Title: Dangerous Games
Series: O’Connor and Kincaid #1
Author: Tess Diamond
Genre: Mystery, Thriller Romance
Published: November 5, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Author
Cover Description:
A thirteen year-old girl has been taken – and Special Agent Maggie Kincaid is the only one who can get her back.
When a Senator’s daughter goes missing, every minute counts. The FBI’s best hostage negotiator, Agent Kincaid, knows what it’s like to be a terrified victim. Kidnapped as a child, those memories haunt her every day – and give her an insight into the evil mind behind this deadly crime.
But the Senator’s family has other plans, and have brought in ex-forces security expert Jake O’Connor to oversee negotiations. He’s got secrets of his own, and doesn’t play by the same rule book. With time running out, Maggie and O’Connor will have to overcome their differences to keep this case from ending in tragedy.
Read on for my thoughts on Dangerous Games. No true spoilers, promise.
Dangerous Games is an intense story that will have you glued to the pages until the end. But it does end on a rather huge cliffhanger. It appears that this is will be a continuing series. Cliffhangers are a double-edged sword, in my opinion. They can work for or against you. When a story engages me, when I care about what happens to the main characters I will return for the next story without needing to in order to get the completed story.
Maggie fascinated me. She is a strong woman who has experienced the worst that life can deal to a person. When a previous case goes sideways and she is unable to successfully bring the victim home it cuts her deeply and has her questioning everything she did on that case. For a FBI hostage negotiator second guessing yourself can have deadly results. She is unwillingly brought in on a new case, one that isn’t as straightforward as it would seem at first.
Sparks fly between Jake and Maggie almost immediately. He’s an outsider who doesn’t have to play by her rules. While they both want the same results, they often clash on how to move forward. The attraction between them is strong, but a young girl’s life is far more important at the moment.
With secrets piled upon secrets it often seems that Maggie and Jake are fighting not only the kidnappers but the family as well.
I enjoyed Dangerous Games and will pick up the next installment. It is a fast paced, engaging story with enough suspense and tension to satisfy any mystery reader. With a cliffhanger ending the story has to matter enough to wait for the conclusion. While Dangerous Games is intense and a well played plot and I care about the characters, the outcome for everyone involved… I would have wished for a completed story with the enticement of seeing the main characters tackle a new mystery in the next novel. That is a personal opinion reflective of how I enjoy reading a mystery thriller, and not a personal comment on the author. Ms Diamond gave us a thrilling, intense page turner of a story and I will follow and recommend her work. She is someone to put on your ‘look for this author’ list because I believe she is an author who knows how to pull the reader into the story and keep them there.
** I received a copy of Dangerous Games directly from the author. That does not change what I think about this novel.**
Available for the Kindle
