The Third to Die
A Novel
by Allison Brennan
HARLEQUIN - MIRA (U.S. and Canada)
MIRA
General Fiction (Adult)
Thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin-Mira for the audio excerpt of this book! I always stop for an Allison Brennan suspense book! I loved this book and will definitely purchase the next book for our library.
Enjoy!

Allison Brennan has crafted an engrossing page turner of a read in The Third to Die. Well worth the read!

An unusual serial killer with a complicated pattern and an unknowable goal, a workaholic FBI SAC of a brand-new not yet fully constituted mobile unit, an undercover feisty LAPD officer, and a quiet Pacific Northwest community: the combination makes for a tense nonstop week as law enforcement mobilizes to stop the next killing, none realizing how close is the killer to completing his silent vendetta, never guessing his identity.

I absolutely love Allison Brennan’s Lucy Kincaid and Max Revere series, so when I got a chance to read this first book in her new series, I snapped it up! What a wild and exhilarating ride! The main characters are the ambitious and on so intuitive FBI special agent Matt Costas, the leader of the new Mobile Response Team, and a detective on vacation who discovers the dead body, Kara Quinn. The interactions between the two of them was electric and their dialogue was mesmerizing. The story begins when Kara discovers a dead body at Liberty Lake, in a rural community. The MRT is mobilized to assist since the murder may be the work of the Triple Killer, a serial killer who comes out of hiding every three years and kills victims on March 3rd, 6th and 9th. The story was fascinating and uniquely Brennan, with a fast pace and a complicated story that drew me into its web and wouldn’t let me go. The suspense was ratcheted up throughout the story and the book was an action-packed thriller that did not let me down in my expectations. My favorite characters were Catherine, the profiler, and Ryder, the techie. Catherine has a mystery in her past dealing with her dead sister Beth and I really want to know more about that and her. Ryder seems to be a young, highly intelligent geek who was raised to respect his superiors and is a perfect addition to the team. Again, I look forward to learning more about him. In short, I look forward to more, more Allison Brennan for sure and the next MRT book will be on my TBR list as soon as I hear about it. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough for fans of suspense thrillers!

Engaging characters and detailed investigations into a serial killer had me captivated. Not only captivated, but when I reached the ending I was ready to jump into the next book!

The dynamic between all the characters, but especially Matt and Kara was fantastic. Having both of their POV showed who they were and who they allowed others to see. The idea behind an undercover cop and her personality was unique and the writing superb. I felt as though I was solving the case with them and I enjoyed the back and forth with the rest of the mobile team as they were developed and the love and loyalty from people in Kara’s life has me excited to see how her role in this series develops. Along with the two main characters the remaining characters were quite vivid and I though their development was on point as it helped see the role of this new team and how specialized it will be. Ryder cracked me up with the “sir” and GQ sounds like he may be a team favorite. Em is sweet and showed up at the perfect times to provide balance to all the violence of the case. The ending was a bit bittersweet, but also nifty in how it provided an answer for the working dynamic in upcoming books.

This is a great start to a new series and I am excited and already ready for more! Thank you NetGalley and Mira for the chance to read the book and share my opinions!

The mind of a killer and the way it's detailed in this book is off the chart. This author truly has a way with bringing out that part of her character and it made this read that much more appealing. Kara on vacation, a forced one at that, is sucked into a murder investigation. It just happens to be a serial killer which in turn brings out a newly formed FBI Mobile Response Team. This is the first book in the series and my first read by this author. The mystery/thriller part of the read is beautifully done, includes suspense and yeah the killers pov is part of the mix and what keeps things interesting. This author also includes a ton of detail on the team itself and at times I found myself stretched to remember how they all fit into the story. Then of course the romance is thrown in and while there isn't a cliffhanger it is clear it's a lead to the series. While I enjoyed the story I have to agree with other reviewers that said it felt familiar, not in it being copied just that it wasn't unique. I would like to see where she takes the series and probably will read more of her work.

I always will stop for an Allison Brennan book. She always knows how to establish characters you cheer on alongside thrill a minute action. Seeing that this is a first book in a series makes me want the next book immediately.

Allison Brennan introduces a new series and characters. I'm all in on the new characters and new story line. Kara Quinn an undercover cop on leave from the LAPD. finds herself involved with the FBI and it's new mobile response team lead by Mathias Costa. Now the FBI Quinn is not a favorite of to say the least but her abilities of observation is quickly put to use by the team to help in solving strange murders that have come to roost in her Grandmother's town just outside of Spokane. How strange is it to have murders occurring in threes between the 3rd, 6th, and 9th of the month? Much discussion, profiling, action, and research follows in narrowing down the who, what, where when, and why to find a serial murderer. Brennan does a fine job of filling out the personalities of her lead characters as well as those who have joined the new FBI team. They are not perfect characters but their abilities in working together to bring down an insane individual makes it a solid police procedural thriller. I look forward to the next book in her series as I do each and every book she writes!

Absolutely riveting! I couldn't put this down, literally read in less than a day. I really liked the two MC's, how they think and how they interact with others. The ending was a bit abrupt but that just made me want to get my hands on the next book even more :)

Will be leaving reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, and my blog.

I will leave a review on Amazon or B&N on Feb. 4, 2020

Thrillers are one of my favorite genres, and this one certainly didn't disappoint. I loved Kara and Mathias, and felt like that have good chemistry between them. This is the first book in a new series by Allison Brennan, and I and sure it will be as good as all her previous series. I look forward to reading more in this series, I would certainly recommend it to others.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my fair and honest opinion of the book

Detective Kara Quinn is on administrative leave from the LAPD. Something she calls “vacation”. She is in the small town of Liberty Lake, Washington (near Spokane) visiting her grandma when she stumbles across a body. A serial killer is on the loose and she quickly joins the local police force as well as the FBI in their investigation. From there it’s a fast paced read from start to finish. Pages fly by as we are privy to the investigation. Little by little the identity of the killer is revealed and he has one last victim before he is finished, will they stop him in time? A whirlwind of a book that you will find difficult to put down. With Detective Quinn’s future up in the air in LA, it looks like we will be seeing more of her in the future. I, for one, hope it’s much more!

