I loved the first book, Deadly Influence, and as a sequel, this was intriguing from the beginning. Her digging deeper into a past and finding pieces to recollect herself. Suspense was real and I was all in.

I mean... suspense galore! If you are looking for a book that has you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what happens next- this is it! This looks at conspiracy theorists in a cheeky way and I appreciate the author for diving into this. This was a thriller that I was sucked into and couldn't put down. The conclusion was shocking and completely unexpected! I am excited to see where the author takes the characters next and am anticipating book 3!

An absolutely thrilling story that grabs hold of you and doesn't let go for the whole journey. Abby has quickly become one of my favorite protagonists and having her family so involved in this story really raised the bar. The twists were brilliant and i was gripped from the first page to the last.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Abby Mullen returns as a hostage negotiator. The book mainly covers Abby dealing with a group of deluded conspiracy who have taken her daughter and other hostage at the high school. Abby is also trying to find out more about her early years as part of a cult.

I look forward to book three of the series.

I've come to expect good things from Mike Omer and while this was not my favorite of his, it was a solid 3.5.

His inclusion of social media and conspiracy theorists in this book was exactly spot on to life in 2022. Which might have contributed to me not loving it like the others?

Can't wait for more from him

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book of the series and can be read as a stand-alone. Mike Omer continues to build on Abby Mullen’s character arc in this narrative, giving a bit further insight into her past and present relationships. Unfortunately, as interesting as the premise sounded, the crime/thriller aspect of the narrative did not have the grasp it promised. The characters were too many and underdeveloped.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

Damaged Intentions by Mike Omer
Abby Mullins Thriller #2

Well written intense story that will no doubt interest many…especially if they have read the first book in the series. Abby is a NYPD detective, mother, and survivor of a horrific cult she escaped from decades before this book begins. She was seven when she lost everything, was taken in by foster parents and became something different than the cult had in store for her.

In this book there are some rather deluded people doing what they believe is right but is definitely wrong. There is a circle and watchers and some rather aberrant thinking…at least in my opinion.

I have to say that I am finding myself less interested in cult-based stories and am not sure why. It could be because I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian belief system that now does not fit me at all and sometimes, in retrospect, could have been borderline cultish.

As I was reading I found myself skimming to get the gist of the story without really reading in deth, perhaps because of the cult factor? I found that some of the crazies occupy a school, take hostages, hostage negotiations take place, a fire starts, and some escape – fire also occurred long before when Abby’s family was part of the cult.

The Wilcox cult of Abby’s childhood rears its head again and will probably be a factor throughout the rest of the series and as such, I have a feeling I may not continue with the series since it is something I am finding difficult to read on a personal basis. That said…I believe it is well written and will appeal to many. How to evaluate it with stars is not easy…at least for me. It is not a favorite more due to the subject matter than the writing…maybe a star rating in between?

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Plot: Abby Mullen, a top NYPD hostage negotiator, finds herself trying to empathize with delusional members of the extremist group called “The Watchers” for the safety of the hostages at her daughter’s school. Told from the point of view of Watcher members, a hostage, and Abby, we slowly get details that may save everyone from disaster. Will Abby’s past experience in a religious colt and her closeness to the case impact her judgment? Or will she be able to save everyone? Some of the backstories introduced early on didn’t come into play until very late and the pacing was odd, which made it hard to emotionally connect with characters.

Characters: Abby’s character growth was compelling. There were many points of view, and lots of characters were introduced early on which got very confusing. I think I would have rather learned about some characters through another character's POV. Omer did an incredible job of humanizing and demonizing the religious and political extremists. I would have loved more about Abby’s love interest. I also would have loved deeper emotions out of Alma.

Setting: The school setting was descriptive, and while this school was nothing like the one I attended, it felt very relatable. Though I forgot what city the story was set in.

