Last summer a friend and I decided to read the Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen in full. We decided to this because we both received the print ARC of Smokescreen. Considering the huge mountain of review and TBR books on our plate, one or two books a month were planned until this was completed.

I don't know how far my friend got in this endeavor, but I never stopped. This blog post will summarize the series as a whole, while I discuss certain highlights of the books and the series.

Reading these books gave me great pleasure and one thing I loved about the books is that I found another strong woman character in the form of Eve Duncan. She is a forensic sculptor who chose her career to help her deal with a tragic situation she experienced. Her daughter Bonnie was kidnapped when she was seven years of age and her body was never found. This kept Eve from finding closure to a devastating set of circumstances.

With her job and the notoriety Eve experienced, Eve has perfected the skill of recreating skulls which helps parents broken from the loss of their children. For each skull Eve completes, a set of parents find the closure Eve had never been able to claim.

Eve is not alone in her quest. Her lover Joe Quinn, former FBI and former SEAL, now a police detective, is by her side every step of the way. As each book is written, readers are clued in to the amazingly intense relationship between Eve and Joe, thus adding an emotional edge and romance to each of the books.

Early in her career, Eve saved a homeless little girl in one of her cases. The child was ten-year-old Jane and Eve and Joe adopted her, giving her the love and care that turned her into a beautiful, talented artist.

This series is fast-paced, thrilling and addictive. When I got to the tenth book in the series, Eight Days to Live, I found I could not stop.

Back to the series and Scribd. I guess Scribd ranks popular books differently, and for my benefit, these did not rank that way and they were ALL available to me. Listening to them via audiobook was thrilling, with Jennifer van Dyck narrating some of them, and with Elisabeth Rodgers rounding out the series, I enjoyed both narrators. Even with switching narrators midway through the series I found myself thoroughly invested in each and every book.

My overall rating of the series is Five Stars, with a couple of Three stars. The reason for the lower ratings when I did so was because most of the books have taken on an aspect that I do not enjoy, and that involves Eve being able to speak with her daughter Bonnie's ghost when she is highly stressed or in difficult situations. Sometimes it was due to her enactments with Bonnie's ghost that she was able to sort things she might not have been able to otherwise. It has always been hard for me to enjoy anything paranormal in books, and when these stories were very impacted in that, my ratings would drop.

The only books that wrote reviews for are The Face of Deception and The Killing Game. The reason for this is that I read a ton of books each month and write a lot of reviews. To be honest, with at least one review posted on this blog daily, sometimes two, including Blog Tours and Spotlight posts, there just wasn't enough time to write individual reviews.

Should this blog ever slow down (yeah, right!), I will write reviews for the rest of the series. Since I received Smokescreen as a print ARC, I may write a review for this book at a future date.

One reason that I binge read the series from book #10 on was that there were a few trilogies thrown at readers, and some books ended on cliffhangers. Since these books were available at my library and Scribd, I didn't suffer from frustration and curiosity as to where things were going. The trilogies written within the series were Eve, Quinn and Bonnie and Taking Eve, Hunting Eve and Silencing Eve.

The series really evolved as the books rolled forward and I definitely recommend reading them in order. There are so many things that would be missed if anyone were to jump in randomly. With this post I am being quite general so as to not give a single spoiler should someone endeavor to take on this amazing series. I am excited to the next book in the series to be released, The Persuasion, in June.

The Eve Duncan series has two connected series.

Kendra Michaels, co-written with her son, Roy Johansen, and Catherine Ling.

Yet another stunning and fantastic Eve Duncan thriller from Iris Johansen with plenty of twists and turns that I enjoyed reading.

