Breakneck

Matt Martin was a part time college student and major computer hacker. He didn’t really have any friends and he rarely left the house, so why was he murdered?

Detective Mary Catherine”M.C.” Riggio and her partner, Detective Kitt Lundgren are back again. It seems in their latest case that someone is making it personal for M.C.

First M.C’s fiancé, Daniel Gallo, is found shot in the head and then her cousin, Tommy is found also shot in the head in his home. Who would want to kill Daniel and Tommy? At first the circumstance seems like Daniel was a victim of the wrong place, wrong time scenario but upon further investigation it seems that M.C. didn’t really have a clue about who the real Daniel was. Before M.C. has a chance to show more wrap her mind about her fiancé, more college students have been murdered.

M.C. and Kitt discover that all of the victims were key players in a mass cyber ring. M.C. and Kitt are joined by Jonathan Smith with the FBI. Soon all three of them find themselves caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer known as Breakneck.

M.C and Kitt are two of my favorite detectives. So glad to visit with them again. I thought M.C. brought a good range of depth to her character with all the different emotions, she experienced from joy, sorrow, anger, and revenge. Kitt is the best partner anyone could every have. She always has M.C.’s back. Author, Erica Spindler serves up one hot, steamy plate of suspense, intrigue, and a heart-pounding good time in her latest novel, Breakneck. I read this whole book in one sitting. I was glued to my sit till the very end. The ending I might add was great. It was a surprise ending for me. I did not expect the curve-ball that got thrown to me. show less

I picked this up without knowing it was the second book in a series. Even still, I read it and enjoyed the book. Being just the second book, I don't feel like I missed much, but I wouldn't mind going back and reading the first one. I liked the way this written; the short chapters are nice when you have just a few minutes at a time to read. To be fair, I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this book. I think it would be fair to say this book is worthy of 3.5 stars. It wasn't "OMG WOW" good, but it definitely kept me guessing throughout. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little bit rushed.

There's a lot to like in this thriller - there's a great deal of tension; the suspense is really ratcheted up, but without the gore factor that so many police thrillers use to keep the audience spell-bound. That was definitely a point in its favor. I also really enjoyed the fact that it used identity theft and computer crime as its basis rather than the typical serial killer plot. Added to that was a real sense of inter-relationships and characters with histories and baggage. These women don't exist in a vacuum, and they don't just live for the job. Their careers affect their lovers, their families, their partnership in ways that are complex and difficult.

What diminished my enjoyment of the book was that I was just irritated with a few show more of the characters throughout the book. M.C.'s utter disregard for police procedure and evidence rules drove me batty. The rules are there for a reason - to actually let you put the guy away! You ignore the rules, you increase the chances that these guys stay on the streets. Plus her unilateral actions really jeopardized both her and her partner's career - considering that she was on the other side of this in just the last book, I would have expected her to be a little more sensible.

Most annoying, though, were the 'kids'. Though they were young adults, they didn't seem to be able to grasp anything beyond their own selfish wants - not even the fact that they were being stalked by a killer. Seriously, even when they were told there was a killer on the loose - and looking for them - they couldn't be bothered to stop being obstructionist, wasting time and going clubbing? It was extremely irritating, and made more so because it seemed like such a caricature of 'young people'. And being young myself, I was a bit insulted.

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FTC Disclosure: I received a free review copy through the LT Early Reviewers program. show less

Detective MC Riggio can't wait to get married. She is desperately in love with her fiance Dan, and is counting down the days until the wedding. Best of all, her big Italian family have welcomed Dan with open arms, her mother ecstatic at the thought of more grandchildren. But MC never does marry Dan or have his children. A few weeks before the wedding day he is shot dead ? and MC's world crumbles into pieces. Detective Kitt Lundgren is there to support her colleague. She knows grief only too well ? her only daughter has recently died ? and she knows that MC's only concern now will be to find out who killed her fiance. So the two women work day and night to discover what happened to Dan. But there is a ruthless killer on the loose, a show more killer who knows no fear. And Kitt and MC have put themselves right in the firing line...

A nice easy thriller which unlike some books is not complex and straight to the point. M C and Kitt are back in their second book and I feel there will probably be more to follow with these characters. I always enjoy Erica Spindler books but what this one does lack is a romance between a lead female character and one of the lead males. When ES does include a romance she does it very well and it is not too sugary. The ‘baddie’ as always kept me guessing until the end of the story when really all the clues where there. My only other gripe is that I thought M C’s relation Sam for is age was really a bit dim, unless he was meant to be like he was because he was involved. A nice easy book to read and always enjoyable. show less

Enjoyable novel featuring female cop duo Kitt Lundgren and M.C. Riggio. When M.C.'s fiance and then her cousin are murdered, the pair are thrust into the world of cyberthieves and professional killers, especially one who goes by the name of Breakneck. Erica Spindler's writing style reminds me a bit of Mary Higgins Clark, in that most of the actions happens offstage. The gore level is not high in this book, making it a fairly light read for a thriller.

Breakneck by Erica Spindler

Never having read anything by this author, but being one who loves suspense novels, I was delighted by this book. And even though I am no computer "geek"; the lingo, explanations and plot were easily followed and understood by one as computer illiterate as I am. It may be a bit annoying to "alpha geeks" but there you have it!
This is my first meeting with, Detectives M.C. Riggio and Kitt Lundgren and it won't be my last.

Breakneck opens with the seemingly senseless murder of a young computer "geek" and quickly moves to happier events. An engagement, an engagement party and then a very surprising death close to Riggio's heart, followed quickly by more deaths of young computer geeks. Each murder striking closer show more to home for Riggio. Information and clues pile up at a nearly impossible to keep up with pace, but are quickly sorted, and lead us on a journey to the inevitable. I have to admit that the red herrings were so clever that I didn't figure this one out until nearly the same time as the author had M. C. figure it out.

Excellent writing, suspenseful, highly emotional with tightly written characters and a very true look at very old Italian families. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading Erica Spindler's back list show less

This was an enjoyable, fast-paced crime thriller with lots of twists and turns. I really liked MC and Kit, and as the body count climbed to eight I was struggling to decide who the killer was. This was the first book I've read by Erica Spindler, but I will certainly be looking for other books written by her. Extremely entertaining.