Great characters - really strong characters with good back stories and enough baggage to be interesting without hijacking the story. The mystery itself is gritty and a bit confronting, offering a challenge to those readers who like to try and solve the mystery as they read. I hope we will see more of these two lead characters - they are so well developed and work extremely well as a team.

Wow!! I don't even know where to start with this book!
It had me feeling all sorts. I cried, I pulled my baby out of the cot one night after a particularly bad chapter and held her close praying she never comes across the evil in this book, it had be feeling pure terror towards the end.... What a ride!!
The author had a bit of a Karen Slaughter feel and I will absolutely be recommending this book on good reads and to my book club. Can't wait for another book from this author

I really enjoyed this book. It started off a bit slow and wasn't sure what to expect but a quarter of the way through I was hooked and had to keep reading. I finished in a day as I wanted to find out what happened. It is difficult to say anything about the plot as I don't want to spoil anything, there was a bit a gruesome action but that felt in line with the plot and the character development. I wanted to know more about one of the wives - that is my only criticism as that was the bit for me that was unresolved. Can't say more - due to spoilers.

It looked like this was setting up for a series and I really want to read more about their journey, so can't wait.

I was given a free book by net galley and I would like to thank them, in return for an honest and unbiased review which I have done.

Despite a little slow start, the story picks up as it goes along. A damaged detective moves away from a horrifying past to a small town. Matched with an equally damaged veteran, the pair determine to uncover a series of horrible murders. Why these crimes were hidden is a combination of reputation of the town and ?????.
The characters are interesting, their pasts helping them define the present. However, no one in the world talks like these people- the captain of the police department especially.

As they investigate, they run into some smooth criminals who also strain credulity.
I couldn't really see how this was going wrong until I got to the Christian warrior comment, ahhhh, I got it now.
With that understanding, I got through the end.
Things get tied up nicely, but by then the God stuff was a little heavy handed.

3.5/5 stars actually.

I found myself really enjoying this novel. At first, the case focuses on a girl that has been found dead on the shore. And soon, we know we're talking about a serial killer. What really piqued my interest was the fact that someone had gone through a lot to cover up all the traces, both inside and out of the system.
I must say I did not expect such gory descriptions right at the end. Though it was a bit revolting, I couldn't stop reading.
I enjoyed the way the characters are developed and how they evolve and how we get to know their back story. But, at times, I felt like it slowed down the pace of the whole story.
I certainly wouldn't mind reading more things from the author.

Thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley for the digital copy. This review is my own and completely unbiased.

A young woman washes up on the beach of this small town. She's been sliced and butchered. She is not the only body that has been found over the past few years.

Detective Melissa Longstreet, with her partner Detective Pete Rodriguez discover something they've never seen before. There were at least 7 murders ... all in the same vein as this last murder. however, they were never really investigated, and all the reports are missing. Someone obviously is directing a cover-up. How far up the chain does it go?

The Medical Examiner finds a deadly party drug in this victim's system. She was a young woman who worked at The Spring ... a resort that obviously has a deep, dark secret. It's a web of deceit, bribery, murder and Longstreet and Rodriguez must race against the clock before any more bodies fall.

It's a well written book, hopefully leading to a series. Each of the detectives has something traumatic in their backgrounds and I was glad to see how they turned to each other to share their stories. The characters are deftly drawn, and will be remembered long after the book is finished. There's lots of page-turning action.The ending was explosive, and utterly unexpected.

Many thanks to the author / BooksGoSocial / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I loved the concept of this book. However, I only got at 49% and that did it for me. First of all for a female detective to even consider dating a murder suspect, not to mention a married murder suspect because he makes her feel feminine. Um no. The other thing about this book was it was too descriptive...over writing. Too wordy to describe something. Telling instead of showing.

Melissa Longstreet is beginning to recover from her tragic past and is now a detective with the Spring Harbor Police Department. Her partner, Pete Rodriguez, is former military and the first man to interest her since the death of her husband. They are assigned the case of a woman’s body that has washed ashore. The woman has been terribly tortured and is the daughter of a local family. Their investigation widens to include illegal drugs, prostitution and a department that has hidden secrets. The painstaking process to find evidence results in other cases of similar victims and a serial killer that has not been caught. A complex mystery showcasing the questioning process that slowly leads them to the evidence they need to stop the killer. The description of the torture that the victims endured was a little too graphic for me, but I still couldn’t stop reading. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)