Oath of Honor

I revived this book as a librarything giveaway. I enjoyed this book and by the end I didn't want to put it down so that I could find out what was going to happen. It was confusing in that there were a LOT of characters to keep track of. There were also hints along the way about a kidnapping in the past. It felt like this was the second in the series and we should have understood that kidnapping already. I don't believe this was the case. The characters themselves felt real and had faults as well as good characteristics. The sped at which the investigation took place was completely unrealistic. Getting warrants, lab results, bank information, following leads etc etc takes far longer than portrayed here. All that being said, I did enjoy show more the book and would read another book by this author show less

If you like warm fuzzy romance stories this book is sure not for you, with nonstop action from the beginning to the end, and don’t get too comfortable in your shoes, you won’t see who wants to wear them.
The author starts this book with the murder of fellow officer Isabella St. John’s partner, and lifelong family friend, Kevin. From there the violence goes downhill, and why, we soon find out, or maybe it takes to the very end to learn, and most you won’t see coming.
So, it is the rival gangs, an old “boyfriend”, a friend, the list goes on and on, maybe your brother, or mother. There has to be a reason, and when we find out, just wow!
Once you start this one, you will have to get to the end to learn the answers, and I for one show more love the epilogue, better allow additional time!
I received this book through the Revell Blogger Program, and was not required to give a positive review. show less

Oath of Honor is the first of Eason’s new “Blue Justice” series, which focuses on the St. John family, a large clan all involved in law enforcement. The main character in this story is Isabelle “Izzy” St. John, a police officer whose long-time friend and recently assigned partner, Kevin, is shot and killed in the opening moments of the story. Izzy is joined in the hunt for the killers by Kevin’s brother Ryan, also a cop, and there is a long standing attraction between them, that might turn into more in light of the intense emotions and drama that ensues.

The central conflict Izzy faces, besides the obvious search for justice, is that there are indications that corruption in the police force may be part of the motivation for show more the killing. Some signs point to members of Izzy’s own family, such as her twin brother (an undercover cop) and her mother (the chief of police). Her loyalty to justice, and to Ryan and Kevin wars with her family loyalty.

The pacing was excellent, and although the solution was not totally unexpected, there were plenty of thrills along the way. The romantic elements were very low key, perhaps too low key to be completely satisfying. But this did make sense in the context of the story, which takes place in a very short time frame and involves far too much danger and action to reasonably be able to take time for sighs and longing glances.

Since this is the beginning of a projected series about the St. John family, there are many characters introduced who presumably will be featured in future books or be continuing supporting characters. It can be a bit confusing keeping them all straight this early in the game, but the distraction was minimal. Overall, a gripping thriller and I would be interested in future entries. 4 stars.

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Whew! Another intense release from Lynette Eason!

First off, can we talk about this cover? I. Adore. It. I, of course, had to have the paperback. And after I ordered it, I camped in front of my mailbox for two days until it arrived. (The benefits of Amazon Prime . . .)

The characters. Right away, I loved Izzy and her crazy, awesome family. The banter between the siblings throughout reminding me of my own large, crazy family. Izzy was a very sweet, relatable character. Ryan was also great, and I loved his storyline and character arc. I feel like overall, the characters were a little lacking, but I still greatly enjoyed it. The focus was a lot more on the story than the characters, and since I'm such a character-person, I was a little show more disappointed.

The story was fabulous, and kept you guessing until the very last second. I really didn't want one of Izzy's family members to be dirty, and I'm so glad they weren't! I could not put this book down, and finished it in less than 24 hours. So so good! There was never a slow moment.

All in all, I really enjoyed Eason's newest release! Highly recommended!

CONTENT NOTE: Recommended for ages 16 for violence and mature themes. There is quite a bit of violence and peril, as you would expect from a suspense book. Characters are attacked, held at gunpoint or knifepoint, almost thrown off buildings, etc. The MC non-sexually assaulted in the past, which was extremely traumatic. There is also some romance, attraction, etc. show less

A series rivaling the O'Malley's. Yes, this book rivals my until now all time favorite suspense series. With the family bond, the suspense, the loss and healing in this book. I do have to say I don't recommend this for anyone under 16 and is probably better for 17/18 or older. I hated the start of this book, HATED it! But sadly it was necessary for the plot as much as I hated it.
Warning, there is violence, several shoot outs, mentions of insanity, kidnapping, talk of murder, murder, attempted murder, and a character is killed.
Otherwise, ironically this is a wonderful novel that I love. I don't particularly like that Isabelle was a police officer since I don't agree with women being law enforcement... Don't chew me out for it, I don't show more care if it's unfeminine of me, I prefer to hold to my beliefs then give into the universal opinions that . . . Oh, forget that. I just have to say that this gets four stars since I didn't agree with everything but enjoyed this special suspense book from Lynette Eason, who happens to be a fantastic suspense author. I am so eager and am looking forward to reading the next book! show less

Very suspenseful book. The characters weren’t that well developed, and I feel descriptions were a little lacking, but other than that I enjoyed the suspense and the overall premise. Ending was a bit fanciful, but still worth the read.

Lynette Eason is one of my new favorite authors for her ability to combine mystery/suspense with a touch of romance. This book focuses on Isabelle (Izzy) St. John and Ryan Marshall. I listened to the CD audiobook version and CDs 2 & 3 were apparently mislabeled by whoever produced them for the library versions. This made for quite a bit of confusion when inserting what was supposed to be disc 2 and having it start with Ryan's partner, Ryan, and Izzy interviewing the Gills (people that I had no idea who they were or how they fit into the story at that point--because all that was covered in the material on CD 3). I even pulled out the CD to make sure I hadn't inserted the CDs in the wrong order and confirmed it said Disc 2. It wasn't show more until I started Disc 3 that I realized the two were transposed.

Both Ryan and Izzy have to deal with family trauma in this book. Both families have strong support for each other, so I know they will pull through the rough spots. Izzy seems to have a magnetic attraction to trouble. In addition to a hushed up kidnapping event that occurred prior to this book, she gets dangled from a building, shot at, strangled, almost blown up, and hanging from a helicopter.

You pretty much know that Ryan and Izzy will get together since much is made that both of them are attracted to each other. Ryan has held off because Izzy's twin Derek warned him off ever dating her, but the more he's around her, the harder he finds it.

I didn't see the twist of who was behind the scheme that permeates the book. I had to find out the clues along with the characters. In a couple cases I realized significance slightly before the author had the characters put it together, but in most cases I did not.

I was glad to see that Kevin Marshall's and Johnathan Gill's idea come to fruition in the epilogue. I would (and have) read more by this author. show less