Seconds to Live

Let's not waste any time - Seconds to Live is a page turner that is so worth the read! The FBI RED team is on the hunt for a cybercriminal who has hacked the US Marshal's Witness Protection database. Phantom is the hacker who has evaded law enforcement in the past and isn't afraid to commit murder to keep others from talking. Dustee, a witness in WITSEC, is the FBI's chance at finally tracking Phantom down. But the US Marshall (Taylor) protecting her will do anything including risking her own life to keep Dustee safe from potential harm. When the FBI Agent (Sean) is put in charge of the investigation, he is willing to go to great lengths to put Phantom away for good. But will Sean and Taylor be able to trust each other enough to work through their differences and focus on tracking Phantom down before another death occurs? Can't add any more details without potential spoilers!

What I found most intriguing was the storyline was believable down to the most intricate details. On top of that, the villain is not revealed until the very end and it will keep you guessing. Several plot twists, believable characters, Oregon setting, all made this read one that was unforgettable. The details regarding the hacking were excellent and informative, not glossed over or unrealistic. In order to make a cyber crime work, the reader needs to understand what the crime entails - Susan Sleeman did this so well!

The Homeland Heroes series is going to be one not to miss! I'm already anticipating the next book in the series. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves cyber crime with a bit of faith and romance mixed in. It won't disappoint.

An intricately-plotted thriller featuring an FBI RED team (I don't see enough of that in fiction) and a US Marshal. I really enjoyed this more-unique pairing of law enforcement branches and I'm always a sucker for witness protection stories. (Witness protection fascinates me.)

I was expecting a lot more from this book than I got, I think. The first 40% was plagued by multitudes of sentence fragments and unlikely, stilted, or fragmented conversations that often didn't even make sense. However, the second half of the book was better, as though the author finally hit a groove with her characters and they started “living” better. That said, the side characters remained mostly wooden, so I'm leaving the rating at three stars (“good”) despite liking the wrap-up between the MCs more on a “very good” level. Hopefully the other characters will thaw more in the next book, which I definitely plan on reading.

I did have trouble accepting that any Christian would recommend hypnotism as a valid option, and that an FBI person would consider it as any way scientific. Hypnotism is something we shouldn't be playing around with.

Also, I love this cover design! So classy and snappy and portraying the suspense well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.