Deception (Finley #2) by Mariëtte Whitcomb

ABOUT THE BOOK

We should’ve stayed in Vietnam.

Five men have vanished from their homes, and not a single piece of evidence has been left behind. The police are stumped – until the most recent victim is found, alive, and he asks to speak to me…

Ari is back.

At Captain Taylor’s request, I join the investigation but this time I need to stay within the boring restraints of the law. Finley Williams, former vigilante turned consultant criminal profiler. How times have changed. How I have changed.

As the case unfolds, and the victims’ bodies are discovered, it becomes clear that this serial killer is unlike any I’ve ever encountered before. The murders will continue until I put a stop to them.

Tom remains relentless in his pursuit to prove that Aidan is the Marcel Sniper, even going so far as to have him dragged to the police station when somebody takes a shot at Ari. As the months go by and two men are killed by a sniper, I realise the people closest to me are out to destroy the life Aidan and I have created. Either that or Aidan is breaking his promise to never kill again.

If only victim number five hadn’t survived…

MY REVIEW

Our dreams and worst fears were about to collide, and we never saw it coming.

Finley and Aidan’s story continues in book 2 of this series as they come out of the darkness and make a new life together. But the dark world doesn’t stop when Finley is called back home to profile a serial killer who is abducting, torturing, and killing men. Yet, one of the victims has survived and it is Finley’s ex, Ari, who is obsessed with Finley even though he knows she is married to Aidan.

While working on the case and dodging Ari’s advances, Finley and Aidan settle down in their new home as they discuss having a family. Finley’s sister Lizzie and her boyfriend, Eli (Ari’s friend) have asked Ari to move in with them as he recuperates from his harrowing experience. However, not everything is all as it seems with the people she once trusted and she has to fight for all that is precious by beating them at their own game of deception.

Finley and Aidan are a great pair. Finley is a warrior who used to live in the dark abyss tracking down vile rapists and murderers and getting her own revenge. Aidan saved her life from a horrific and violent abduction and he is her calm to her rage. Unfortunately, Finley’s godfather, Tom, is set on the idea that Aidan is the Marcel Sniper who Finley met during her dark days, so Finley has cut Tom out of her life. However, that hasn’t stopped him from doing everything he can, including convincing Ari that Aidan is the bad guy. As Finley gets closer to solving the killing spree, her life starts to go to pieces as her husband becomes a fugitive while she finds herself facing the abyss once again.

Ms. Whitcomb’s books aren’t so much romances as they are suspense thrillers. There is love and sex talk, but no scenes of sex, which sometimes distracts from suspense books. Yes, I do enjoy my sex scenes, but I enjoy the race to find a killer as well as finding revenge for those who turn on you.

Overall, this is a thrilling next chapter in the Finley series as she rises above her rage and fights for her own life and family while tracking down a killer and unraveling a conspiracy. Did I mention it ends in a cliffhanger?

Thank you to Ms. Whitcomb for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

mariette whitcomb Mariëtte Whitcomb studied Criminology and Psychology at the University of Pretoria. An avid reader of psychological thrillers and romantic suspense novels, writing allows her to pursue her childhood dream to hunt criminals, albeit fictional and born in the darkest corners of her imagination.