Catch Me by Lisa Gardner

          D.D. Warren #6

          This was a good book – not great, but a fine way to spend a few hours.

          Detective D.D. Warren of the Boston Police Department is a homicide cop who finds herself with two series of murders to solve simultaneously. The first is the executions of several pedophiles.  While at the scene of the first death she is called to, D.D. spots someone moving suspiciously at the edge of the crowd outside the building. D.D. runs this character down to find she is Charlie Grant. Charlie’s murder hasn’t happened yet, but she assures D.D. it will happen in a few days. She claims to be at the scene to check out D.D. since she’s heard D.D. is the best. Charlie wants D.D. to handle the investigation of her murder once it happens.

          This introduces the second series of murders D.D. must solve. Charlie’s two best friends have been killed. The first on January 21^st two years prior; the second was murdered on January 21^st of the previous year. It is now mid January, and Charlie is counting down the days and hours till the twenty-first and preparing herself mentally and physically to fight her killer to the end.

          D.D. is trying to balance her job as a murder cop with her job as mother to her ten week old son.  And, as if she does not have enough on her plate, her parents are coming to visit! D.D. is frazzled and sleep deprived as she juggles job and family.  It makes her wonder if she’s losing it when aspects of the two cases seem to relate to each other.

          The story twists and turns as D.D. tries to solve the murders of the pedophiles while preventing Charlie’s demise by solving the murders of her two friends. Little does she know that many of the answers to both puzzles are lurking within her own Boston PD.

          On the evening of January 21^st, D.D. realizes two things nearly simultaneously: she knows who has been killing the pedophiles, and Charlie has disappeared. As D.D. races to find Charlie before the killer can finish her off, Charlie is discovering that all her preparations for facing and defeating her murderer have been for naught. Unless a miracle happens, she is going to die, and several others may die along with her.

          But D.D. arrives in the nick of time.

          I can recommend this one as an entertaining read. While I won’t go back to read the first five books in the series, I will gladly read the others as they come along.

 

 

Dark Predator (Carpathian) by Christine Feehan

          Book #22 of the Dark Series

          I knew Dark Predator was part of a series when I started the book, but didn’t realize it was number twenty-two.  The book does an excellent job of standing alone. At no point did I feel lost or left out of the story.  And, it’s a good one.

          The main character , Zacarias De La Cruz, is over one thousand years old.  For centuries he has fought evil and it has taken its toll on his spirit. Carpathians, like the more commonly known vampires, cannot abide sunlight. And, Zacarias decides to go into that great good night by giving himself to the sun.

          Zacarias heads to one of his family’s many ranchos in the Amazon rainforest, this one in Peru. As he lays down in preparation for sunrise and death, he is spotted by a young woman, Marguarita.  Marguarita and her entire family have served the De La Cruz family for generations.  She understands instantly what he means to do. And she cannot bear it.  She saves him despite his orders to let him die.

          Zacarias pays her back for her disobedience by marrying her in the ancient Carpathian tradition. But, as is usual in these cases, he is the one suffering within the confines of the relationship. 

          As the story unfolds, Marguarita and Zacarias learn to be with each other while ridding the world of great evil.

          As I mentioned earlier, this is a good book.  I now intend to try reading some of the earlier ones.  If they are as satisfying as this one, I may have just added another twenty-one items to my reading list.