The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan Blog Tour

A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board. Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands.

Was the explosion an act of domestic terrorism, or was one of the dead the primary target? That is the first question Special Agent Matt Costa, Detective Kara Quinn and the rest of the FBI team need to answer, but they have few clues and no witnesses.

Accused of putting profits before people after leaking fuel endangered an environmentally sensitive preserve, the West End Charter company may itself have been the target. As Matt and his team get closer to answers, they find one of their own caught in the crosshairs of a determined killer.

Don’t miss our reviews of the rest of the Quinn & Costa series!
For book one, The Third to Die, click HERE.
For book two, Tell No Lies, click HERE.

 

 

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Apple Books  ~  B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
MIRA (HQN)

 

 

Q&A with Allison Brennan

Q: What type of research do you do when thinking of and writing your novel? The Wrong Victim uses both the FBI and local police department, do you speak with individuals who actually work in these fields?

I love research. It started long before I published my first book — I read true crime, watched true crime documentaries, read about current events. Once I was published, I found experts willing to talk to me! In 2008, I participated in the FBI Citizens Academy, and to this day the Public Information Officer (now retired) is happy to answer my questions. I’ve toured Quantico, visited the morgue (twice!) and viewed an autopsy, been on several ride-alongs with local police and sheriff, and have several people across all areas of law enforcement to ask questions. In fact, my oldest daughter is now a police officer, and she’s working on getting me a ride along in a specific precinct where I plan to set a future book. She also connected me with a K-9 officer when I was writing a short story about a retired K-9.

For The Wrong Victim, I reached out to a writer friend of mine who is a retired ATF agent — he was instrumental in helping me with the explosives.

I write fiction and take a lot of liberties with the information I learn. However, I want to be as realistic as possible. To me, as long as what I’m writing is plausible, then I’ll go with it. I write to entertain first and foremost, and sometimes too many forensic details or investigative facts can slow down a story. I’m always seeking to find the right balance.

Q: How do you decide where to base your story? This book is based in the San Juan islands and I know Matt Costa’s special team travels.

The premise of the Quinn & Costa mobile response team series is that they are a well-trained group of FBI agents who travel to small, rural, and underserved communities — places where local police may not have the resources to handle a complex investigation such as a serial killer or, in the case of The Wrong Victim, an explosion. So I look for places where setting fits the story. For this book, I had the idea first — a charter boat explodes, who was the intended victim? So that told me I needed a remote, water-based community and looked on a map. The San Juan Islands immediately drew me in, and after reading about the area, I quickly made the decision. I had planned to visit before I wrote the book, but alas, 2020 was not a year for travel, and so I relied on interviews and the internet for information.

Q: Do you travel or visit the places you write about first?

If I can, but unfortunately, sometimes that isn’t possible. That’s when research and interviews come in handy!

One of my earlier books, I thought I had researched very well — even talking to people who lived in the region (Seattle) and looking extensively on maps. But I made a mistake about how to get from Point A to Point B and a reader pointed it out. Now I take much more care in making sure I get these details right if I’m writing about a place I don’t know well.

I had wanted to visit the San Juan Islands before writing The Wrong Victim — not just for the book, but because I’d always wanted to go there. Unfortunately, 2020 happened and that wasn’t possible. The book I recently finished writing, the currently untitled fourth Quinn & Costa book, takes place in the bayou in Louisiana. I’ve been to Louisiana many times, and my best friend lives there. While I created a fictional town, I drew upon my personal knowledge and the help of my bestie!

Q: How did you come up with your idea for a loaned LA officer who cannot return due to her undercover work?

When I was writing the first Quinn & Costa book, Kara Quinn — the Los Angeles detective on leave — wasn’t going to be a series character. She was going to be a catalyst of sorts for Matt Costa, the team leader. So creating her character, I thought it would be fun to have her as an undercover detective, someone has a unique skill set that would be valuable in Matt’s current investigation.