Eve's life has changed. She and Joe have beautiful Micheal, Jane is digging up bones in Scotland and offers to let little brother Micahel to tag along. One simple interview with Jill Cassady, turns into a trip to the middle of Africa and a massacre that occurred in a school. There is far more behind Jill Cassady request she wants Eve to go with her to Maldara that has more to do with her kill gene then the death of the children in the school massacre. I am super excited about this new release and being a fan of Iris Johansen makes this return to Adventures of Eve Duncan a welcome thriller to read. I will definitely be picking up this book when it hits paperback.

Another wonderful Eve Duncan story! In the excerpt for this novel, Eve ventures to the jungles of Africa to assist a small village recently devastated by incredible violence. However, it quickly becomes apparent that things are not as they seem, and she's unsure of who to trust.

I was on the edge of my seat, devouring this visceral excerpt. Strong characters, mystery and suspense, and a bit of romance thrown in. This is definitely a fast-paced page-turner and will be another great addition to the series. My interest is piqued to read the entire book and see what awaits Eve in the jungle.

This was an excerpt for Smokescreen by Iris Johansen. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advance copy excerpt in exchange for an honest review.

Already reviewed full book, thanks for the preview 😊

Read in August 2019
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give my honest opinion!

It's hard to believe that the Eve Duncan series has hit a 25th book mark but in another sense it's easy to believe because the books are just that good! Eve has come a long way but her skills make her an asset in some of the worst case scenarios. In this book she is guilted by a journalist to identify 27 young children slain by a machete wielding madman, so they can be properly buried. It's just enough to tug at your heart strings and angry enough to want justice for those children. As usual the author just grabs you and sweeps you away.

What did I like? I love all the characters....Jane, Eve, Joe. Gangs all here but Novak and Jill are new ones. I hope we get to see more books with them. The story really does just grab you and tugs at you. Given all the crap we see in the world and news lately it's not really far fetched to see innocent children die in the hands of madmen.

Would I buy this book? This is a particularly hard question since this author tends to sell in the 30$ range. I read this book in about two hours, so that price for me was a no. It is definitely worth reading but as usual I'm just against paying that much for any book. The kindle copy is about half price and to me that's still too high. If you only read a few books a year then it might not bother anyone else to pay that steep price. I'd wait for a paperback or a books a million overage copy on bargain. Or the Library!

Thoughts for the author? Loved the book! Would love to see more Jane books! Thanks for honoring me with a ARC.

I received an e-preview of the book Smokescreen by Iris Johansson and , given what I was able to read, has piqued my interest enough to read the whole book once it has been released.

This is just a short excerpt, but to me, I think it will be just as exciting as her other numerous thrillers.
So if you like excitement with some romance thrown in, check this book out when it is released

This preview of Smokescreen has peaked my interest to read the entire book. I always love an Eve Duncan story, and from the preview this is bound to be another gem. Her son Michael is in the story right from the beginning when he is asking about her current project, a skull that she has named Nora. As Eve is asked to take on a project involving 27 children's remains, she is quickly swept up into a mystery that leaves the reader breathless. I can't wait to read the whole book!

This is from a sneak peak only into the story Smokescreen. I have followed forensic sculpture expert Eve Duncan for years. She is always doing all she can to reconstruct the skulls of children's found to give them back their identity. Her passion for learning to be the top expert in the field was fueled by the search for her own daughter years ago. If you haven't read those go find them they are amazing.

This story also brings in two special characters. Jill Cassidy, a Pulitzer Prize winning freelance writer. Who was recently in Maldara in central Africa, and Jed Novak the CIA agent who found her beaten and raped in the jungle. Not dwelling on her recent attack, she will deal with the nightmares later, she passionately seeks out Eve to help the families of the innocent murdered children who bodies were just hacked and burned. Eve is the only one she wants for the reconstructions. She must have the best. Jill will do whatever it takes to appeal to Eve's nature she's studied her to learn what will work to get her help.

Eve's been implored by Jill to reconstruct these murdered children and reunite them with their families. She must do it. Safe or not bringing peace to 27 families to be able to bury their murdered children is something she can't not do.

