author
Lucy, that book sounds so intriguing! I’ll have to find it. Thanks for stopping by.
Yes, indeed! God is so worthy of praise. If even the moon and stars praise Him, how much more should we? I looked closely at the photo, Pat and I tell you, I saw a face up on the left. A man with dark hair, mustache and dark eyebrows. Although we don’t know what Jesus looked like, it sure reminded me of his presence.
This was a great review. I love the BAU and I hate that they’re getting killed. My curiosity has been piqued. Now I need to know what happens next. Haven’t decided on which book to start, so no first liners available.
Author
I love that verse, Barbara, and thought it fit perfectly with the photo. And I went back and looked at the moon photo and you’re right…there’s a face that looks a lot like a silhouette I’ve seen of Jesus.
Like a tumor in her chest, for twenty two years, Brooke Baxter West had carried the lie”…….. Someone Like You by Karen Kingsbury
Author
Jackie, that first line really grabbed me! Thanks for stopping by.
Great shot of the moon, Pat! My first line is from Lenora Worth’s book, The Memory Quilt.
“The wind hit her with a cold, uncaring slap, reminding her March could be a brutal month.”
Author
Gloria, this is the second Lenora Worth mention and now I have to go find her books! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi, these 2 books sound like great reads! I am reading The Reunions by Tina Hogan Grant and this is the first line: Two years ago , not only had Tammy met her calling as a commercial fisherwoman, but she had also unexpectedly fallen in love with Dwayne.
Author
Alicia, very intriguing first line. So many books out there…I sure wish I had more time to read. 🙂
The children are chattering. Currently reading Nanny Needed by Georgina Cross. Thanks for the chance.
Author
Very interesting line, Lynn. Thanks for stopping by.
“I was at the weekly meeting of the Cheerville Active Readers’ Society, the closest thing to pass for entertainment in this sleepy little New England town.” Granny’s Got a Gun by Harper Lin
Author
BN, I’ll have to get that book based on the title alone! And I love the voice of this writer.
“Only by searching the bowels of hell would he find the devil, “The prisoner’s cell is this way, Captain, If you’ll follow me.” from As Dawn Breaks by Kate Beslin.
Author
Very interesting first line, Joan! I love Kate’s books.
Dead fall is a really good book. I stayed up late reading it too. The moon picture is really neat. I’m reading Trace of Doubt by Di Ann Mills. I tightened my grip on the black trash bag slung over my shoulder containing my personal belongings-parole papers, a denim shoulder bag from high school, a ragged backpack, fifty dollars gate money, my drivers license at age sixteen and the clothes I’d worn to prison fifteen years ago.
Author
Oh, wow…I’ll have to read DiAnn’s book, Erika. That first line really got me. Thanks!
People considered him homeless because he didn’t have an address of his own, but Harvey James would’ve been homeless even if he owned the turreted mansions State Route 460. From The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox.
This comes from Last Seen Alone by Laura Griffin: He was late, and she shouldn’t have been surprised.
Author
Hi Diana. I like that first line–I hate it when people are habitually late. lol
Great shot of the moon! The verse goes well with it.
I am reading Provenance by Carla Laureano. First two lines: It was good to be home. Or at least it would be, if she had the faintest idea what home actually meant.
I am awaiting an email from the library that they have Dead Fall ready for me.
Thieves did not stop for a spot of tea – as a rule, they robbed and ran. First line from the book The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron. Thanks for sharing!
Author
Faith, what an interesting first line! I’ve enjoyed the Kristy Cambron books I’ve read and will have to get this one!
currently reading “Lights Out” by Natalie Walters
Author
That’s next on my list, Shelia!
My first line this week is from The Mobster’s Daughter by Rachel Scott McDaniel
September 28, 1923. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Snapping wind yanked at the letter in myhand, and my fingers tightened, the crisp edge biting into my palm.
Loved Dead Fall. It was a wild ride and a dastardly villain!
Author
The Mobster’s Daughter sounds like a great book, Paula! I’ll have to check it out.