Isabella Maldonado

FBI Agent Dani Vega is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into her previous case when she gets a call from the doctors at Bellevue: her mother is showing signs of lucidity. Catatonic since the gruesome murder of her husband and Dani's father when Dani was seventeen, she is believed to be the one who killed him. Dani walked in on the murder and was instrumental in the case that led to her mother's incarceration.

When her mother says that she didn't murder her show more husband, Dani decides to look into the case again. She goes to the NYC Police Detective who investigated. He agrees to give her the files on her father's case if she will look at some of his open cases to see if he has a serial killer. Dani is a former Army Ranger who was trained to analyze patterns. She determines, rather quickly, that not only are the cases related, but that they are only part of a long string of murders all perpetrated by the same serial killer.

This discovery leads to the formation of a task force between the FBI and the various police forces of the places in NYC where the killer has operated. The investigation is tense and uses lots of new tools to link the 31 murders. But the killer has caught wind of the investigation and doesn't want Dani and the task force to succeed in stopping him.

This was an excellent and fast-paced thriller. Depending on how you feel about characters who are ultra-competent, the characters are interesting. Dani, herself, is a former Army Ranger with well-honed physical skills and with an almost preternatural ability to solve puzzles. But she is also a grieving daughter who lost her father to murder and was taken in by an aunt who was emotionally abusive to her because of her resemblance to her mother whom the aunt feels stole her baby brother from her. She feels guilt that her eyewitness testimony resulted in her mother's commitment to Bellevue.

I enjoyed this story and couldn't put it down until I reached the conclusion. show less

Isabella Maldonado has become one of my favorite writers of crime- thriller- action packed everything. In this second installment of the Daniela Vega series, Maldonado has tasked her code breaking heroine with a personal as well as public battle. It is a killer of a story, literally and figuratively. Vega assesses the situations, makes her choices, and is prepared to live or die with the consequences .

Whip smart, physically able, tactically aware I can’t help thinking that there is an show more awful lot of Ms. Maldonado in her heroine. While there is a lot of action, there is a equal amount of cerebral gymnastics and a plot that keeps coming at you from so many angles. As in the author’s other series, this story is tightly crafted, never flinching and almost impossible to set aside until the last page is turned. Few writers do this genre better than Isabella Maldonado.

So many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy. show less

I have read numerous novels by Jeffrey Deaver, but this is my first experience with Isabella Maldonado and I was not disappointed. Fatal Intrusion brings together Carmen Sanchez, a Homeland Security agent, and Jake Heron, a security expert. Carmen is by the book, but Jake…not so much. I love the combination.

Jake owes Carmen a favor and she is calling it in. The peripheral characters who surround them are all important players and each has their own talent to contribute to the show more investigation.

I love a book that draws me in from the opening pages, making it impossible to put the book down and Jeffrey and Isabella make it look easy. I love a feisty, kickass female lead. The tension was high and the pacing furious. Danger oozes off the pages and I rapidly flip them, having to know what comes next…and I sure didn’t anticipate where they took me. I do love a story that twists and turns and keeps me guessing.

I want to thank Thomas & Mercer and MB Communications for the opportunity to read and review Fatal Intrusion by Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado.

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A Killer's Code was a fast-paced thriller, and at its heart, had a trope that I absolutely love, riddles and codes. It may be a throwback to my childhood, but I love it when a killer/killers send police/Jason Bourne/whoever on a hunt through clues they left behind or set up to perplex those doing the hunt. This one had a nice mix of clues and situations that kept me turning the pages.

The continuing character development of Dani and Steve was quite enjoyable and I'm glad the author focused show more more on developing the MC's instead of focusing so much on the plot. Dani is as badass as ever, but she definitely showed signs of vulnerability, something I really enjoyed as it showed a softer side to her character, especially when it came to her younger brother and the storyline that is beginning to develop with regards to him. I also enjoyed the way the author is developing the relationship between Steve and Dani. I am curious to see what it will take to break down the walls both of them have built up through their experiences in the military.

The plot itself moved rather quickly, and you just have a minute to catch your breath before something else happens. Because I read the previous entries in the series, I am familiar with the pacing of these novels, but it does make it difficult to put them down. Dani and her team are following clues that pretty much lead them around the country, but at the same time, are trying to beat someone else who is also searching for the same thing. There were some twists and turns that caught me off guard or came out of nowhere and it's one of the reasons I enjoy this series so much. Plus, they are believable twists and turns, not just thrown in because an author thinks they don't have enough red herrings.

Verdict
A Killer's Code was fast-paced and there was a solid mix between character and plot development, something that was a bit lacking in previous installments. The various story lines wove together quite nicely, and I liked the fact that everything comes together in the end, even if the end isn't quite what you would expect. If I had any complains, it was about the clues. Even though I found them clever and interesting, there was still a part of me that was skeptical at how easily the team discovered them and deciphered them. However, the team dynamics and banter is one of the reasons why I keep coming back to these books, and I had a hard time putting this book down. Looking forward to the next one. show less