“Unlike any other species on the planet, humans possessed the vexing capacity to dwell in the past or speculate about the future, which sometimes made life unreasonably difficult.”

Sam Easton still has nightmares of his time in Afghanistan after his wife, Yukiko, left him. He struggles daily with the support of therapy and his mother, Vivian Easton. Detective Margaret Nolan arrives at the scene of a murder with her experienced partner and things aren't looking well for Sam. Although Detective Nolan sympathizes with him as she recently lost her brother in Afghanistan, she still needs to stay focused on the evidence. He is a likeable character who because of his PTSD and blackouts finds himself in questionable situations like the suspect of a gruesome murder. Since Detective Nolan doesn't plan a big part of this novel I can only guess this sets the stage for the book series. ( )

Dark Read… Slightly Predictable



This is my first arc for NetGalley for the year 2021 and my first book by P.J. Tracy. I did enjoy the storyline my only downfall and the only reason that this is a four-star read is that I saw lots of the twists coming and for a person who loves thrillers that is not always a good thing.
Two different storylines are featured here, the first of which is catching the person, or persons, who have been racking up murder victims along Los Angeles' Miracle Mile. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner, Detective Al Crawford - plus another notable character or two - are on the case but not having much luck. On the other, Sam Easton, a former electrical engineer who is suffering from PTSD as a result of an Afghanistan attack that killed everyone in his squad except him, is working as a bar back in a popular local pub. His wife has left him, so he is alone with his nightmares and hallucinations and has only his job for solace. But when his co-worker, Melody, gets beaten by her snobby boyfriend, he is eager to help.

But the next day, Melody's boyfriend dies of very unnatural causes, Maggie and Al are called in and Sam quickly becomes a prime suspect - at least in Al's eyes. Maggie is not as quick to put the finger on Sam, though; she recently lost her brother who was serving overseas, making her more sympathetic to what Sam's going through. A day after Melody’s boyfriend is killed Sam’s wife is killed brutally as well.

What follows in the pages to come is a who done it that tries to keep you guessing and a couple in Melody and Sam who need answers. I enjoyed the dynamic of the LAPD partners and will read more in this series I only hope that it is less predictable. Thanks to NetGalley and all involved for my arc of this book worth the read.
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Great start to a new series. Can't wait to see where the story goes. ( )

I checked this out from my local library as a book club read.

I don't read much mystery/suspense, but this proved to be an intriguing, fast read. The writing was excellent; there were deep characterizations, and Los Angeles itself proved to be a vibrant character. The end, though, felt flat. The bad guy was too obvious from early on--and I kept wondering why the main characters didn't pick up on the hints. A subplot involving a serial killer was really unsatisfying, the resolution feeling crammed in at the very end. Still not a terrible read, but I'm not encouraged to continue. ( )

Wow outstanding book.
Great believable characters
Excellent mystery.
I look forward to reading the other 2 books in the series although the police detective wasn’t as interesting as Sam and Melody were. ( )