Book Review: Dark Ambitions
When a book begins chapter one with the words, “There was blood on the ice,” you can guarantee it’s going to be pretty great.
Those are the opening words of the first chapter of Irene Hannon’s newest book, Dark Ambitions. It’s the third book in the Code of Honor series.
I have long been a fan of Irene’s suspense novels. They all follow basically the same pattern. Girl needs help, guy helps her, they aren’t allowed to “fraternize,” they fraternize anyway, fall in love, she gets in trouble, he rescues her, they live happily ever after. Even though I know all of this from the beginning, each book has it’s own uniqueness, and I always enjoy the read.
This one did flip a little bit because in the “hero” is actually a girl. In most of the books the hero is a law enforcement officer, military man or retired special-ops agent, private investigator, or have some other exciting career. In this case the PI is a female, Heather Shields, who has recently joined the Phoenix, Inc. private investigation firm in St. Louis. (You can read about the other three investigators in the Private Justice series.)
I wasn’t sure how the dynamic would work out, but it turned out to be really good!
Related: Book Review: Tangled Webs by Irene Hannon
Summary
Heather is looking for a quieter, less dangerous job after leaving the St. Louis Police Department and joining the Phoenix, Inc team. For her first case, she’s assigned to help Rick Jordan find a missing friend.
Rick, a former Night Stalker is the owner of a camp for troubled kids. It’s Christmas Eve, and Rick is alone at the camp when he finds blood outside, and finds evidence that an old friend paid him a visit. But when Boomer is nowhere to be found, Rick turns to Phoenix for help.
But the case grows more complicated when they find secret files and evidence leads to dead ends—and dead witnesses. Someone is killing people to cover their tracks, but why? And what exactly are they trying to hide? Whoever it is, they will stop at nothing—no matter how many people have to die.
My opinion
Many times I can figure out who the culprit is before the end, but this one really had me stumped! The prologue begins in a first-person point-of-view, but you have no idea who the person is. The point-of-view alternates between multiple characters throughout the book, and jumps back into that one’s mind every few chapters—never revealing who’s thoughts you’re reading. I was never able to figure out who it was! This was my favorite part of the Dark Ambitions, and it added a whole new level of intrigue.
I really loved the characters of Heather and Rick. They played off of each other perfectly! I have read one of the other books in this series, and a few of Irene’s others. Many of her books contain crossover characters, and you get a “where-are-they-now” kind of vibe. However, they are written so that you can start in any book and read in any order. If you miss one or skip around, you won’t miss out on anything vital.
I love that you get lots of action and mystery in Irene’s books, but there is never anything inappropriate or any bad language.
Recommendation
Dark Ambitions was an incredible read. I read it in my spare minutes and late at night and finished it in just a few days. It starts out exciting, and gets better as it goes. It’s definitely one you’ll want to curl up with on a chilly fall evening!
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