The Cost of Betrayal by Dee Henderson; Dani Pettrey; Lynette Eason

The Cost of Betrayal by Dee Henderson; Dani Pettrey; Lynette Eason ISBN-13: 9780764231735 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: Sept. 4, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
In Dee Henderson's novella "Betrayal," Janelle Roberts is freed--thanks to people she doesn't know--after serving six years of a twenty-year sentence for a murder she did not commit. But a murderer is still at large, and Janelle needs to be somewhere safe with someone she can trust. She may not survive another betrayal.

In Dani Pettrey's "Deadly Isle," Tennyson Kent is trapped on the isolated island of her childhood by a storm surge, and she is shocked when the typically idyllic community turns into the hunting grounds of a murderer. Cut off from any help from the mainland, will she and first love Callen Frost be able to identify and stop a killer bent on betrayal before they become the next victims?

In Lynette Eason's "Code of Ethics," trauma surgeon Ruthie St. John saves the life of Detective Isaac Martinez. After a betrayal leads to him getting shot and then attacked while in recovery, Isaac is now a key witness determined to testify. But someone is intent on silencing him--and those around him--forever. Together, Ruthie and Isaac go on the run, desperate to escape the killers hunting him.


My Review:
The Cost of Betrayal is a collection of 3 Christian romantic suspense novellas. The first 40% of the book is a crime fiction by Henderson. It had no suspense or romance, just an old crime. The first third of the story was Ann Falcon stumbling across the missing murder weapon from a closed case--the murderer is already in prison. Since the weapon is in an unexpected spot, she looks into the case. This took the form of Ann telling her husband possible scenarios based on the evidence, then skip to their next conversation where she tells him new evidence and all of the possible scenarios, and so on. Slow pacing. When we get to the release of Janelle, the innocent woman, it's all about them telling her how hard her adjustment to normal society will be, all the arrangements they made for her, and her adjusting. Janelle did briefly confront the suspected murderer, but she didn't believe her friend did it. In the epilogue, a possible future romance for Janelle is implied. While interesting in a way, this story was too slow-paced to really engage me, especially as 'whodunit' is never proven one way or another.

Pettrey's story started with a murder and the suspense never stopped. Someone repeatedly tries to kill Tennyson while she and Callen (another law enforcement officer) investigate the crimes. She and Callen have known each other since they were children, and they fall in love again as they work together. Tennyson questions why God allows suffering but learns to trust God even in hard times.

Eason's story also started with suspense and never let up. Surgeon Ruthie isn't about to let crooked cops kill Detective Martinez after she dug a bullet out of him. On the run while trying to find proof against the crooked cops, they make a good team. They're attracted to each other and act on that once the bad guys are stopped. Occasional prayers to God for help.

There was no sex or bad language. I enjoyed the last two stories and would recommend the novel because of them.


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.