This series has seemed to go off the rails with the different authors and side plots but hopefully will wrap up with a nice bow with only two more to go. Lara still doesn't know how to play well with others and goes off on her own and now it has her in a spot in this cliffhanger. I do like the addition of the newest character of Eloise, the teenage hacker Christina brought in to help. She is a hoot!

I put this series down for several months but now I am sick in bed with the flu and this one today was a nice distraction this afternoon.

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

Another solid part of the story, really enjoying this story and the pace is picking up really well as the story is developing. Looking forward to part seven to how the story ends, so pleased there are still two parts to go! Really looking forward to seeing what happens to Lara and her colleagues.

When the Crisis Management Unit finally catch a break that may lead straight to their key suspect, Special Agent Lara Grant takes the bait he's offered only to her. She's ready to match wits with a madman if it means solving the case and stopping the bomber. But when her risky strategy of playing the lone wolf goes critically wrong, she wonders whether her willingness to do whatever it takes--alone--will prove to be the fatal choice...



* * * * *



When the bomber threatens to expose the secrets of the team members, things start to fall apart. And Lara being Lara is keeping her own secrets from her partner and from her team.



This was a very tense episode with the team starting to implode. I found that this episode to be the best yet as I watched the team trying to work together yet being more concerned with their own pasts than their team member's well being. I couldn't set aside my iPad until the cliff hanger conclusion.



Seriously if you enjoy thrillers, pick up this series. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.



*** 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. ♥

FINALLY! 6 books into this series and there is a book that reaches a 5 star status. This one starts with dread -- everyone is now targeted for their secrets. It ends with a great cliffhanger. The characters are better or else I am used to them and don't dislike them so much. There are some cautionary lessons embedded about lack of internet privacy and how anything on the internet, whether email medical testing, etc leaves a person vulnerable to privacy infringement.

My Rating:
4.5
Favorite Quotes:

He pressed the end call button and longed for the days when you could slam the receiver down on the phone cradle. Civilization had lost an important anger outlet when phones went cordless.

It was no fun playing cat and mouse when the cat was so far behind.

Lara. He shook his head. She couldn’t do anything half-assed. If she was going to break the law, a heart, the rules, she did it as if she were on steroids.

My Review:

I am beside myself with irritation and annoyance toward Lara – her selfish and impulsive behaviors have me wanting to smack her with my kindle. Her antics placed her entire team, and their deepest secrets, in the Whisperer’s cross hairs. Her rogue cowgirl act has worn thin with them yet again.

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, action is coming to a head as Lara's continued reckless behavior puts her in danger and the team in jeopardy of having painful and damaging secrets revealed. Although a damaged but likable character at first, Lara's actions and thus the plot, are getting to be a bit over-the-top and are not very believable.

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

Tough Justice: Countdown 6 – Tough Justice:Countdown is a serial by four authors Carla Cassidy and Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch. Installment six is written by Emmy Curtis. Lara calls the bombers bluff and increases the tension between the agents. The bomber threatens to reveal the secrets of the team in 24 hours if they do not come clean. The secondary characters are interesting enough to keep the reader interested and intrigued to follow another series to learn more about them. This leads to some interesting revelations from the team members. I am enthralled by how the hackers and the information they can get access to. It is captivating to watch the leads and whether they pan out or not.
Sex: very little romance. maybe one physical scene.
Violence: There is a serial bomber.
Language: lots of profanity.

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

Middle plot syndrome. After a breakneck pace, this Installment is beginning to drag. The whole plot seems to be getting slightly out of hand and there are way to many side trips that don't seen to lead anywhere, or the authors have decided not to take anywhere. Anyway, this one is slightly tedious, with a lot of navel gazing going on.

Lara refuses to play nice with The Whisperer and calls his bluff which results in him threatening to expose the secrets of the entire CMU Team. They all turn on Laura and Team Unity is strained, to say the least. As the Team only has 24 hours before it is fess up or blow up time, they are scrambling for any lead. One leads to a survivalist/militia supply store and Lara, again, proves to not be a Team Player.

In part six the Crisis Management Unit inner relationships are crumbling down. The stress of the long, desperate days of the endless search for the bomber is getting to them both mentally and physically. And now Special Agent Lara Grant let her temper flare, acted recklessly, and put everyone on the team in dire straits with their secrets and their future lives.
The confrontations are ugly and hurtful, the tension is palpable. Lara feels misunderstood, she tries to continue to work against the clock, but the damage control of the latest revelations disperse the team and The Whisperer gets Lara's personal attention.
The plot twist takes the story into new, unexpected direction as Lara truly goes rogue. The turmoil in the team, the betrayal and let down they feel from Lara's actions is filled with dismay and anger. Yet the team doesn't even know the dangerous and selfish extent of Lara's lies and secrets.
While I am enthralled by the hunt for the culprit, and the thrill of the chase, the intriguing revelations of Lara's personality, her talent as an agent, and her inability to work with others are starting to take the main focus. She is infuriating, frustrating, incredibly smart and capable while lacking some basic social skills that dishearten her co-workers and gives a new perspective on her actions, decisions, and to the tale, giving me the chills.
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

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 found myself totally hooked. I really do like Laura. And I like Nick. But never really felt connected with the other characters.