Conflict/Resolution: The plot twists were incredible and had a well-crafted build up, but after the plot twists things fell flat for me. I was also confused why after one big reveal, one of the characters continues on the way they were prior to the twist. There were a few loose ends at the end that will nag at me.

Writing: It was easy to get sucked into this book. There is lots of telling and not showing. I was often confused as to why we were given so much detail on irrelevant things (like the quirky dog at the beginning of the book).

Other notes: I really wanted this book to knock my socks off, and it truly was so close in many ways. TW: School shooting, religious and political extremism, incels.

You will like this book if: you enjoy hateable villain POVs, police thrillers, and plot twists.

I really wanted to like this story. It had all of the parts that would usually get me hooked. Even the crazy, Q-Anon type group, seemed something intriguing at first. However, this book meandered. It didn’t have a the rhythm to support the story. I found that the characters, in the end lacked the depth that would truly make me understand the motives of all of them,

Damaged Intentions is the second book in the series with Abby Mullen as the main character. For what ever reason people are easily led to believe in conspiracy theories. It escapes me, but there are many believers out there. This book follows people in a conspiracy group using names from Lewis Carroll books as their screen names. These people are called watchers looking for clues in posts on line. One of the followers believes there is a threat at a local high school which is selling children to be trafficked. As the group of three believers head to the local high school to stop this from happening, things get out of control quickly as they take a few people hostage in order to view the security tapes of the school.

Abby will act as the Hostage negotiator until it is revealed that her daughter is also one of the hostages. As she and Carver race around trying to track down who these people are in real life the new negotiator can not handle "Caterpillar" effectively and things start to deteriorate.

This book is an excellent example of how conspiracy theories are created and spread to mainstream belief. While these people honestly believed in what they were trying to stop, there is so much other nonsense they use to justify their beliefs, the rest of the nonbelievers can see there is so much wrong there is no way it can be true. Anyone that has ever typed a message knows that rarely do people double check for spelling and hit send only to realize that it is not what they had intended to post as it anticipates the majority of the time sometime with the wrong spelling or the wrong word.

This was a fascinating plot on conspiracy theories. The story moved at a brisk pace as it built to its suspenseful conclusion.

I honestly don’t know how to review this book. I was confused from the very beginning…who is Caterpillar, what is and who is involved in the Circle, who are the Watchers? When the author introduced the Wilcox Cult Massacre and the relationship to Lt. Abby Mullen, I thought things would begin to make sense, but I was wrong. The flashbacks she had to the time when she was seven and her communication with someone that she thought was one of the other survivors of the massacre, but wasn’t? Her father was killed in the massacre, but maybe not? I ended up feeling unsatisfied and disappointed and could not recommend this book. Maybe if I had read the first book? I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

A suspence - thriller book for all ages.
When a book is having different stories and connect at one point is always interesting and will keep the reader engaged.
Mike Omer did the same in this book.
There is a online forum called Watchers, the members chat with their nicknames. No one knows their real name. They believe Cabal is a group which controls everything in the town/country and police is also involved in this. They found that the Cabal and the police communicate through tweeter by passing secret messages. The Watchers group creates a thread in their forum and they analyse the messages. One of the Watchers create a theory and make the group to believe.
Three members of the Watchers group (caterpillar, Hatter, Red Queen) visit Christopher Columbus high school to save the kids. The situation becomes Messy and they were forced to keep the Principal and two other school staff as hostages and started negotiating with the police.
Abby Mullen, NYPD lieutenant deals with them . Unfortunately her daughter Sam and her two friends got into the trap.
Did Abby managed to get all the hostages back without any casualty? What happens to her daughter?
Watchers were alive or imprisoned or set free?
The book is very fast paced and the author did not allow me to keep the book down.
Each chapter deals with different situations. When you read about Abby's personal life , the next chapter takes you to caterpillar's life. You expect the next chapter the author will come back to Abby's life but he talks about the happenings of the school situation.
Just one thing I did not understand is that how a woman entered the school with kerosene and set the school on fire?
Quite interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

