Code of Valor (Blue Justice #3). Lynette Eason. Revell (2019). 336 pages. Genre: Christian Fiction, Suspense.
First Lines: "The broker rose from his chair and glared at the imbecile standing on the other side of the desk. 'We paid you well to steal the boat. Where is it?'"
Summary: Brady St. John, detective with the Columbia, SC Police Department, needed a break. His siblings were concerned. So he rented a cabin for two weeks. By himself. So he could just be. But the problem was, he was bored. Or maybe he had too much time to think. Just when he had made up his mind that he had had enough time alone, he heard a scream come from the lake. Brady ran toward the water and spotted a boat way out in the middle of the lake. He could see two people in the boat, one with her hands tied to the rail of the boat. Brady shouted. The other person in the boat shot at Brady. The distraction was enough for the woman to break free and jump into the water. The boat sped away and Brady jumped into the water and swam toward the struggling woman.
Emily Chastain, a financial crimes investigator for a bank, is not really sure why she was kidnapped. She assumes it has something to do with one of the cases she is investigating. Someone grabbed her as she was leaving work, threw her in a trunk and brought her out on the lake to kill her. She didn't recognize her captor and he wouldn't speak to her when she asked him what he wanted from her. Emily fears that whoever wants her dead will now target Brady as well.
The St. John family is a law enforcement family, so Brady soon has several of his siblings involved trying to help them figure out who these people are and what they want with Emily. But, the difficulty will be keeping Emily alive long enough to catch the criminals.
My thoughts: I always enjoy the St. John family. They are such a close-knit family who are always watching out for one another. Mr. and Mrs. St. John don't make an appearance in this story, but several of the siblings do.
Brady has been through some difficult things lately, both personally and professionally. He recently ended a relationship with a woman who became addicted to painkillers and betrayed him. So, he has no intention of getting into another relationship. But he finds himself attracted to Emily. He keeps telling himself it probably has something to do with the fact that he rescued her. I appreciated that the romance between Brady and Emily was very subtle and played a very minor part in the story.
Emily is an interesting character. She had a difficult upbringing and because of some things that happened ended up living on the streets for a year. She also became addicted to painkillers. She had an aunt that finally located her and helped her get the help she needed to get back on her feet. The difficulties she went through seemed to make her a very stable, down to earth person. I appreciated that she was able to calm herself down in scary situations. For the most part she did what someone asked her to do. When Brady asked her to stay in the car, she usually did. That was a nice change from many heroines in suspense fiction.
The story was fast-paced. Once it started, it didn't slow down until the end. There were several twists and turns and deaths before the culprit was apprehended. This could be read as a stand alone, but you would miss out on getting to know the other members of the St. John family. I would recommend starting with book one in the series, Oath of Honor. I look forward to reading the final book in the series.
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