I really wanted to like this because I'm part of the blog tour for this book, but I disliked the protagonist as soon as I started reading her. I understand that not every protagonist is going to be likeable, but she gave off "not like other girls" vibes, and I just couldn't engage with that.

Great start to a new series! I really liked both Kara Quinn and Matt Costa in this one. The storyline was filled with both action and suspense, and I liked the backdrop of the newly formed unit of the FBI, the Mobile Response Team. I enjoyed the way everything played out in the storyline, and I'm already waiting for more in this new series!

In <i>The Third to Die</i> Kara Quinn, the prodigal (grand)daughter and big city undercover cop, returns to her small hometown and stumbles right into a high-profile serial killer investigation.

I really liked the way the book switched perspective between the characters. It really helped to keep up the brisk pacing and gave the reader a window into everyone's heads. No boring procedural here.

I look forward to reading more in the Mobile Response Team series. At times this book felt like the first act in a larger work and I am looking forward to seeing where Brennan goes with this overall.

I would recommend this book to fans of thrillers, serial killer books, and anyone who loves an irascible female detective.

I read the first paragraph and new what my day would entail. Reading this book! A one sitting read. I have to be upfront here, I love Allison Brennan I got hooked on her Fear No Evil and then devoured every book. When I heard about the new series I immediately waved my hand and begged for Net Galley , aka the publishers to please, please let me read. I am so grateful they did. All thoughts and opinions are my own and were unsolicited. Starts with blood on page one and ends with wondering if Kara knows who she is. Yes! Costas (Matt or Matthias your choice) was easy to love. I instantly fell for his character. Kara is not easy to love, because you feel for her. I felt all the edgy and I was immediately wound up tight. This is a great psychological thriller, police procedural action packed either emotionally or physically. I so want Thornton handed his a** . I cannot wait for book 2. This has all the bells and whistles for me.

I'm so glad to see a new series from this favored author! Can't wait to read the next! Kara is a strong character and I can't wait to see those glimpses of vulnerability peeking through. She's a character I want to get to know.

The start of a new series has the newly formed FBI Mobile Response Team tracking down a serial killer before he kills again. Lots of focus on the procedural aspect of police work that give readers an inside view of what it takes to track a suspect. Getting inside the head of a serial killer by using profiling was enlightening. I liked that the author didn't paint all law officers the same. Some were very professional while others were jerks. LA Detective Kara Quinn and FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt Costa were unconventional in some ways but worked well together.
This is the first in the series but I felt a lot of information was missing which made it seem like a second or third book. I wanted to know more about Catherine and her sister, Beth. What happened between Beth and Matt? Since this is a new author for me, maybe this was a spin-off of another series?
Also, the foul language is a big turn off for me. If network television can do without all the f bombs, I'm sure that authors could too.

It is hard to decide who is more interesting, Mathias or Kara, either way together they are fascinating. Kara has the luck of being truly at the wrong place at the wrong time, not to mention being on a FBI agents "Most hated list". Mathias is new to a group within the FBI specifically designed to help rural police forces with limited capability. It is a perfect storm when the two meet on a increasingly less simple murder case.

I have never read a book by Allison Brennan that did not captivate and entertain me and this is no exception. I eagerly await the next installment in this series.

Book: Third to Die
Author: Allison Brenan
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for providing me with an ARC.

I do actually feel bad that I didn’t really like this book. It’s not like it’s a bad book or anything, but I just couldn’t get into it. It’s actually a pretty well done book, but there was just something about it that made it very difficult for me to actually connect with. As I was reading this, it kind of felt like I have read this story before. Normally, this doesn’t bother me, but whenever it comes to detective stories, yeah, it’s a major turn off.

The characters were okay and I could tell that Allison was trying to add that human element to them. We get a look into their personal lives and are told about what got them to this point. Honestly, that bothered me. I am the type of reader who would rather be shown how we got to this point rather than told. It’s just kind of a personal preference of mine. I think that had we gotten to see more of that, then it really would have added so much to the overall story. I really enjoyed seeing characters from different walks of life coming together to show a crime. I always enjoy seeing how people from different backgrounds can work together to do something amazing. Plus, a lot of them kind of fell flat. It really felt like they were just going through the motions. This made it really difficult for me to keep them straight.

I did actually have some issues with the writing. While I could tell that Allison had done a lot of work on this book, it felt kind of sloppy in some places. There is a lot of info dumping in the mix of some really great action scenes. I am not a super big fan of stopping action scenes to have a little chat about how we got to this point; it turns me away from a book every time. I know there is a lot involved in writing crime, but it felt like there was a lot of slough in this book. I was expecting something superfast paced and that just didn’t happen. I think had the author found a way to have the slough in a different way, then we would have had a winner. It can be done, because I’ve read a lot of thrillers from this publisher before.

I honestly just think that this wasn’t the book for me.

Anyway, this book comes out on February 4, 2020.

The Third to Die by Allison Brennan is the first in a new series about the FBI's MRT or Mobile Response Team. They are headed up by Special Agent In Charge Matt Costa. The MRT is composed of the best of the best agents, forensic specialists , and profilers. They are sent anywhere in the country where their help is needed for the toughest cases. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and likeable. The suspense was excellent! I love all of the Allison Brennan series and this is no exception. I look forward to a follow up! Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.