Wow! A roller-coaster ride for sure with FBI Agents Beth and Styles in this latest thriller from DK Hood! An entertaining read and fast paced action. Hang on till the very end!

🖤 ARC Review 🖤

Dark Hearts by D.K. Hood

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book 3 in the Special Agent Katz series and I am already hanging out for the next.

The storylines in this one were engaging and suspenseful, heavily focussed on serial k1llers, their style and triggers. I was fascinated and holding my breath at times. I am not sure of the odds of so many serial k1llers being in one region, but I guess anything can happen!

I am really enjoying the development of both main characters, Katz and Styles. We learn more about their childhoods and history, and there are wonderful scenes of them bonding and their recent connection.

I'm hanging out for the next one, not because of a cliff hanger, but because I think someone has figured out Beth's identity!! I also feel like maybe she's just self diagnosed psychopathy, and there's doubts as to how true and correct that actually is by her.

I highly recommend this series, especially if you are fascinated by serial k1llers and the psychology of it all.

Thank you so much to Debra for the buddy read - be sure to check out her review on Goodreads!

Thank you also to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Colour cover and book description credits: Goodreads

Title: Dark Hearts
Author: D. K. Hood
Series: Special Agent Beth Katz #3
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Crime Thriller
Pub Date: February 26, 2024
My Rating: 4.3 . Stars
Pages: 261

~f you are new to this series ~ Special agent Beth Katz is an FBI agent in DC who is good at
tracking down psychopathic serial killers. She knows how their mind works as she has had
first-hand experience as her own father was a serial killer.
Beth is also a serial killer and takes down serial killer ~ when she does she leaves a Tarot card
and is known as the ‘Tarot Killer,
Her partner suspects that she has a dark side and believes she needs a psych evaluation.
She has the evaluation and it is decided to reevaluate in a year but in the meantime she is
transferred out of DC to the FBI Field post in Rattlesnake Creek, Montana. ~

This story stars with a series of robberies, the robber shoots customers in the convenience store and takes sixteen-year-old Cassidy Wilder; she is later found dead.

Having read the other two books in this series I was sure Beth’s alter ego was going to rise again. We find out more about Beth!
In this story Beth dugs deep into the mind of this serial killer; true he is a psychopathic but that doesn’t make one a serial killer but a series of bad things occurring in the life of a psychopathic can lead to terrible things.

I really liked this story and really liked getting to know more about Beth. Which has made me anxious for her next story!

I am a fan and follow several series with smart strong females- Melinda Leigh’s - Bree Taggert, Lisa Regan’s-Josie Quinn, Linda Castillo’s-Kate Burkholder,: Elly Griffiths -Ruth Galloway, and James Patterson’s-Lindsey Boxer. Now adding D.K Hood’s Beth Katz!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 26, 2024.

This is the 3rd book in this captivating, thrilling series, and this book was excellent! I really love this series because of the multiple cases that Beth and Styles are trying to figure out. Keeps you turning pages wanting to figure out the serial killer with them! I really love Beth and I'm hoping there's many more books with her upcoming. Excellent series ! Perfect thriller!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

This is a very good addition to the authors Beth Katz series. Beth and Styles are growing more on me as characters, I love their working rapport, and how their very different strengths complement each other during an investigation.

The authors writing style is good and very engaging, and Dark Hearts has a well thought out plot line. D.K. Hood makes her characters jump out of the pages and this book certainly hit the ground running with its beginning. It immediately grabbed my attention and piqued my interest and lured me straight into the story! One thing I love about this series are the unique location settings. For me, the author describes the areas and communities so well I can picture them, and the characters, in my mind when reading. I liked the separate investigation threads and the way the author increased the tension and suspense at times in the story when I found myself firmly in Beth's corner and rooting for her. All in all, a great fast paced read that very much hit the mark with me. I'll look forward to the next book, and would recommend this book/series although I'd suggest you read the books in order to get to know the characters from the start.

4 stars

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC.

I had a really good time with books one and two in the Special Agent Beth Katz series, so I was really looking forward to book three. But I must admit, I did not enjoy Dark Hearts near as much. While the writing in the first two books was certainly light, it seemed even more rudimentary in this novel. Not only that, but the dialogue, in particular between the two MC lacked depth and I often found myself frustrated by their conversations. It was corny at times and didn't feel like it was being said by experienced FBI agents. Furthermore, considering Dark Hearts is book three in a series, I would have expected deeper character development and storylines. And a lot of the wording was very repetitive, to the point I was finishing sentences before reading it.

Overall, a little disappointed considering how much I enjoyed the first two books.

This book is very well written, very easy to read and highly entertaining. The characters are fantastic, and the main character is a smart, strong and very interesting woman. The only negative in the book, is a couple of chapters written in 1.person POV. This is book 3 in the series, but can be read as a standalone.

