PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
Published by Orenda Books
ebook (15 November 2017) | Paperback (5 January 2018)
320 pages
Source: Review copy
| About the Book |
Her daughter Dakota is safe, but her cancer is threatening a comeback, and Lori needs JT – Dakota’s daddy and the man who taught Lori everything – alive and kicking. Problem is, he’s behind bars, and heading for death row. Desperate to save him, Lori does a deal, taking on off-the-books job from shady FBI agent Alex Monroe. Bring back on-the-run felon, Gibson ‘The Fish’ Fletcher, and JT walks free. Teaming up with local bounty hunter Dez McGregor threatens to put the whole job in danger. But this is one job she’s got to get right, or she’ll lose everything…
| My Review |
I’m delighted to be taking in the blog tour for Deep Blue Trouble, the second book in the Lori Anderson series. I have a confession to make. I haven’t yet read the first in the series, Deep Down Dead. I know. I’m possibly the only book blogger who hasn’t and I had all good intentions of reading it before this one (in fact I did start it but to had to put it to one side – other blog tour review commitments and life getting in the way). But, I’m happy to say that I didn’t feel at all left behind by jumping in with book 2, and in my opinion, Deep Blue Trouble can quite easily be read and enjoyed on its own as sufficient backstory is given. The downside is that book 2 obviously contains spoilers so if you really do want to read the first book, don’t do as I’ve done! I shall go back and continue with Deep Down Dead at some time as the books are just so good.
On to the story. Bounty hunter Lori Anderson is given a job by an FBI agent (Alex Monroe) to go and fetch Gibson Fletcher; an absconder from a state hospital whilst under guard. Its not quite clear what Monroe’s interest in the case is seeing that Fletcher was already behind bars for murder but due to all sorts of complications with her ex mentor and lover JT, and her 9 year old daughter Dakota, Lori feels she has no choice but to take the job and to complete it successfully.
I loved Lori Anderson and I can quite understand the affection for this character from other reviewers. Despite her tough exterior it’s clear how much love she has for her daughter and that she really will go to the ends of the earth for her daughter and others that she cares about. She is someone you would definitely want on your side and whilst she’s not perfect – she made some bad decisions on this job which put her and others in danger, but given the personal pressure she was under to get the job done, I think she can be forgiven for that.
Deep Blue Trouble is a superbly paced action thriller and whilst I normally do prefer a psychological thriller to an ‘action’ read’ I loved this and was utterly gripped by the unfolding story. Steph Broadribb does such an excellent job of bringing her characters to life – the antagonism between Lori and Dez – the terse and grumpy bounty hunter that Lori has to team up with in order to get Fletcher back from the Mexican border was an inspired pairing and whilst I sometimes find that the ‘Americanism’ in books can be overdone and irritating, here the dialogue and turn of phrase felt realistic and totally in keeping with the story.
I may have been late to the party on this occasion but I do hope there will be more to come in this series; if there is I will certainly be all over the next one. If you want to try this series for yourself, both Book #1 Deep Down Dead and this one, Deep Blue Trouble can be downloaded from Amazon UK for 99p each.
My thanks to the publisher and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the paperback copy to review and for the blog tour invitation.
| About the Author |
Steph Broadribb was born in Birmingham and grew up in Buckinghamshire. Most of her working life has been divided between the UK and USA. As her alter ego – Crime Thriller Girl – she indulges her love of all things crime fiction by blogging at www.crimethrillergirl. com, where she interviews authors and reviews the latest releases. Steph is an alumnus of the MA in Creative Writing (Crime Fiction) at City University London, and she trained as a bounty hunter in California. She lives in Buckinghamshire surrounded by horses, cows and chickens. Deep Down Dead, her debut novel, published by Orenda Books, was the first in the Lori Anderson series, and was shortlisted for two Dead Good Reads Awards, including Best Debut and Most Fearless Female Protagonist. Steph also writes under the name Stephanie Marland. The first Stephanie Marland book, My Little Eye, will come out in ebook in November 2017 and paperback in April 2018 with Trapeze Books (Orion).
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon UK | Goodreads
