Murder

I enjoyed this story even if it didn't push all the buttons most of the previous book pushed. I love the main characters and their families. Lucy and Sean's relationship continues to develop. I am crazy for the direction the author is taking this couple. Sean is the perfect partner for Lucy. He knows her better than she knows herself. He gives her tough love when appropriate, and tenderness when she needs it.

I'm a Kane Rogan fan. He stealthy moves in and out of dangerous situations. It isn't easy to contact him, even though he does get back to Sean eventually. Sean and Lucy count on him to find information that others can't. He is a mystery for sure. I hope we get more of Kane in the future.

The mystery moves forward at a good pace. There is a lot of action, however I'm not sure the book needs to be so long. The cliffhanger ending is totally unexpected. This is the first time in this series as far as I can recall.

I'm not a cliffhanger fan at all. There are so many unanswered questions, I didn't feel there was any justice in this book. That said, there are a full compliment of bad guys (male & female) that held my interest as I tried to figure out what was going on. It is fortunate that the next book is published so I can move forward to the conclusion--I hope.

This book is not a standalone. It is best to start at the beginning of the series to understand the characters, their history, demons, family, etc.

I listened to the audio for this book. The narrator does an excellent job bring the story and characters to life. ( )

An FBI story of corrupted politicians trying to make more momey than they should. Not recommended ( )

Best Laid Plans is another Lucy Kincaid novel from Allison Brennan. The series is a wonderful series so each addition is held to a high standard, which can be a bit unfair. This is a very good addition to the series but I prefer several of the others.

If you're familiar with the series you'll like this one but may have certain aspects you want more or less of. Familiarity means we have favorite characters and when a character moves more forward or backward in view in a story line we complain or cheer. Don't worry, nothing drastic is omitted but the dynamics are, to me, a little different and took a few chapters to get used to.

The mystery and the suspense is top notch, as any reader of Brennan has come to expect. This particular plot was almost complex to the point of being convoluted but stopped just short, which makes it a challenge, albeit an enjoyable one.

I would recommend this book to any fans of mystery, thriller and suspense novels. The series is well worth reading from the beginning but this can be read without reading the previous ones, even though this picks up from where the last ended. This one, however, ends in a bit of a cliffhanger so you will want to read the next one when you finish this one.

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads' First Reads. ( )

I love the Lucy Kincaid series! What seems like a typical story, FBI comes in & arrests bad guys becomes a complicated story full of twists & turns you can't even imagine! Allison has such a great way of developing complex multi dimensional characters that evolve right before your eyes. You can't take anyone at face value! And then when you think the story is almost done, a cliffhanger until book 10!

Can't wait for Book 10!! ( )