I'm not going to rewrite the synopsis, Thomas & Mercer have done that in spades (thank you for the ARC), however I will tell you why I enjoyed the book. I have to like the main character(s) a little bit broken is good with me, makes them feel more believable. I really like Abby's personality, her toughness. There has to be a mystery and if there are twist it's a bonus. Cults have always seemed interesting to me on how people can be brainwashed to following and doing things that appear far fetched. Times ticking because her child is involved....which made me really anxious. Not to give too much away but this story line has Abby's past dug up. This is the second in a series and no you don't have to read book one but I suggest you do. I'm hoping that Mike Omer is busy writing book #3 in this series. There are certain series I have to read and I'm thinking this series will be on that list.

It was very exciting for me to read this, the second book in the Abby Mullen series. I think it can easily be read as a standalone but you will want to read the first book too, it is really good!

Abby Mullen is trying her best to do her job, whilst bringing up her children with a bit of (unhelpful) help from her ex, Steve. She has a good team around her but when her daughter's school comes under siege, it takes all of her training to not want to rush straight into danger. She has to approach this situation like any other hostage situation. She is, after all, the NYPD's best negotiator.

Unfortunately, Abby still has to contend with her past, when she grew up as part of a cult. She was only a child when most of the members of said cult died in a fireball but she has always blamed herself for it.

This is a very exciting and slightly different kind of book. It is really fabulous having a hostage negotiator as the main character because it is a profession that I know nothing about. I am learning a little bit now though.

5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer.

4+ stars.

I’m sure most of you remember a few years ago when there was a Qanon theory doing the rounds that Hilary Clinton was running a paedophile ring from the basement of some pizza place. One guy went so far as to head over there with a gun to save the children! I think that’s what inspired this book. Only in the book the conspiracy theorists call themselves the Watchers and the bad guys are the Circle. The Circle has infiltrated all levels of government, the police, you name it - so nobody can be trusted.

One day a watcher sees a tweet from a police officer (if I remember correctly) with what looks like 2 deliberate mistakes. He spreads the word and soon the circle, beavering away at potential meanings, is convinced that two children are to be sold at a New York high school. This cannot be tolerated! Three of them, codenamed Hatter, Caterpillar and Red Queen (from Lewis Carroll books) take it upon themselves to go to the school and rescue them.

They blag their way in and things rapidly escalate. Soon it is a hostage situation, a teacher has been shot and badly injured and police surround the school. Abby Mullen, herself a survivor of a horrific cult mass killing as a child, is the chief negotiator and she is doing a great job calming things down. Until three students, who were in the music room when the watchers arrived, attempt to escape and are also corralled with the adult hostages in the admin wing. They have been seen fleeing on the school’s CCTV network. One of those students is Sam (Samantha) Mullen - Abby’s daughter. After that it gets pretty fraught.

This was an excellent illustration of the dangers of conspiracy theories. The Watchers absolutely believed they were doing a good thing. All they wanted was to be told where the child victims were being held. Of course this couldn’t happen because there were no child victims there. It was a nightmare scenario and I was gripped by the story as I had no idea how it would end. The story explained how easily many people get recruited to these causes and how telling them they were stupid was not helpful. The characters felt real and believable and the pace never lagged.

