Review - Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden

This was an intense hunt from start to finish!

Deadly Fear by Cynthia Eden

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Forever (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446559245
• ISBN-13: 978-0446559249

Rating 4.5 of 5.0

Product Description

TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She's walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can't ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.
ONE DREAM TEAM
Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease...professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they're reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims' deepest, darkest fears for sport - but their investigative skills aren't enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.
But can they catch a killer whose weapon is...DEADLY FEAR

Review: This is a wonderfully intense read.  The book is so fast paced that my thoughts hit me in quick bites:

incredible intensity; terrific tension; compelling characters; vile villain; sizzling sex; superb storyline; lousy language.

I loved the intensity of the book from the very first page to the end.  The only thing that disturbed me was the rough language. The “f” word is used every other page at the beginning; it calms a bit but is then on almost every page at about pages 40-50. I came close to setting the book down but decided to persevere. The language is used liberally throughout the book although it isn’t quite as heavy after that beginning.

I really like the heroine, Monica, as the ice cool, “get into the head of the killers” profiler. She has a personal history that gives her insight to the killer’s view. That personal history has also kept her a loner.

Luke is the sexy, personable victim specialist. He has his own history that caused him to develop into a protector. Monica may want to push him away, like she did years before, but he isn’t going anywhere. In fact, he’s pushing back to get inside her defenses and knock down some of those walls.

There was plenty of tension that kept building between these two. Especially since the first several times things were heating up, they were interrupted by a knock on the door or a phone ring.  When they finally do get together the interactions are sizzling.

The brutal and detailed killer is always one step ahead of the local authorities and the FBI team.  That gives you a clue where to look for the suspect since he obviously has all the inside information. There are several good candidates and a few red herrings to keep the hunt interesting.

The manner in which Monica and Luke confront the killer was a major disappointment to me. Not because it wasn’t intense...it is. But more because it was so stupid, stupid, stupid to go in without getting backup in place. Especially since there was an opportunity on the way to call in and let others know what they were doing.  Of course this allows for more heart throbbing suspense and a showdown to the wire.

The ending is neatly wrapped up with a good twist as Monica faces her past. There may have been one or two sex scenes that could have been removed along with a lot of the “f” word and I think the book would have been better for it. But that is one reader’s opinion. Although I may think twice because of the language, I would love to read more by this author for the intensity of the work.  If you like romantic suspense and can get past the language you would surely like this book.

Thank you to Hachette and Anna for this book to read, review and giveaway.