48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy #Review
48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy
Book description: The Tactical Crime Division—TCD—is a specialized unit of the FBI.They handle the toughest cases in the most remote locations. When TCD learns of a school invasion turned lockdown, every agent is ready to engage. With children in jeopardy, the stakes couldn’t be higher. But it becomes personal for hostage negotiator agent Evan Duran when he learns Annalise Taylor is one of the captives holed up with the students in a school for the gifted. He’ll need every resource available at TCD and every ounce of his expertise to turn this disastrous situation into a rescue mission—and if he succeeds, maybe reunite with the woman he never stopped loving.
About Carla Cassidy:
Carla Cassidy is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than 125 novels for Harlequin Books. She is listed on the Romance Writer's of America Honor Roll and has won numerous awards. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write.
Purchase links:
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50217728-48-hour-lockdown
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hour-Lockdown-Tactical-Crime-Division/dp/1335136398
- Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/48-hour-lockdown-carla-cassidy/1133889963?ean=9781335136398
- Google: https://books.google.ca/books/about/48_Hour_Lockdown.html?id=DS6zDwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
- IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335136398
- Harlequin.com: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335136398_48-hour-lockdown.html
Excerpt:
A new miniseries from Harlequin Intrigue.
Stopping criminal activity wherever it happens. The agents at the Tactical Crime Division are ready for
anything.
More and more, federal law agencies have to mobilize to remote locations to address large-scale crime
scenes and criminal activity—terror, hostage situations, kidnappings, shootings and the like. Because of
the growing concerns and need for ever increasing response times to these criminal events, the Bureau
created a specialized tech and tactical team, combining specialists from several active
divisions—weapons, crime scene investigation, protection, negotiation, IT. Because they are a smaller
unit, they are more nimble for rapid deployment and assistance to address various situations. This joint
team of agents is known as the Tactical Crime Division (TCD).
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Evan Duran—Special Agent Duran is a hostage negotiator for the Tactical Crime Division, a specialized
branch of the FBI.
Annalise Taylor—A teacher held hostage at a private school. She’s also Evan’s ex-lover. She’d broken his
heart several years before, and now he holds her life in his hands.
Jacob Noble—Is he the leader of a charitable church or the dangerous leader of a cult?
Gretchen Noble—Jacob’s wife, who is not afraid to abuse or kill. Will she kill Annalise before she can be
freed?
Hendrick Maynard—Brilliant tech agent for the Tactical Crime Division. Will he be able to get the
information Evan needs or will he be destroyed by old painful memories?
Walter Cummings—Chief of police in Asheville. Would his incompetence be the death of the hostages?
***
As he drove he made a few phone calls, and he finally pulled up in front of the nondescript brick
building where TCD’s offices were located. He parked, got out of his car and hurried inside. As he strode
down the hallway toward the main meeting room, he could hear Director Jill Pembrook apparently still
conducting the morning meeting.
The main conference room was the heart of the office. It was where assignments were handed
out and situations were brainstormed. The agents sat at a long, highly glossed wooden table. On one
wall was an oversize FBI logo, and opposite that was the TCD emblem. A large, digital flat screen was
mounted on the far side of the room, and a tablet lay at the head of the table.
Evan burst through the door. Director Jill Pembrook looked at him in surprise. “Agent Duran,
how nice of you to join us on your day off.”
The director was an attractive, stylish woman of substance with cropped steel gray hair and a
penchant for dark, custom-tailored suits.
She’d been with the FBI for over forty years, and she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Her blue eyes could be warm and friendly or they could frost a puddle of water into a sheet of ice.
“I just saw the news out of Pearson,” he stated. “I need to get there… It’s Annalise.”
There was a collective groan from some of the other agents. Evan ignored it. “I’ll need you to
arrange a plane to be ready for takeoff. Also, I’ll need Hendrick’s help on this. And I’m taking Agents
Brennan and Lathrop with me.”
“Call off the SEAL team, Duran is on the case, everyone,” “Agent at Large” Kane Bradshaw
murmured as the three men headed for the door.
Evan ignored him. While he liked Kane okay, there were times in the past they had butted heads
when Kane could sometimes be a bit of an arrogant jerk. Director Pembrook though tolerated his glib
attitude. And while Kane had no official rank as an agent with the bureau, he had an extensive
background with deep black ops.
Hendrick Maynard, the tech guru nodded. “You got it,” he answered without hesitation.
“Heading to my desk now. I’ll send you any relevant info ASAP.”
The director narrowed her eyes, and Evan felt the frost radiating from her. “Agent Duran, you
are way out of line.” She paused and continued to hold his gaze. “Ten minutes ago North Carolina state
officials called for federal help…” She paused and he was wondering if he should offer to submit his
resignation. “You will also take Special Agent Rogers along with the others. This is an all hands on deck
situation. Rowan as usual will accompany you and provide team support.”
Rowan Cooper, an attractive woman with long dark hair who worked as a liaison between the
local police departments and the TCD team members, also rose and followed the men out the door. She
accompanied any crew that deployed to a different location. Her specialty was smoothing over any
personality difference or turf wars among different law enforcement units on scene. But her main
responsibility was arranging overnight accommodations and making sure the agents had what they
needed in order to remain focused on the task at hand.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied to the director. He knew he’d overstepped boundaries by barging in,
but he’d felt the need to act immediately when he’d heard about the situation… About Annalise…
“Plane leaves in twenty minutes. Now go,” Di-rector Pembrook said. To him she added,
“Duran…don’t pull this kind of stunt again.”
Evan would have offered to quit after the assignment if he met any resistance from the director
to him heading up the detail due to his personal connection to Annalise. Nothing was going to keep him
from negotiating this hostage situation.
“Never,” Evan replied before turning to leave.
MY THOUGHTS
48 Hour Lockdown is the first book in a new mini-series from Harlequin Intrigue.
I do admit I don't usually read Harlequin Intrigue books but this series sounded interesting so I gave this first book a shot. I have to say that I enjoyed this one. This is a fast paced book that got me hooked from the very first chapter.
I do highly recommend this.
Comments
Post a Comment