Robert E. Dunn

Katrina Williams is back again, this time investigating the murder of a rising star, Rose Sharon. Her romance with Sheriff Blevin is extremely rocky, especially when she begins to question what kind of relationship he had with the deceased.

This was an imaginative and well written novel. Robert Dunn has woven a masterpiece that has corruption and deception at it's best. It had me completely guessing until the very end. If you really like suspenseful crime novels then this is the book for you!… (más)

If hard-boiled crime thrillers with a main character who has survived all the horrors and betrayals that the world has thrown at her and continues to punch her way through life because l better than the alternative, then come and meet Katrina Williams, an army vet who is now a Sheriff's Detective in a small town in the Ozarks.

'A Living Grave' is a remarkable start to a four-book series. The writing is grown-up and hard-hitting. The plot is twisty and drags you through some bad places where you meet truly terrible people. There's a strong sense of place, in this case, a small town in the Ozarks but most importantly, the main character, Katrina Williams is someone you are not going to forget.

She's a woman whose present has been dramatically shaped by her past. Her life is the 'living grave' of the title but she refuses to lie down and die. She is powered by anger, bowed by grief and finds relief mostly in violence.

The book opens with Katrina in mandatory therapy after an 'incident', which she described as a 'justified adjustment of attitude', that ended with a wife-beater being hospitalized. Here's the opening paragraph:

Therapy is not for the weak. It is spine-ripping, devastatingly hard work that shines a light on all the secret parts of your soul. We are all vampires at the center of ourselves, I think. Those bits of ourselves, the secrets that are protected by ego and self-delusion, burn like phosphorus flames when the light finally pins them down. Dunn, Robert E.. A Living Grave (A Katrina Williams Novel Book 1) (p. 1). Lyrical Press. Kindle Edition.

Although there is a solid mystery at the centre of this book, what it mostly does is provide a framework for getting to know Katrina Williams and for her to come to terms with her past and decide what she wants to do with her future.

Katrina's past is a nightmare. Most of that nightmare is about the violence done to her while she was in the army and the cover-up and betrayal that followed. The backstory is skillfully woven into the plot and revealed a bit at a time. This is achieved partly by having Katrina's history catch up to her in the form of a live investigation by the Military Police. Be warned, when we finally find out what happened to Katrina, Robert Dunn pulls no punches. The violence is graphic and horrifying but not in the least bit gratuitous. My main reaction after reading it was, 'How does anyone cope with having lived through that?'

Katrina's present is full of violence and isolation, except for her contact with her father and her uncle. She's working on it but that doesn't mean anything is getting better any time soon.

One of the things I liked about this book was that it gives an unromanticized view of anger and guilt and violence. Katrina's past is never given as an acceptable excuse for her actions. It's not her violence or her hard-as-nails way of policing that makes her a hero. It's that she hasn't given herself up to it entirely. She's still trying to have a life.

For me, 'A Living Grave' was a very satisfying read and a great start to a series that I'm keen to read the rest of.

I think this is a book that deserves to be much more widely known. I recommend it to you.
… (más)

A Killing Secret by Robert E. Dunn
Katrina Williams #4

Katarina is still dealing with the ghosts of her past but she is moving forward with her life and seems slightly more in control in this book than she was in the last one. I get her and really admire her ability to have survived all that she has and keep going. I am hoping this won’t be the end of the series!

Sent out to follow up on a claim of the theft of timber leads Katarina to a fresh crime scene where she finds not only the loss of high end furniture grade trees but also the body of a young woman murdered and dumped there. Who killed Rose Sharon and why? Katarina calls in the situation and then begins to look for clues to who might have killed this beautiful young woman and why it happened.

Needless to say, it is not enough to solve one murder mystery and find a timber thief...nope...Katarina ends up in quite a few volatile situations that see her bruised and battered as she follows leads hoping to find out more. She learns of a: protection racket, a timber theft ring, stalker, rapist...and more. She continues to deal with her past, hold herself apart and wants for things she seems afraid to verbalize.

This is a complex, dark, gritty story that I could not put down once I began reading. I love the way the author draws all of the little and large pieces of the story together while building to the finale. I also enjoyed learning more about Missouri – the state my daughter and her husband live in.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Will I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Lyrical Underground for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (más)

A Dark Path by Robert E. Dunn
A Katrina Williams Novel #3

I truly enjoyed this dark gritty story of Katrina “Hurricane” Williams as she dealt with mental demons while working to solve a murder. She is a bit heavy handed and in your face with the bad guys and not the most open with her feelings but she is definitely a force to be reckoned with and I would love to see what happens next. I had not read the first two books in the series and was able to read without problem though it might have been nice to have known more about Katrina and others mentioned in the book that no doubt were in the previous books.

With rape, murder, racists, Aryan Brotherhood, bikers, drugs, treasure hunters and more this was an interesting story that kept me reading through the night. Katrina was complex and layered and angry and so much more. I don’t know if she will ever find true peace or be able to share with others but have a feeling that the therapy she is going to may help her in the long run.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Will I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books – Lyrical Underground for the ARC ~ This is my honest review.

5 Stars… (más)