Seconds to Live by Susan Sleeman

Seconds to Live by Susan Sleeman ISBN-13: 9780764233951 Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Bethany House Publishers Released: December 3rd 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
When cybercriminals hack into the US Marshals' Witness Protection database and auction off witnesses' personal details to the highest bidders, the RED Team led by FBI Agent Sean Nichols begins a high-stakes chase to find the hacker. But before he can even get started, the first witness is targeted and barely escapes with her life. Sean believes Phantom, an obsessed hacker who previously outwitted the top minds in the field, is behind the attack, and Sean needs this witness's help, as she's the person who has come closest to discovering Phantom's identity.

Trouble is, she's a witness under the care of US Marshal Taylor Mills, and Sean is reluctant to work with the captivating marshal who knows his deepest secrets. But Phantom claims he knows where the witness is hiding and will kill her, so to stop the hacker, Sean and Taylor must work through their personal pain and learn to trust each other.


My Review:
Seconds to Live is a Christian romantic suspense novel. I've enjoyed this author's previous books, but she unfortunately hit every one of my major pet peeves in this book. Taylor's very devoted to her job of protecting witnesses, and she's willing to stand up to others to make sure they stay safe. This put her in conflict with Sean, who needed her witness to help track down a hacker that broke into the witness protection database and threatens the safety of all of the witnesses in the program.

Though they were supportive friends online, they're in constant conflict once they meet and try to work together. They want to get along, but he's under a lot of stress and their personalities clash. He's impulsive. She likes to plan. They never really became a good team as they kept hurting each other by their actions. They're also both devoted to their jobs on opposite coasts. The author did such a good job of convincing me that they could never be a couple that the quick turnaround at the end didn't work for me. They suddenly convinced themselves that their physical attraction and intense kissing meant their different personalities will complement each other instead of continue to create conflict. But I just don't see their relationship actually lasting as they still had many issues to work through.

Sean and Taylor were very distracted by each other's physical appearance and presence, but the rest of the team seemed rather dense considering they were supposed to be a top team. At 71%, they said, "we should have known that Phantom would do something like this." Well, I certainly had guessed that a long time ago. This happened several times, and the twists were not surprises me.

Any respect on my part for Taylor also took a nosedive after 91%. The author mentioned several times that she had her gun ready and loaded, but then she didn't take an opportunity to use her gun to save her witness. Instead, she irrationally, impulsively threw herself into danger so that the manly, capable hero – Sean – could save everyone. Why can't she be capable, too, not just a good babysitter for petulant witnesses?

Both Taylor and Sean had major trust issues that they had to overcome, including trusting God with the future. There was no sex or bad language.


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.