Well, by the time I finished writing the book, I knew Kara had to return. I just loved her character and felt she had the most growth to do in the series, plus would provide a different perspective to the crimes because of her background. I didn’t know even after I finished writing the book how or why she was going to be on loan to the FBI, I had to sit on that for a few days until I worked out something that made sense to me.

Q: How do you decide which books become a series versus a stand-alone story?

This is a great question!

For me, all stories — stand alone or series — start with character. Without compelling, interesting, and complex characters, the story falls flat.

In a series, the characters must be interesting enough that readers will want to revisit them and see them in different situations. This is why police procedurals and amateur sleuths truly lend themselves to series books. You like the world, the characters, how they grow over time and want to revisit them over and over and see what’s going on in that world. The same way, I think, television viewers like favorite shows. The plots are interesting and often twisty, but readers (or viewers) really return to find out what happens to the people we’ve grown to love and hate and worry about.

So when I have an idea that is predominately character based — a team of FBI agents, for example — I focus on making those people as real and authentic as possible with an eye toward how they are going to grow and develop over multiple stories. I still want to have a strong plot — so I put them in situations or solving cases that are dangerous or interesting. By the end of the book, I want my characters to learn something about the team or themselves, to grow in some way, however small it might be. I want the series books to stand alone — so new readers can find the books in the middle of the series — while also giving regular readers a character growth arc from book to book.

For a standalone, while characters are ALWAYS going to be important, they are there for one story only. They need to have a complete character arc from beginning to end so that the reader is fully satisfied at the story conclusion. Plot is important in both types of stories, but in a standalone the situation/plot provides a stronger framework and backbone than in a series. There is often a universal theme that resonates, that is in some ways bigger than the story itself. Standalones, at least for me, are about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances — so readers wouldn’t expect those characters to return in a different story.

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Wrong Victim wastes no time getting to the action, and the crime that brings Kara, Matt, and the team to an island off the coast of Washington occurs at the beginning of the book. A bomb exploded on a charter boat, killing nine people but we don’t know who the intended victim was or if the bomb was set due to a vendetta again the charter company by the local environmental group. I loved following Kara and the team as they conducted interviews and followed up leads. There is a cast of potential killers as well as a cast of potential victims. I was hooked and eagerly turned the pages as I tried to work out who not only set but the bomb but why and who they intended to kill.

To go along with the murder mystery, we get little glimpses of Matt and Kara’s relationship, which isn’t on solid ground and is put in jeopardy when a member of their team works out they are having an affair and threatens to tell the powers that be at the FBI. This also potentially puts Kara’s job in jeopardy. I have to say I was surprised by this turn of events. I didn’t expect a highly respected and intelligent member of their team to be so vindictive. It adds tension on a personal level to people already under pressure to solve the crime.

The Wrong Victim is gripping from the first page to the last page. There is lots of action, danger, and the crime story is clever. Also, the budding relationship between Matt and Kara in the background was just enough to keep the romance reader in me happy. The Wrong Victim is the third book in the Quinn & Costa series and it is the best so far. I can’t wait for more.


Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars
M/F Thriller

I have read all of the books in this series and while I wouldn't say that you need to read the previous books, it does help to get to know the characters.

I have enjoyed the previous books a lot. This one, however, while it was compelling, was very slow for me. I found myself wanting to skip ahead because some of the chapters were taking so long. And while I didn't skip ahead, there were several places that I could have, now that I've read the book in whole.

The mystery is fantastic, and you won't be disappointed. The interpersonal relationships were spot on too. Although at times, I wanted to slap a few characters who stuck their noses where they shouldn't be, in my opinion.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more, but I just found my mind wandering until the ending where the action really picked up. There were subtle hints throughout the story that helped me solve it before the ending, but it was still engaging and fun to see the conclusion.

 

 

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 Brennan

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

 

 

Hosted by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Wrong Victim (Quinn & Costa #3) by Allison Brennan to read and review.

