This series is speeding up and the bomber is on the run. They have saved "selfie guy" at the last second but he is still at jeopardy as his identity has been scrubbed and the bomber has given him a new one. We now know who the bomber is and have found his bunker but he has now set his sights on the CMU team. Lara specifically and when he contacts her and engages with her she does not back down. Treat a bully like a bully...However, now he seems to have turned all that against the rest of the team...

Great series. Nearly seamless moving from book to book. What happens next!

**Received ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I am really enjoying this series and I think it's really picking up the pace and becoming a real page turner. I'm really interested in seeing where the book goes and looking forward to part six :)

The hunter becomes the hunted
With just seconds to spare, Special Agent Lara Grant and the team manage to rescue a hostage. Victory! Thanks to this eyewitness, they now know the killer's name, and might even have a lead on his next target. But not even the FBI's best can protect everyone from the deadliest, and most dedicated, criminal. And when the entire CMU comes under attack, it'll take a desperate act to keep the team together. Lara puts her own secrets--and her own life--on the line in an attempt to lure the bomber out of hiding and into the open...once and for all.



* * * * *



And the tension ratchets up. The team now knows just who they are chasing but he keeps at least one step ahead of them. By this time, we really get to know Lara and most of the rest of the team so I am really rooting for them.


This serial really reminds me of a Netflix series where all the episodes are dropped at once. I am really enjoying it and feel that any of my readers who enjoy thrillers will also. Great characters, a lot of action and witty dialogue. What more could you ask for?


*** I received this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed within are my own.

Tough Justice: Countdown is the eight-part second season in the Tough Justice series with Carla Cassidy writing the first and second episodes, Tyler Anne Snell the third and seventh, Emmy Curtis the fourth and sixth, and Janie Crouch the fifth and eighth. Going into this, I had no clue that there had been a previously released season, and the eight episodes had individual titles. After having read this second season, I’m itching to read the first one because I’m curious about FBI Special Agent Lara Grant, who is part of the Crisis Management Unit, especially since the events in the first season were alluded to more than once in this new season. I’d also like to see how the CMU was established and how her relationships with her partners and fellow agents developed.
FBI Special Agent Lara Grant and the rest of the Crisis Management Unit are called to the scene of a second bombing, this time leading to the deaths of too many police officers. In both cases, one individual was spared. This serial bomber is going after powerful individuals in the city, and with each threat he makes, he gives them an option: confess your dirty secrets to the public or remain silent and watch others die with each bomb that’s triggered. Lara and the team are on borrowed time, but what happens when Lara becomes the latest target of the serial bomber? He says he knows her deepest and darkest secret, a secret Lara would prefer to keep hidden. When she’s the one who needs to decide, will Lara’s choice set her free or will it imprison her to her fate?
I have to give credit to the first episode, which was written by Carla Cassidy, because it had me absolutely hooked from the very beginning. Cassidy established this almost palpable feeling of suspense and tension and the three other authors—Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis, Janie Crouch—did amazingly well as the proverbial baton was passed on from one to the other and back until we were left with a complete story that was still able to tease us about what Lara Grant had to look forward to in the next season. It was actually difficult to tell the four authors’ writing apart because everything just came together so seamlessly, leaving me impressed and itching for more of Lara in season three and to meet her in season one. 4.5 stars for Tough Justice: Countdown. ♥

I know that the publisher is trying to get the reader (me) to embrace a long series because hey...lots of money invested by whomever buys this set. But they have to do better. If I had bought the first book, I never would have read further. And if someone gave me the second book, I wouldn't have bought the third. This just hasn't lived up to expectations. I wanted characters to like, a plot that I would rivet. Instead, this is dragging on and I just want the guy caught, and there isn't one character that I like.

Favorite Quotes:

Nobody moved for just a second, unable to believe they’d gotten so damn lucky. ‘That’s right, you heard me, you bastards. Clear!’ the man yelled again. ‘Now someone please write an epic poem about how fucking awesome I am.’

He’d slipped her his own note. There’s no I in team, but there is a you in fuck you. Things had gone downhill from there.

Every park ranger in a statewide radius seemed to be at Cougar Mountain when they arrived twenty-seven minutes later. They were circling the car like they were a coven of witches about to put a hex on it or something.

