AUTHOR: Patricia Bradley
DATE: 2021
PUBLISHER: Revell
STARS: ****1/2
From the back cover:
Investigative Services Branch (ISB) ranger Ainsley Beaumont arrives in her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, to investigate the murder of a three-month-pregnant teenager. While she wishes the visit was under better circumstances, she never imagined that she would become the killer's next target--nor that she'd have to work alongside an old flame.
After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn't bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly and unforeseen consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her. The only question is, will it be too little, too late?
My review:
Like every Patricia Bradley book I’ve read, Crosshairs starts with a bang and keeps the tension tight to the end. Before I continue, let me say I found two tiny things that kept this review from being five stars: the front cover shows a woman who is obviously heroine Ainsley Beaumont, but unlike in the story, the cover model’s eyes are brown instead of blue. Small detail, but still… The second “less-than” is the ending itself. It felt abrupt and not quite complete.
Other than those two small details, Crosshairs did not disappoint. Scars and secrets from the past – far past in one case – and complex characters in a tangled plot meant I couldn’t put the book down.
Ainsley’s relationship with her father and Linc’s with his best friend’s sister add to the realism of the story as well as the level of tension. Faith plays a minor but important role with Ainsley and Linc, a crucial aspect, as far as I’m concerned.
Crosshairs is another winner from Patricia Bradley and earns four and a half stars. I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.