Eve Duncan sets off to Maldara, a place of civil war and unrest that is just beginning to come to an end. However, far from safe. The hired mercenary Varak, involved in human trafficking and enjoyed all sorts of evil doing was leading a militia machete troops that were responsible for the killing thousands including children. Has been stopped and killed. Now the reconstruction of the country and lives of the people begins.

Her family will not be happy she's going. Joe, the detective who helped her search for her daughter and never left her life, her daughter Jane and son Michael are very protective of Eve.

All the characters in Iris's books are so heartwarming and real. You want to follow all of them to see where life brings them next.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this ARC of a sort look into the story. It's a must read and I can't wait to get the rest of the story.

I only received the e-preview of this book, but I'm a huge Johansen fan and was thankful for any little bit. Eve being my favorite character of this series I can't wait to read the rest. I have already preordered SmokeScreen!

I Love Eve Duncan

I was given a preview of this book and I’m more than happy to give it a 5* rating already just by what I’ve read so far. I have read just about all of the Eve Duncan stories and they never disappoint. I believe Smokescreen will be another winner for Ms. Johansen. Eve has more children to “save” and this time is just as enticing as the other books in this series. I can’t wait to read the entirety of the book when it comes out.

This is the latest book by wonderful Iris Johansen, featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan. I have read, and enjoyed, other books in this series. Although I read only a preview, this was enticing and I can’t wait to read the whole book!

This is a short preview of this book which after reading it I cannot wait to read the rest of it. I have read all of Iris Johansen’s books and this one is no exception.
5 stars for the preview and most likely for the book as well.

This preview makes me want to devour the book now! I can’t wait to read the full version of this story! Eve is a strong character and I love that she surrounds herself with other strong people.

Just finished Smokescreen by Iris Johansen. I had hesitated requesting it because it is really a short preview of the actual book. I am now left hanging and wanting to know what will happen to the major characters. Eve Duncan, Novak and Jill Cassidy who is a reported are central to the plot. I guess I will have to wait until the end of July but I am really looking forward to reading the complete published book.

Wow really great. Classic Iris Johansen, can’t wait to read the rest of the book. Well done again Iris.

From the very first sentence this story grabbed me and held on tight. This riveting first peek into the thrilling survival/mystery tale follows heroine Eve Duncan as she ventures deep into the African Jungle. This sample was fast-paced and visceral, I felt like I opened the book and took off running. My heart was beating hard by the time I had finished and I am craving more. Definitely look forward to reading this one.

I will review on Amazon July 30. 2019

Although this was only a preview of the actually book, Iris Johansen is one of my favorite authors. What I did read was only a appetitizer this truly looks like it is going to be another amazing Eve Duncan book. I can't wait to be able to read the full book. For those the love the Even Duncan series I believe this one will be a wonderful addition to the series, I would certainly recommend it from what I have read so far.

SMOKESCREEN by IRIS JOHANSEN (PREVIEW ONLY)

For those who are familiar with the series featuring Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, you are in for a treat.

An investigative journalist shows up on Eve's doorstep begging for her help. She wants Eve to go to Africa, a war-torn jungle, to help identify 27 children who were massacred by guerilla soldiers.

But this journalist may have a different agenda ... one that puts Eve in more danger than she knows.

This is a preview only .... the complete novel will be available 7/9/19.

The first chapter grabbed me by the throat and refused to let me go. It tells the story of the journalist and how she survived her time in that part of the world. It then goes on to show how she manipulates Eve into making the trip to Africa.

Many thanks to the author / Grand Central Publishing / Netgalley for the preview of this thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

3 stars

Since this was only the prelude and the first two chapters of Iris Johansen's new book, I was unable to judge whether the book was going to be good or not. Hence the three star rating.

I did get more than a little tired of all the dialogue between Eve and Jill.

If I had but known that this was a preview, would not have ordered it. I know, I know I said in bold letters that it was. But ...