Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fatal Judgment by Irene Hannon



book cover

Fatal Judgment
by Irene Hannon


ISBN-13: 978-0800734565
Trade Paperback: 330 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: January 2011


Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Back Cover:
U.S. Marshal Jake Taylor has seen plenty of action during his years in law enforcement. But he'd rather go back to Iraq than face his next assignment: protection detail for federal judge Liz Michaels. His feelings toward Liz haven't warmed in the five years since she lost her husband--and Jake's best friend--to possible suicide. How can Jake be expected to care for the coldhearted workaholic who drove his friend to despair?

As the danger mounts and Jake gets to know Liz better, his feelings slowly start to change. When it becomes clear that an unknown enemy wants her dead, the stakes are raised. Because now both her life--and his heart--are in mortal danger.


My Review:
Fatal Judgment is a Christian romantic suspense novel. Since the main characters were more concerned about each other than the threat for most of the story, I'd call this more a romance than suspense. The physical-danger suspense was low during the first two-thirds of the book because the "good guys" weren't sure Liz was actually in any danger until then. However, the suspense did spike at the climax.

The characters were complex and dealt with some realistic relationship issues. The details about the setting and the jobs were excellent and brought the story alive in my imagination.

The main characters occasionally prayed (the "help, God!" variety). They shared a brief discussion about God (why bad things happen), and several characters urged Jake to start going back to church.

There was a very minor amount of "he cursed" style bad language. There was no sex. The murder scene was not described with gory detail. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.


Note: I started reading Hannon's novel Against All Odds right after finishing this one. The two novels have many similarities.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt:
Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

2 comments:

Irene Hannon said...

Thanks for the nice review, Debbie. Glad you enjoyed the book. Yes, both Fatal Judgment and Against All Odds involve a protection detail as the catalyst for the romance--but the plots are very different!

Debbie said...

Irene,

You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by to comment. Yes, the plots of the two books are very different. However, there were a number of other similarities that made me think I'd enjoy "Against All Odds" more if I waited a month or two instead of reading them back-to-back as I'd planned.

I'll also say, if any officials ever show up at my doorstep saying I'm in danger and I need their protection, I'll go to that safe house and let my schedule be canceled. But I suppose that wouldn't make for much of a suspense story. ;) At least Liz was pretty sensible about it.