The
unsolved murder of a young activist leads to the discovery of much darker
crimes in New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan’s latest
compelling thriller to feature the young, edgy detective Kara Quinn and the
loner FBI agent Matt Costa. This time they work to uncover possible ties to a
high-stakes cartel in the Southwest desert.
Something mysterious is killing the wildlife in the mountains just south of
Tucson. When a college intern turned activist sets out to collect her own
evidence, she, too, ends up dead. Local law enforcement is slow to get
involved. That’s when the mobile FBI unit goes undercover to infiltrate the
town and its copper refinery in search of possible leads.
Quinn and Costa find themselves scouring the desolate landscape, which keeps
revealing clues to something much darker—greed, child trafficking and more
death. As the body count adds up, it’s clear they have stumbled onto much more
than they bargained for. Now they must figure out who is at the heart of this
mayhem and stop them before more innocent lives are lost.
Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Quinn & Costa Thriller series!
For book one, The Third to Die, click HERE.
Book
2
Buy Links
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Audiobook (US) ~ Hardcover (US)
MIRA (Harlequin)
Q: How much research do you do before beginning to write a book? Do you go to locations, ride with police, go to see an autopsy, etc.
A: Research is one of my favorite parts of writing. Because I’ve been writing for more than a decade, I’ve been doing research for just as long. I’ve been to most locations I’ve written about, though sometimes long ago (and I rely on Google Earth, books, and friends to keep me up to date about changes.) I’ve gone on ride-alongs with law enforcement, I’ve been to the morgue twice and observed not only an autopsy, but have talked to technicians and toured the crypt.
I also went through the FBI Citizens Academy in 2008, when I was in the middle of writing my 8th book. After that, I had multiple agents to call upon for help with details; I toured Quantico twice, the national FBI Headquarters, interviewed both senior and brand new agents about their different experiences in the academy and on the job, and participated in numerous SWAT training drills as a “role player.” What does that mean? I’ve played the part of the bad guy, a hostage, and a victim based on the scenario they were training for. I’ve observed dozens of different scenarios as they drill them, including high-risk traffic stops. I once observed a live ammunition drill from the catwalk, which was both scary and exhilarating.
I recognize that I can’t put everything I learn into my books, and that because I write fiction sometimes reality is too slow and I need to speed things up (trust me, you don’t want to watch my characters doing paperwork!). But I try to write my books to be as realistic as possible.
Q: What’s your favorite part of writing suspense?
A: Everything! I love suspense. I read it as a child (Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Stephen King) and I read it now. I love romantic suspense (I’m a sucker for happy endings); police procedurals; and race-against-time thrillers. When I’m writing, my absolute favorite part is when everything comes together near the end and I have that “AHA!” moment. It’s exhilarating and worth every struggle along the way.
I’d also have to say that suspense is part of every story. If there’s no suspense, it’s a boring character study. I want to have that physical reaction in my story – the sense of impending doom and “OMG, how are they going to get out of this?” – and if I get it while writing, my readers will feel it when reading.
Q: From the books you’ve written or read, who has been your favorite villain and why?
A: The Man in Black, Randall Flagg, is one of the most compelling and scary villains I’ve read, created by the master Stephen King in The Stand (though Flagg has also shown up in other books.) Favorite? Maybe not. But definitely the villain that stuck with me for the rest of my life. In my books, I’ve created a couple of villains who I’ve actually sympathized with (while condemning their crimes) because their backstories are so tragic – such as in Tempting Evil. My favorite villain to write was Elise Hansen Hunt who popped up in several books, including the recent Cold as Ice. She is young, reckless, violent, and I never knew what she might do. I’ve written several serial killers, who are always scary because you never quite know what’s going to happen with them. For example, in the first Quinn & Costa book, the killer was so focused and determined I worried he would outwit my good guys.
Villains should be both believable and realistic, so sometimes the most compelling are those who you can almost sympathize with, or at least understand, even when you are horrified by their crimes.
Q: What hobbies do you enjoy?
