Fatal Secrets
3 Stars

ICE agent Sonia Knight survived a human trafficking ring as a child and has dedicated her life to stopping these heinous predators from trading in innocent lives. Unfortunately, her latest case hits a snag when a crucial stakeout is interrupted by the FBI serving a search warrant. Assistant Director Dean Hooper is just as determined to put a stop to Xavier Jones's money laundering activities and agrees to join forces with Sonia and her team. However, a new player arrives on the scene placing the agents and their case in even more jeopardy. Can they stop them before it's too late for their victims?

Series note: While this is book #2 in the FBI Trilogy it is unrelated to book #1. Nevertheless, it does introduce the Rogan brothers who appear in the Lucy Kincaid series, and it becomes clear at the end that Dean's brother is Will Hooper from Killing Fear in the Prison Break series.

Human trafficking plots literally make my skin crawl. While the horrors of the trade are expertly conveyed, Brennan does, thankfully, spare the reader most of the egregious descriptions. Unlike the fast-paced action of the serial killer plot in Sudden Death, the investigation here is slower, and many of the details concerning the financial crimes and connections in the middle cause the narrative to lose momentum. Nevertheless, the action ratchets up toward the end and the resolution is satisfying. The twist regarding the villain's identity is also excellent.

In terms of the romance, it is clear that this is not Brennan's strength. While Sonia and Dean have a stronger emotional bond than Megan and Jack in the previous installment, there is still a distinct lack of chemistry between them. Moreover, Dean's character is not as well developed as Sonia's, and he comes across as a boring number cruncher rather than a sexy Fed.

In sum, the subject matter is disturbing, and kudos to Brennan for taking the risk of mixing it in with the romance even though it doesn't really work. For those interested in a truly gripping RS with this trope, I highly recommend Pamela Clare's Hard Evidence. ( )

Started April 06th, 2014.
( Currently in mad rush getting up-to-date with a few series from [a:Allison Brennan|52527|Allison Brennan|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1291263493p2/52527.jpg] )
Hm, again just 4 stars for the ending being again predictable and too much romance. Just over 3 stars, would have given 3.7 stars if possible.
The story is rather brutal, with torture and a high body-count. The romance was ok and felt real, but a bit long and too much, with one or two simple, non-kinky sex-scenes thrown in.
The problem of human trafficking is described with a lot of insight (at least it felt very real to me, wether that is true, I can only guess).
The book takes a clear stance against going rogue and being vigilant and I like that. The thin line between bending rules and breaking them is never crosses and even for the bending there are always good reasons.

Having read quite a few of her books now i see a pattern, but not too bad.
Recommend reading this book, 80% of it is a page-turner, only slowed down by the romance/sex-scenes. ( )

A dark romantic suspense that started out strong and kept on going pulling me in with lots of information on the human trafficking underworld but rather light on the romance between a scarred heroine and compassionate hero. FBI agent Dean jumps in the middle of a case ICE agent Sonia is working.
( )

The story on the whole was good, but it was slow going. There were times almost gave up on the book. In the end I am glad that I didn't give up. ( )

Tough going thru the info dump on trafficking of sexual slaves and indentured servants. When you zero in past that, it’s a good story—tho’ violent. I’ve liked others of hers better, like THE PREY. ( )