Dangerous Deception by Cindy McDonald
4 STARS
Dangerous Deception (Unbridled Series #3)

This is a good mystery,action packed story. The West family is back. They train racehorses and have a good business. This has some of the same characters as Hot Coco does. I am not sure about the first book in the Unbridled series. I did enjoy book 2 &3 though and would read more from Cindy McDonald in the future.

The book is set up in three secections. The first is the set up at the stable. How Some of the jockeys, and stable hands don't like Shane West. Vic Is a jockey but he is full of pride. He is getting old and caused a accident and was offered a easier job and is resentful of it. He gets talked into kidnapping Shane West for the money the west's have in thier safe because a another farm only wants to sell for cash.

Part 2 No Escape Clause Vic realizes what he has done. He is afraid to trust his partners that shane won't be hurt. Eric and Mike West are searching for Shane. Kate West decides she wants to help to and asks a cop she knows.

Part three Iron Horse Warriors is jammed pack with action. Everytime it seems to be safe something else goes wrong or goes right. Did not want to put down till I had finshed it.

I enjoyed Dangerous Deception. I like the characters. The different storylines that connect and how they fit together. I like the West family. Want to see Ava get what she deserves in the future. This is a good mystery that anyone can enjoy.

I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley.

Description Taken off Netgalley.

Old Age Ain’t for Sissies!

Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!

When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their horse farm Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the West’s younger son Shane.

When Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds, things turn ugly.

Suddenly, Vic finds himself between the rock and the hard place. . He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?

Not content to sit and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective Carl Lugowski to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon, they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang.

Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!

11/05/2012 PUB Acorn Book Services 218pages
ISBN 9780985726744 ( )

This is part of "The Unbridled Series" but the first book I've read by this author. That didn't make any difference though, because it read like a stand-alone.

The setting is a horse farm just outside Pittsburgh where the West family has gained a reputation for excellence. The father is a widower and his two sons work on the ranch. His daughter is a veterinarian; she lives at the ranch but works at the nearby racetrack. Mike, the eldest son, is divorced and all business; Shane, the younger, is the local handsome playboy. Both love the ranch and are quite knowledgeable about horses.

My only quibble with the story is a personal one. I'm no spring chicken myself so when McDonald has 55 and 61 year old men referring to their age as over the hill, it hits a nerve. I suppose their careers have a lot to do with it though. Eric West, ranch owner, is the 55 year old complaining about his aches and pains, but long-time employee Vic Deveaux used to be a jockey. After his days of racing were over, he works on the ranch, at 61 still riding every day in workouts for the horses. To me his stubborn nature and inability to listen to anyone are more to blame for what happens to him and the West family in this story.

Disgruntled employees come up with a get-rich-quick scheme that puts everyone in real danger. The plot also involves a violent biker gang and a delightful woman hidden away in a deserted mansion. The characters are what make the story so readable. It's scary throughout and you'll hold your breath that everyone will come out of it alive. I really enjoyed it.

Source: author through Partners in Crime Tours
Recommended reading ( )

Dangerous Deception is the second book in the Unbridled series. The West family run a training facility for thoroughbred horses, a rich family but a family with troubles, especially from their help. Vic Deveaux is getting too old for the work that is required of him, Martin Krebs, a hand on the ranch who is fired by Shane West. Krebs finds out that Eric West, the patriarch of the family, has a lot of money in the safe and comes up with a plan along with Vic's help to get his hands on that money. With a family member in danger, the West's band together to thwart Vic's plans. A full cast of characters makes this a suspenseful story with plenty of action which includes an undercover cop who is investigating a motorcycle gang who are running drugs and guns out of a dilapidated mansion belonging to an old woman. There are also a few love stories going on, so there is something to please everyone. I did not read the first book but I was able to get up to speed with the characters and who they were in relation to each other. A great action story!

I received a copy of this book for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review. ( )

Dangerous Deception is a good story with a horse racing theme, if you haven't read MacDonald's Deadly.Com. Sadly, the first half of Dangerous Deception is like re-reading Deadly. The characters are the same as in the earlier book and lack any dimension or development. As long as Cindy MacDonald keeps the action and suspense in the forefront, the lack of character development isn't noticeable. Fortunately, the second half of the book is creatively suspenseful. ( )

A great mystery. A lot of things going on, but they eventually all come together in a coherent story.

Shane West and his family own a major horse breeding and racing farm. Everything seems to revolve around that, but there are a lot of other threads through here.

This was well-written. It definitely kept my attention. If you like detective fiction, this book is for you. ( )