Book Review: The Deadly Shallows by Dani Pettrey

 

The Deadly Shallows (Coastal Guardians #3). Dani Pettrey. Bethany House (2022). 416 pages. Genre: Romantic Suspense, Christian Fiction.

First Lines: "Early December.  Holly Ridge, North Carolina.  Crisp night air slapped his cheeks, but he'd long since learned to endure the elements."

Summary (from Goodreads): CGIS Agent Noah Rowley is rocked to the core when several of his valued team members come under fire on his Coast Guard base. He and his remaining team race to the scene and end the attack, but not before innocent lives are lost. Furious and grief-stricken, he vows to do whatever is needed to bring the mastermind behind the attack to justice.

Stunned by the ambush, Coast Guard flight medic Brooke Kesler evacuates in a helicopter carrying the only surviving gunman. The gravely wounded man whispers mysterious information to Brooke that immediately paints a target on her back.

As Brooke and Noah race to uncover answers, emotions between them ignite. Noah struggles to protect Brooke at all costs and to conceal the secret that prevents him from becoming what he longs to be--the right man for her.

Everything is at stake as a horrifying truth emerges. . . .

The attack wasn't the end game. It was only the beginning.

My thoughts:  The Deadly Shallows has an intricately detailed plot along with two well developed romances.  I really like the way Dani Pettrey tells a story.

The books starts with a mass shooting at a graduation ceremony located on the Coast Guard base and attended by flight medic, Brooke Kesler.  Things quickly erupt into chaos.  Not only is Brooke traumatized by witnessing the shootings and being injured, she is needed to help treat other injured people.  The pace is intense and doesn't slow down.  There are some quieter moments between some of the characters, but they are short lived. 

The mystery that needs to be solved is who is behind the shootings and why.  Unfortunately, these are professional criminals and are difficult to find or trace.  Also, since Brooke was assigned to treat the one shooter who survived and he choose to whisper something to her just before going into surgery, she has become a target.  Noah Rowley was also injured in the shooting while trying to take down the shooters, but he doesn't let that slow him down.  Noah and Brooke are forced to spend lots of time together as they are working on staying safe and trying to figure out what happened.  As they spend more time together, they have to examine their feelings toward one another.  As is often the case, it's complicated.

There is a secondary storyline involving another member of Noah's CGIS team, Caleb, and female private investigator, Austin.  When Austin's dog becomes ill and is taken to the vet, the vet discovers the dog has been poisoned with a hard to identify substance.  Caleb takes a sample to the Coast Guard lab and they discover is has come from the sound near Austin's house.  This is also a complicated plot that was interesting to look into.  It involved the process of foam production and the waste chemicals involved in the process.  

The author was able to weave all of this together seamlessly.  The romances were always secondary, but provided a nice break from the action.  The characters from the first two books also make appearances as the team works together.  I'm becoming rather fond of them.  Thankfully there is one more book to go in this series.  I look forward to reading it!

Quotes:  

"With the majority of the surrounding houses dark for the night, the sky shone with sparks of illumination.  It reminded him just how small he was in the majesty of God's creation."

"Eye contact was crucial in Brooke's job.  If the patient couldn't see her intent and her reassuring gaze, they often slipped through her fingers rather than hanging on."

"'Vanilla is a perfectly good flavor.'  Once he found one he liked, why switch?"

Other books in the Coastal Guardians series:

The Killing Tide

The Crushing Depths