I honestly don't know what I can say about this author's books that I have not said before. I can only praise her for her excellent books that turn into outstanding series. Whether you read this one or the one starring Jenna and Kane, you will always be reading a collection of excellent stories. 

What I also love is that she does not make the recurring characters of one series feel left out because she has started a new one. They always make there appearance too. Some have a bigger role, and some a smaller one, but she does not neglect them. :)

I love Beth. She really does not shy away from any danger because she believes in what she stands for. Although a lot of people would condemn her, I am sure a lot of people would also applaud her. While she has to colour inside of the boxes and follow the rules as agent Beth Katz, she has no rules but her own when she becomes her alter ego.

She always has the perfect plan, but even the best thought out plan could go awry if you are not careful. Will Beth be able to keep the upper hand as per usual or is she really cutting it close...

As I already mentioned in the beginning, another remarkable sequel that keeps you guessing until the end. 5 stars

Thank you

Third book in the Special agent Beth Katz series, I love following her and her FBI partner. I may have loved the first 2 books a little more than this one, but it was still an amazing read !

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

FBI agent Beth Katz and her partner Styles investigate a number of kidnap/murder cases. In each one the killer can be seen on cctv calmly shooting convenience store staff and customers, before leaving with a young girls. The girl is then found dead the next day. Beth also investigates murders on the side in her ‘role’ as the tarot killer.

Another fantastic story. I loved how the suspense is built, especially when Beth is acting as the tarot killer. The relationship between Beth and Styles works really well. There’s a will they won’t they aspect as the sexual tension between them appears to ooze out. They make a great team. I really enjoy how there is a main case in this series, but also the undercover stuff that Beth investigates separately.

Highly recommend.

The third book in what I think will be a shorter series than the Black Rock books and it’s not that they aren’t as good,, Beth is an interesting character but the longer she spends working with Styles is going to be her downfall as eventually she will be caught and that’s one book that is going to be well worth waiting for. As usual the author has written a story that keeps the reader guessing.

Dark Hearts is the third book in DK Hood's Agent Beth Katz series, and adds some depth to the character Agent Katz as well as her partner, Dax Styles - while bringing in characters from her other, widely popular, series featuring Deputies Dave Kane and Jenna Alton.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this one.
In quick succession, Agents Katz and Styles are plunged into the investigations of two separate serial crimes: one in which the perpetrator holds up a convenience store, kills and kidnaps and later kills again after a time of torture; the second involves serial murder and what looks to be rape.
As the crimes take place in two different areas, Beth and Dax are kept busy shuttling back and forth from their offices to the different locales.
Now, while Beth is happy to investigate the Convenience Store Killings along with her partner, it looks as though the Tarot Killer has his/her sights set on the Night Creeper, as they are calling the psychopath who takes random women and then kills them.
Throughout the book we're given a little more background on both of the main characters: what drives them to be who they are. And we're witness to the extraordinary lengths the Tarot Killer will go to, in order to avenge the victims.
Would not recommend this as a standalone read.

FBI Agents Katz and Styles are investigating the murders of young girls taken during robberies at convenience stores. There are no witnesses the perpetrator kills all the people in the stores and murders the young girls within 24 hours. This book is a gripping thriller full of suspense and twists. It kept me turning the pages waiting to see how it would end, you won’t want to put this one down. The book is part of a series but could easily be read as a stand alone. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Book three in this series featuring Beth Katz,the FUN agent with a secret agenda. A thoroughly good story,incorporating some old favourites.

I'm coming to love Beth and Styles almost as much as Kane and Alton. Beth is definitely one of the more complex characters I've ever read. I can't help but root for her. One aspect I really enjoy is the way the two series and characters blend and interact while still standing completely separate. The case this go around kept me guessing. I guessed wrong. I appreciate an author that can surprise readers.

There are a spate of robberies, where the cool and calm robber shoots the customers in the convenience store and takes a young girl hostage and she will later be found dead in a field.
Special Agent Beth Katz and her partner, Dax Styles, are frantically looking for the serial killer before another young girl becomes a victim.

I have to say that Beth is fast becoming one of my favourite investigators.
Paired with Styles, she has learned to hide her psychopathy, and is surprised to find that she has emotions and actually cares about the team that she works with, being Nate, the doctor, and Wolfe, the medical examiner.

This book is dark and gripping, and full of action. I read it in one sitting.

Since it was the third book in the series, I first read the previous two books, to get a sense of who Beth is, and why she is the way she is. I'm so pleased to have done this, as I read a couple of the Jenna Alton series, but not from the beginning, without any background knowledge of her.

Beth is multi talented, smart and devious. She has to be, as she has two sides to her personality.

I highly recommend this book, and this series. I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.