My Review:

The Whisperer/mad bomber was continuing to outsmart, shock, and vex the best of the best. The manner in which he exacted his revenge before going in for the kill was ingenious. The plot continues to build with ever increasingly warped and brilliant twists. Lara’s more obnoxious personality traits are putting herself and her team at increased risk and forcing a distance with the long-suffering Nick; that poor man. The segment ends with the most heinous cliffhanger yet – which is beyond cruel – unless you are like me and already have all the installments uploaded.

Romantic suspense is not my usual genre, but I do love mystery/thrillers--especially FBI and police procedurals. A bomber has struck for the second time in New York City at the book's opening and Lara and the team are trying to find the bomber(s?) before there is another strike. The two bomb sites (a smoothie shop and a police precinct) don't seem to have anything in common, but the type of bomb and other evidence make it pretty clear that they are related.

In this segment, there is a break in the case as the team not only is able to save a hostage but finally gets the bomber's identity and is making traction toward finding him. Unfortunately he always seems to be several steps ahead. But the stress and Lara's secrets and constant heading out on her own are wearing on the team.

I am really enjoying this series but it will be hard to sell to my customers as it is written by so many authors. Customers who try to buy it in the normal stores will have a problem finding all the series before they are pulled from the shelves. Unless each customer comes in my store every month to buy the book in the series, it will be hard for me to sell the series

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Janie Crouch is the reason I took these book in the first place. It is very interesting how these authors have woven this plot as to be almost seamless from author to author. I am in awe as to how that has been accomplished. I may be prejudiced, but this is the best installment so far.

Selfie Guy, aka Benjamin Johnson, survived the bomb, but the Whisperer has an almost more devastating blow in store for him. One that strikes at the very core of who he is. As the only person to get a real up close and personal look at the bomber, Ben is critical to the investigation, but his info is to little, to late to save another victim.

"Rejection and humiliation will not be tolerated. Those found guilty will be put to death." The original group of people who had rejected and humiliated him were all suffering. How many more will die?

Finally, the CMU and Special Agent Lara Grant has a break in the case against the bomber named Whisperer. They not only have saved a life with only seconds to spare, but they have a name, they have an address, they have viable clues, they have a direction where to take the case, and they finally feel like they are one step ahead of the culprit. And that's when the team mentality breaks down.
In part five the case moves forward with a fast pace, and the information the team has in their hands stretches them even thinner than before as they are confirming the clues.
Nick and Lara's already complicated relationship comes to an edge, as Lara's inability and willingness to work as a member of the team comes apparent. The completely different styles and approaches to work seem to pull them farther apart instead of enforcing them to work closer as partners. The raw underbelly of the team is showing, and liaison with the team dwindle.
Lara's stubborn nature and temper are starting to show clearly, and are frustrating.
The characters of the CMU team are showing a more vulnerable side of them in part five, with both the positive and the negative side of the human nature. The scenes are changing fast, the case is moving forward until it takes a move into a direction that can be the end of the team, thanks to Lara losing her temper.
I have to give it to these four authors, the seamless work they have done with this serial novel is rather amazing. I have read books by all the four authors before and I can hear the distinct voice and style of each author as they each tell their part of the tale, yet the difference is barely there, like I previously said, more like looking at the same view with a step to another direction or with another focus on mind.
The way the story is built forms a habit, a nearly an addiction, to get to know more, to find out not only about the case, but about the destinies and faith of the members of the team.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Tough Justice: Countdown 5 – Tough Justice:Countdown is a serial by four authors Carla Cassidy and Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch. Installment four is written by Janie Couch. With 8 seconds to spare Selfie Guy is saved from the bomb. This gives the team an advantage since he saw the bomber. This installment is action packed. The team is splitting up and working clues in all directions. His house, his school campus and looking for his hideout. He is a creepy villain and brilliant at the same time. I enjoyed that Victoria had a small part in this installment. And we know how Jacob is doing in his foster home. It ended with another plot twist and cliff hanger.
Fword – 9, shit – 10, bstard -11

I was so thankful to get to read all 8 parts on Netgalley as I hate cliffhangers. I read them all pretty much back to back and enjoyed them all. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for switching authors though. I may not read a set like this again.... I found myself totally hooked. I really do like Laura. And I like Nick. But never really felt connected with the other characters.