Thomas A. Burns https://www.3mdetectiveagency.com/ is the author of nearly a dozen novels. Sniper! was published in 2020 and is the fifth book in his Natalie McMasters Mysteries series. It is the 69th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R. The primary character is 21-year-old Natalie McMasters. As a gun advocate and a former victim of violence, she makes an interesting character. She is currently a Private Detective trainee and a law student. She is on campus with her friend and counselor, Dr. Rebecca Feiner. They are part of a crowd watching the opening of a gun control rally when shots are fired. Among those hit is Rebecca.

McMasters is driven to find the person behind the shooting.

I spent 5 hours reading this 240-page mystery. I should have declared a Rule-of-50 and moved on. For me, too much time was spent on personal feelings and drama concerning her husband and ‘wife’. I would have preferred seeing more time spent solving the mystery. I also found the repeated use of abbreviations by McMasters annoying. For example, why say fam for family, conva for conversation, or pols for politicians. While this novel is part of a series, it reads well enough stand-alone. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.3 (rounded to 3) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

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I liked some of the different ideas which the author brought to bear in this book and this made for some fascinating characters and relationships. The story itself was good but the pace was a bit uneven and I found myself flicking through some parts.

A most excellent and enjoyable read from start to finish. A different finish to the one I was expecting.But it had me on edge waiting.Would recommend to anyone who likes mystery novels.