Malicious Intent by Lynn H. Blackburn

Malicious Intent
by Lynn H. Blackburn

ISBN-13: 9780800737962
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: March 1st 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Dr. Ivy Collins, founder and CEO of Hedera, Inc., is ready to begin clinical trials of her company's cutting-edge prosthetic. But someone is trying to break into Hedera's computer systems, but to what purpose--and how far will they go to get what they want?

Meanwhile, U.S. Secret Service Agent Gil Dixon can't believe he's finally been reunited with Ivy, his childhood best friend. Now that he's found her again, Gil intends to spend the rest of his life with her. But it will take all his skill to uncover the truth in time to save Ivy's life's work, her own life, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire.


My Review:
Malicious Intent is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It's the second in a series, but it works as a stand alone. I liked the first part of the story, but it started to break down for me near the end. The bad guy started off by having lackeys torture Ivy for the password to her computer system so he could steal something (rather than asking her to give them what he ultimately wanted). As time passed, either the author or the bad guy forgot his original plan. Now he wanted to get past her computer security system to download a program that would deny her access to her files unless she paid a ransom. To force her to do this, he kidnaped someone. Rather than just demand the money directly in return for the hostage, he still wanted her to download the ransomware instead. Hm.

Ivy was smart and resilient. Gil was a caring and considerate guy. He made her food, provided physical protection and emotional support, and apologized when Ivy got upset with him for doing his job. I think she was upset that she needed protection. Gil was just doing what she'd been okay with before: planning a way to keep her safe while also keeping her protectors' safe. Gil even made sure she had a gun to protect herself and listened to her concerns, but she kept asserting her independence in unhelpful ways. Like one of Gil's main suspects wanted to meet with her alone in her office, and she did so because she couldn't believe that any of the suspects would harm her. Right or wrong, this expressed her doubts about Gil's judgement and abilities in a way that hurt Gil.

Ivy was ashamed of how her mother wronged Gil's family. Ivy had to accept that he'd really already forgiven her. There was no sex or bad language. The torture was clinically described by Ivy to the police and was somewhat graphic but not in an intense, gory way.


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.