Innocence Taken: Forensic Thriller / Romantic Mystery

Victoria M. Patton

mrt 2017 · The Damien Kaine Series Boek 1 · Dark Force Press

Over dit e-boek

Read this nail-biting edge of your seat thriller with some sexy heat thrown in.

Thriller. Police Procedural. Serial Killer. Detective.

If you love CSI and Criminal Minds and books with strong characters and the feel of real-life murder investigations, then read this book and series today.

Two dead girls, another one missing, and a secret that will rip a tight-knit community apart…

When a missing teen’s body shows up dismembered on the side of the road, Lt. Damien Kaine must crush her parent’s hopes of her safe return. The parents are pushing for details and answers. Two things he can’t give. The abduction of a second girl brings only one clue. The girls look alike.

As Damien searches for a sadistic killer, a disturbing pattern emerges. The more he digs into the community’s history, the more missing girls he finds.

With the lack of evidence or movement forward on the case, a quirky FBI profiler is pulled in to assist with the investigation. Damien wrestles with disdain for the agent and an equally strong sexual attraction to her, as he deals with mounting frustrations.

Tensions rise with the abduction of another girl. Damien and his team are in a race against time to save her. But the case is about to take a frightful turn. What they uncover will not only rock them to their core, it will haunt them forever.

Innocence Taken is the first crime fiction novel in the Damien Kaine Thriller series.

Download Innocence Taken - Book 1 in the Damien Kaine Series today.

*This series has adult themes, adult language, and graphic descriptions of crimes and crime scenes.*

Victoria M. Patton combines forensics and police work with just enough humor. Her unique way of writing will have you on a roller coaster ride of emotions and keep you turning pages well past your bedtime. Visit her website whiskeyandwriting.com to learn more about her and sign up for sneak peaks of her books, what murders she’s plotting, and what whiskey she is currently drinking.

Beoordelingen en reviews

When Damien Kane passes his lieutenants exam, his captain puts him in charge of the Violent Crimes Unit’s daily responsibilities. Kane is having secret doubts if he can stay with the force at all. He still has to carry his own caseload as well. He and his partner Joe Hagan have to leave for Springfield, where road-workers found the cut-up remains of a young girl in a heavy-duty plastic bag next to the highway. Astoria is a small rural area and most likely only the dumpsite as the killing occurred elsewhere. Once over there, they soon discover that Becca is not the first girl in that area who has disappeared. Because they all happened in different counties, no one had put them together as victims of a serial killer. They’re joined by a local lab tech who’s excited to have his first real active go at a case and a stunning FBI profiler. After catching his fiancée while cheating on him, Damien has lost interest in relationships. His partner and best friend Joe is the only one who notices something amiss and Damien admits that he’s not certain that he wants to stay on the force. Joe himself is a real womanizer and has no intention to settle down for a serious relationship but he’s fiercely loyal to his friend. That’s until he meets Taylor. He’s more than just into her. I think the author degrades her detectives here by letting them carry on like a pair of dogs on heat. I know that Karen Rose is famous for her steamy romantic thrillers (I’m a big fan) and I assume this writer tries something similar but unfortunately she doesn’t succeed. I’m certainly not a prune but in my opinion, the sex here is a bit gratuitous and not relevant. On the other hand, the attraction/dislike between Kane and Dillon is classic and just a tad more realistic even if the reason for Kane’s grudge is petty and hypocritical. An FBI profiler who has to help out as an assistant at an autopsy and help puzzle together the pieces of a corpse? Rather unlikely, if you ask me. What’s so funny about cats in costumes? I always thought it daft. Mine absolutely hates it if I put anything but his collar on (and that’s a struggle despite him knowing he’s not allowed out otherwise). Having an Italian-Irish police duo as the protagonists is a bit cliché. But I suppose that it’s not unlikely in reality. Both detectives are chick-magnets, a bit too much for their own good or for credibility reasons. I also wonder why they don’t investigate the first abduction (with the atypical victim) a bit more. It’s obvious that she’s the template. So, I would look hard at her contacts and life as it’s most likely that she’s not a random victim. A decent profiler would see something like that immediately. All in all, those are minor complaints and don’t interfere with the actual storyline or the suspense. It is also the first book in an on-going series (not a new one) and this could well be the hiccups of a first novel. It’s certainly intriguing enough to read the next books. I’m really curious how the 2 detectives will handle their ‘not-relationships’ in the future and their next cases as well, of course. The description of Becca’s parent’s reaction when Damien and Joe went to notify them that the remains of their daughter were found was so moving that my eyes got wet. It felt so lively and real, that I couldn’t but sympathize with them. The story is full of tension and danger and the suspense develops along with a logical pattern. But you know fairly early on who’s the killer and then it’s only the question how they’ll catch him and how many more girls will die. I received a free ARC through StoryOrigin from the author; this is my honest unbiased review of it.

Over de auteur

Victoria M. Patton uses her time in the Coast Guard and her Forensic Chemistry degree to craft the perfect murders. But since she is averse to wearing orange and being in prison, she keeps her murderous sprees between the pages of her books.

She has ten published novels, which include her Damien Kaine thriller series and her Derek Reed paranormal thriller series. She describes her books as dark, sexy, edgy mashups of CSI, Motive, and Criminal Minds.

Inspired by her cat Pumpkin’s advice on storytelling, her novels are not cozy mysteries and not for the faint of heart.

You can find her on Facebook (@Whiskeyandwriting), Pinterest (@victoriampatton), and Instagram (@victoriampatton).

Email her at [e-mail]

Website: whiskeyandwriting.com

Find out more at her website, whiskeyandwriting.com.