Crisis Shot

Author: Janice Cantore

Series: Line of Duty #1

Publisher: Tyndale House

Release Date: September 5, 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Janice Cantore is back in full force with one of her best novels yet. I’ve been waiting for her to write this book for a long time.

Tess O’Rourke’s dream of becoming the first female police chief in Long Beach, California comes to a screeching halt when an unfortunate shooting leaves a fourteen-year-old boy victim and Tess as the shooter. Tess is cleared of any wrongdoing but, that doesn’t stop the public, especially an obnoxious blogger from trying to crucify her in the court of public opinion.  Tess decides her best option is to move away and start new somewhere else.  She takes a job as police chief of a small town in Oregon. Even though it is a long way from Long Beach, the residents of Rogue Hollow have still heard of what happened and are hesitant to give Tess a chance to prove what she can do.  She is able to make a few close friends, but things take a turn for the worst when her best friend turns up missing and the woman’s cousin is found shot dead.  Tess must rely on the help of sheriff’s deputy Steve Logan who has been an asset since she moved to town and she quickly finds herself becoming attracted to him.  Together, they work together to solve the first murder the town has seen and worry about mixing business with pleasure.

Janice Cantore has been a favorite of mine for a long time, but after the last series I felt a little underwhelmed. It just wasn’t the great work I had come to expect from her.  With Crisis Shot, I am happy to say my faith in her work has been restored.  This was a great read.  The characters were just right in all aspects of the story.  Tess is a strong female lead that even though she is going through a tough situation, she handles it with dignity and is able to be logical and not let her emotions get the best of her.  Steve was brought in but his presence wasn’t overwhelming.  I really liked how the members of the force were very standoffish when Tess arrived, but after seeing how capable she was of handling the situations they were faced with, their attitudes changed quickly. With all the changes that Tess went through, she was still able to handle it well, I think it helped that she didn’t have family holding her in one place so she was able to go somewhere else and start a new life for herself.  The fact that Cantore is a former officer gives credibility and authenticity to the writing that is missing from many police procedurals.  I recommend this book to anyone who has read Cantore as well as to new readers looking for a great romantic suspense that won’t disappoint.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.