Book Review: Into the Flames: Knoxville FBI #1 by Liz Bradford
This one is about justice. Since it involves the FBI, makes sense. The crime is the disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl, who is taken by traffickers. Another author showing the dark and true side of human trafficking. I appreciated that aspect about the book.
This is a well-written book. The story is compelling. The ending is exciting and suspenseful. This book is categorized as Christian Mystery and Suspense and as Christian Mystery and Suspense Romance. It is definitely the latter. If you like romances and you want a romance that is clean, and you like what is mislabeled as romantic suspense, then this book and this series is for you.
The Christianity is obvious in this book. Nearly all the point of view characters are believers. We often see their prayers to God. Because it is Christian and clean, there will be some that will say it’s not realistic, especially since we’re dealing with the FBI. And given the latest state of the FBI, if there are actually four believers in one unit, I’d be surprised. Sorry, couldn’t resist that.
The story centers around Jacq, a female FBI agent transferring into the Knoxville, TN unit. Her and Dylan (the other main character) immediately hit things off. The first ninety percent of the book covers about two weeks, and in true romance fashion, our protagonist and her flame progress quickly. Personally, I could do without all the ooshy gushy stuff. I mean how many times do we need to read about the electric charge that runs through the body of one when they brush the other? But that is romance. So, if you’re like me and you don’t like romances, then steer clear. If you do, this is one of the better written ones I’ve read. Granted, I’ve only read a few.
There are some interesting family dynamics going on. Dylan’s mom is a proper Southern belle and isn’t happy with Dylan (her second son) working in the FBI. And Jacq has some previous history with the family. I’ll leave the other details to you to discover on your own.
Bradford leaves the reader hanging in several areas. I’m assuming intentionally for the next book. Jacq does not meet Dylan’s family yet. There’s a point when Jacq hears a phone conversation and says she vaguely recognizes the voice, but we never find out who it is. And one of the prostitutes is someone Jacq knew. That final point, I feel Bradford should have left a mystery. The reader knows who she is. Jacq and the rest of the FBI doesn’t, she’s just a mystery woman. I think it would have been better to leave her real identity a mystery for the reader as well.
There were three gaffes I have to point out. In one scene, Jacq buys a Dr. Pepper, then refers to it as a “cherry cola”. Dr. Pepper is NOT a cherry cola. Cherry might be one of the twenty-three ingredients. On a stakeout, Dylan eats a caffeine protein bar instead of coffee so that he doesn’t have to pee. It’s the caffeine, not the coffee that causes one to need to urinate since caffeine is a diuretic. Finally, the author calls Dylan’s sister Emma toward end instead of Scarlet. Ms. Bradford must have changed her name and missed one on editing.
Being a Christian novel, it’s clean. No profanity, no sex, no over the top violence. Just a lot of rapid heartbeats, blushing, and electric charges. I’m putting this one #7 for this year, mainly because of the sub-genre. Not my favorite.
Book Rankings for 2022
- The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin
- Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
- Moonlight Awakens by John Matthew Walker
- Win by Harlen Coben
- Murder Board by Brian Shea
- The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias
- Into the Flames by Liz Bradford
- You Are Invited by Sarah A Denzil
- Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce
- One Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.
- Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
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