This is the second Abby Mullen book. I don’t know how I missed the first one but this can absolutely be enjoyed as a stand-alone. Ive read a few of Mike Omer’s books so far and he never disappoints. Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Abby, a hostage negotiator, finds herself in a standoff with a trio of conspiracy theorists who have taken the high school her daughter Samantha attends hostage. An old issue- Abby was a child when her parents and other members of a cult died in a fire set by its leader, This is topical in some ways (the conspiracy theories will be familiar) and worrisome for that. Abby is interesting and I'd like to see her in a different situation. I didn't read the first book so this was a standalone for me and it was fine that way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Another super intense thriller from Mike Omer, the second in the Abby Mullen series. Now that we’ve established who’s Abby, her past trauma and present career as a hostage negotiator with the NYPD, we are completely invested in her cases. There’s more information about her past as a survivor of a suicidal cult, as well as new, concrete details on her mysterious correspondent. But the main course is a hostage situation at her daughter Sam’s school, with Sam herself as one of the victims. The perps are not really bad guys, but members of an online conspiracy group who’ve gone down the rabbit hole. Someone close to me tends to believe in these conspiracies (in a harmless way), so I really got how hard it is to disprove their theories. The “don’t believe me, do your own research” is something I’ve heard before, so I was really concerned how Abby was going to get through to these people. There are other complications. I saw some twists coming, but the whole plot is solid enough that I didn’t care. The last chapters are really very exciting. I can’t wait for the next one, especially considering the great potential of that ending…
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Thomas & Mercer!

(3.5 stars)
You can't accuse Mike Omer of not throwing everything at Damaged Intentions. There's a cult imploding in deadly fire, conspiracy theorists conjuring up crazy theories, a school hostage situation, a murder, a would-be kidnapping. The novel is pretty much non-stop action, bar for a few early sections where The Watchers (who are modeled on QAnon) talk amongst themselves. I found it hard to get into unlikeable characters postulating crazier and crazier rubbish.

As the book progressed, it turned more to the life of NYPD hostage negotiator, Abby Mullen. There are lots of helpful tips into why you shouldn't trust a hostage negotiator if you happen to find yourself armed and holed up in a high school (which I sincerely hope you don't). I found it interesting how quickly the conspiracy theorists were unmasked despite their reliance upon anonymous profiles (another tip right there).

So, in summation, while Damaged Intentions isn't particularly believable because of the sheer volume of crimes, it is a fast and rollicking action read that focuses on hostage negotiation. The most interesting part of the book is hearing how the negotiator makes the hostage taker (Caterpillar) feel like he's making the decisions by asking open-ended questions, and reframing his answers back to him. Clever linguistics save the day.

I received this book through "NetGalley" Read Now program.

The story begins with an unknown individual of a conspiracy group believing that he had just killed a "Circle" agent. The next entry deals with Abby in N.C. looking into a "Cult" massacre that happened many years earlier that she escaped from.

The story shifts between the two themes until later in the book when this conspiracy group "Watchers" believe that the Circle is going to auction off children that they abducted. The data suggested that this would happen at the school where Abby's daughter attended. Once the members got into the school where they enter the admin. area where the security cameras were located, They took 3 individuals hostage, as the rest of the school evacuated. Abby was called to negotiate with these individuals so that the situation would end peacefully. Unfortunately, because of certain events it wasn't going to happen.

Abby, believing that her daughter was safe, began talking to the leader to get him to calm down and find out what he wanted. This went on for several hours. Sam, Abby's daughter, and two other students were rehearsing in the music room and did not hear the commotion. They discovered it later and when they tried to escape, they were captured. Once Abby learned that her daughter was now a hostage, she was removed as the negotiator and Will, another member of the team, took over. Abby began trying to discover information which might be able to be used to end the confrontation.

To discover what Abby learned, how the cult massacre came into play and what the two unexpected facts showed near the end, then you need to read this book.

I received an ARC and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Mike Omer once again delivers a suspenseful page turner with Damaged Intentions.

Abby Mullen is a NYPD hostage negotiator and mother and her world’s collide when she is has to negotiate for hostages that have attacked a high school and taken her daughter hostage.

The tension and suspense build in this taut thriller build nicely at it forces Abby to confront her own past as a child in a deadly cult.

Some themes tackled in this story are ripped from the current headlines and state of affairs with conspiracy theories and how they can affect a family.

The characters come to life and there are plenty of great twists and a well-paced plot which makes this a thrilling read. Recommend this thrilling read.