A: Reading (duh!), baseball (go Giants!), television (too many shows to list), hiking (except during the Arizona summer), shooting at the gun range (my daughter is a cop and great instructor), video games (with my boys – at least that’s my excuse.) A little known fact about me… for years I used to make my own soap. It was fun, relaxing, and always made the house smell amazing.
Q: Do you write under one name for all books across genres or do you have other AKA's?
A: Just me! Allison Brennan is my legal name. In fact, I once told my husband if he ever left, I was keeping the name. Ha.
Funny story – I bought my website domain allisonbrennan.com right after I sold my first book. This was 2004. I wanted to make sure I had it when I had books to put up there. A year later I got an email from someone named Allison Brennan. She tried to buy the site but couldn’t – she was also a writer (a journalist) and wanted to know how I picked the name and if she could buy it from me. Small world! (There’s also an Allison Brennan who is an Olympic diver, an Allison Brennan who is a gymnast, and an Allison Brennan who lived in my town – we used the same pharmacy, the same vet, went to the same church, and both had sons named Luke. Yet we never met!)
Q: Do you have pets?
A: Yes. Life just wouldn’t be as much fun without animals. I used to have chickens when we lived on a couple acres in California. I miss them—they were so much fun, and fresh chicken eggs are so much better than store bought. Now, we have two cats and a dog (a ten-year-old black lab). My son has a bearded dragon (lizard) who I adore as well. Who would have thought lizards could have so much personality? And we have a goldfish named Filet.
Avid
Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Mystery
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger
warnings.
Kara is a fantastic undercover cop. But just because she's amazing at her job
doesn't mean that it isn't hard and sometimes downright sucky. Right now, she
wishes that she could just wrap this case up. There's something fishy going on
in the desert and she's determined to help figure the mystery out.
Joe is caught between morality and family. Where do you turn when you don't
want to disappoint family, don't know who to trust, but also know that
something isn't right with what's going on around you? Do you turn a blind eye
because they are family? Try to figure out how to help and untangle the mess or
just throw up your hands and walk away?
Matt is caught between working with multiple jurisdictions and throwing caution
to the wind in order to solve these murders. He wants to make sure the victims
are spoken for.
This mystery will keep you guessing as to who knows what, who is involved, and
what the end game is. I enjoyed reading this. It was well developed, complex
without being overbearing, and the main characters' personalities worked well
together.
Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
Tell No Lies, book two in the Quinn & Costa series, sees Kara
working undercover as a bartender on an operation with Agent Matt Costa and his
team, to find the killer of a local college student who was investigating
illegal dumping of toxic waste.
This story started out slowly. At first, I wanted things to hurry up, but the
story moves methodically as we meet the various players and are shown different
pieces of the puzzle from various points of view. I enjoyed seeing Kara go
undercover, she was clearly in her element as she befriended locals and formed
a romance with one to try to get information. Her teammate Michael, on the
other hand, was struggling with telling the lies to good people as he
investigates a different angle of the investigation, working in the local copper
refinery.
As the story moved along, the pace sped up. A murder and then dead bodies in
the desert had me going from reading small bits of the book here and there, to
picking it up and reading half if it in one go as I was sucked further into the
mystery. And while I could see how some of the pieces of the puzzle were
probably going to fit together, there were still surprises right up until the
end.
The crime solving is centre stage in Tell No Lies but there is a little
bit of romance between Kara and Matt. The love story is in the background, but
it was enough to keep the romantic in me happy. I think I need the little bit
of light given the death, deception, and violence I was reading.
I loved watching the good guys catch the bad guys and seeing an investigation
into one murder turn into something much bigger than anyone expected. Tell
No Lies was engaging and entertaining and I am looking forward to more
books in this series.
ALLISON
BRENNAN is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of
over thirty novels. She has been nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller
by International Thriller Writers and the Daphne du Maurier Award. A former
consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in Arizona with
her husband, five kids and assorted pets.
Connect with
Allison
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Goodreads
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Tell No Lies (Quinn & Costa Thriller #2) by Allison Brennan to
read and review for this tour.
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