Tell No Lies by Allison Brennan Blog Tour

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

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Audiobook (US)  ~  Hardcover (US)
MIRA (Harlequin)

 

 

Q&A with Allison Brennan

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.

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

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.

The Third to Die by Allison Brennan

An edgy female police detective…An ambitious FBI special agent. Together they are at the heart of the ticking-clock investigation for a psychopathic serial killer. The bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for high-stakes suspense.

Detective Kara Quinn, on leave from the LAPD, is on an early morning jog in her hometown of Liberty Lake when she comes upon the body of a young nurse. The manner of death shows a pattern of highly controlled rage. Meanwhile in DC, FBI special agent Mathias Costa is staffing his newly minted Mobile Response Team. Word reaches Matt that the Liberty Lake murder fits the profile of the compulsive Triple Killer. It will be the first case for the MRT. This time they have a chance to stop this zealous if elusive killer before he strikes again. But only if they can figure out who he is and where he is hiding before he disappears for another three years. The stakes are higher than ever before, because if they fail, one of their own will be next…

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo
Harlequin MIRA

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
M/F FBI Thriller

This book has you on the edge of your seat from the beginning. We get to see Kara Quinn who is an amazing detective who is on mandatory leave. She's very unhappy about that, but also knows that it's a good time to visit her aunt. But when she's out running, trying to wait out her leave, she stumbles on a body dump site. What Kara doesn't know is that she has found one of the bodies that the Triple Killer leaves behind every few years.

Mathias Costa is trying very hard to choose people for a new mobile response team. But even though his boss has given him veto power, Costa realizes that he needs to start making some decisions. When he's called out to see the newest Triple Killer site, he knows that he's on the clock and racing against time.

With Kara on leave, she knows that she can help with the investigation. She's also a local, so that will help with the people who need to be questioned. Finally, with Costa needing all of the help he can get, he'll use Kara for her expertise, as well as for her doggedness to find the answers.

With time against them, it will take everyone's skills to figure out who the Triple Killer is and take them down. Kara is also having to contend with a trial back home and her boss keeping her in the dark on matters back at her station.

This was a great start to a new series. I can't wait to see what happens next and hope that it will be filled with as much action and mystery as this first story was. There are definitely some questions that are lingering, but it's in no way a cliffhanger story.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This gory suspense is properly frightening. Matt Costas leads an FBI team tracking a serial killer who will kill again within days. LAPD detective Kara Quinn might be on holiday, but when she finds the first body, she is determined to help Matt’s team find the killer.

The time pressure in this story adds to the suspense. The investigators know when the killer will strike, they have a good idea of who the next victims will be – and no idea who the killer is. The story is a mix of interdepartmental politics and careful investigating. The body count is substantial, and this is a pretty gory read.

I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to Matt and Kara’s continued partnership in future books. Anyone wanting a well plotted suspense with some great characters will enjoy this series.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
If, like me, you are a fan of shows like Criminal Minds, The Third to Die will be right up your alley. FBI agent Matt Costa is heading up a new unit called the Mobile Response Team. Before the team is even fully formed, they are sent to the small down to Liberty Lake where LA Detective Kara Quinn has discovered a dead body while on vacation. Matt and his team are sent to investigate and the chase for the serial killer begins. Short on resources, Matt takes Kara’s help with the case. But it doesn’t take long for their relationship to become more than a professional one.

This is the first book in a new series and early on time is taken to give us some background to the characters. But not all of them and not their life story, but enough information to make us interested in them and keep turning the pages. The story is told from the point of view of various characters, including the killer – which I liked.

This is the story that starts out slowly, but the tension builds. I felt like the further I got in the faster I was turning the pages. The story takes us to a heart-pounding, action-packed climax. It is enthralling. I have to say this book would make a great movie, it was easy to see it playing out in my mind. In the aftermath, I was left wanting stories from the Mobile Response Team. I’ll be on the lookout for the next book in this series and I hope there are many more stories to come.

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

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Third to Die (Quinn & Costa Thriller #1) by Allison Brennan to read and review.