Standoff By Patricia Bradley

Standoff
by Patricia Bradley
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 9780800735739

Anyone else get nervous to try a new author? Hands raised! Since the last few suspense novels I've read thanks to Revell, I figured I couldn't go wrong getting Standoff for review from them! I'm glad I did!

Summary:

The Natchez Trace National Parkway stretches 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez, the oldest town on the Mississippi River. It's the perfect road for a relaxed pleasure drive. Unfortunately for Luke Fereday, it's also perfect for moving drugs. 

Sent to Natchez to infiltrate the organization at the center of the drug ring, Luke arrives too late to a stakeout and discovers the body of his friend, park ranger John Danvers. John's daughter Brooke is determined to investigate her father's murder but soon finds herself the target of a killer who will do anything to silence her. 

Luke will have his hands full keeping her safe. But who's going to keep him safe when he realizes he's falling--hard--for the daughter of the man he failed to save?

My Review:

How I haven't heard of Patricia Bradley before is a mystery to me! The cover of Standoff grabbed my attention before I even read the plot. It's book 1 in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series.

First, there is a LOT going on in this story. I should've probably had a notebook next to me so I could keep track of how things were connected and who was connected to who. Thankfully it wasn't so much that I couldn't keep up. HA!

Can I just say I feel sorry for Brooke? All the gal wants to do is be sworn in as a park ranger, but calamity after calamity seems to want to keep that from happening. I just shared on Instagram that I don't trust anyone other than Brooke and Luke in this story. Then several chapters after that, it says, "At this point, Luke didn't trust anyone except Brooke." EXACTLY! Me either, buddy! The author literally kept me guessing.

Something I don't come across in most books is super short chapters. An author might put a break in a chapter when they move to a different character's POV, but in Standoff, she creates a new chapter. I actually liked it and it didn't phase me one bit. In fact, it helped give me random stopping points when needed.

I liked Brooke because, man, she was determined. She wasn't going to let the events around from putting her work off or from finding out what happened to her father. Whether sworn in or not, she was going to take care of business.

Luke on the other hand was always on the job. Dead bodies here, drugs being dealt there, figuring out how to keep everyone safe, the guy doesn't catch a break. I appreciated how he stayed true to his job because he had such a huge case to solve, but gave help to Brooke when she needed it the most, even when it jeopardized his life.

It was nail biting as things began to ramp up. The whole story was intense from start to finish, but as it led up to the culmination of who-done-it... I still wasn't sure, and the author left several red herrings to be sure! The ending was a bit abrupt, and I did have a question about one of the main characters who we didn't get closure with. I'm wondering if it'll be covered in book 2, which thankfully we're given a sample of at the end of this book!

About the Author:

Patricia Bradley is the author of Justice Delayed, Justice Buried, Justice Betrayed, and Justice Delivered, as well as the Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational Reader's Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award, and she was a Carol Award finalist. She is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at www.ptbradley.com.