So typically for series, I always start from the beginning, but I was assured it would be fine to pick up this one without the others. This tension filled story with flawed characters and an intriguing plot. I was in the story immediately, and couldn’t get enough. It is fast paced and really comes to a head at the end. I wanted a different ending, but I’m ok with that with this particular book. I really enjoyed the writing and characters and want to go back and read the other books in the series now!

I did not care for this book. I DNF at 75 pages. There was too many characters to follow and they were boring. I would try another book by this author this one just wasn’t for me

The Wrong Victim is the third installment in author Allison Brennan's Quinn and Costa series. A sunset cruise ends in tragedy when the Water Lily, a yacht operated by West End Charter and captained by retired FBI agent Neil Devereux, explodes just minutes after it leaves the harbor. There are no survivors but there are many suspects. West End Charter fleet has drawn a lot of attention from Island Protectors who are convinced that they are deliberately polluting the ocean. Devereaux has been pursuing a cold case since he retired, and he might be getting close to find a murderer.

The wife of one of the passengers backed out at the last minute. Perhaps she wanted her wealthy husband dead. There was a last-minute crew change because of personal reasons. Who was the intended victim? Or, is there something bigger on the horizon? Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands.

When the FBI's Mobile Response Team, headed by Special Agent Mathias Costa, is called to San Jan Island off the coast of Washington to investigate the explosion, the action ramps up between the townspeople, the MRT and among the members of the MRT. They've barely begun their investigation when Analyst Ryder Kim and a local deputy are nearly killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. Then another explosion makes them realize that they may be the next victims of a clever killer.

The MRT team has some issues that need to be resolved if they are to continue to be successful. Kara Quinn is an LAPD undercover cop who's cover was blown. Until things area resolved in LA, she's been seconded to the MRT. Kara has been a very successful undercover cop until things went sideways. There are those like Dr. Catherine Jones, who is still angry about the loss of her sister, who feels the need to constantly belittle and make sarcastic comments towards Kara.

Catherine's issue is that she knows Kara and Costa are having an romantic entanglement that could jeopardize the teams future and she'd do anything to protect Costa from losing his job. Jones thinks Kara might be a borderline psychopath. She knows their styles of investigating are very different. The friction pulls at Matt who has to mediate between them. Putting aside that Kara is a fantastic investigator, which she has shown in the past two installments, thus why Matt wanted her on his team, Catherine would be better off not being part of this team any longer.

In the end, the friction between Catherine and Kara really grated on my nerves. Kara doesn't do herself any favors by constantly thinking that she doesn't need the team, also went against her in my opinion. I do ask that this romance between Kara and Quinn end. I can see Catherine's point of review. Workplace romances could serious spell doom for the MRT.

This was one heck of a thriller. I love the twists and turns, and I love the characters. It was a story that was just awesome and I cannot fathom when I finish the book because I wanted it to continue. I definitely recommend this book to friends and family, especially those who like thrillers.

I’ve read and enjoyed this author’s books before but was a bit let down with this one. I think it’s because I did not read the previous books in this series. It was a DNF for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

3/5 stars

Another great adventure with Quinn, Costa, & Gang!!! The mobile team is really starting to work with the exception of Catherine, who can be very annoying and Kara who can get on my nerves with all the I don't fit, I want my life back, hopefully she mellows out at some point.

There are some really great characters, some very evil characters, a few murders, numerous leads to follow, maybe a couple bombings, a couple of intense moments, some action packed pages, some edge of your seat moments, and just a hint of romance.

#Matt #Kara #Mobile Response Team #Cold Case #NetGalley #GreatSeries

A slow starter, this is the third book in the Quinn and Costa Thriller series. Many suspects kept you guessing as danger lurked, secrets were uncovered and there were a lot of characters to keep track of and follow and a few things got lost in the translation along the way, A suspense book that me going forward and the end was satisfying. Not a bad read. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

When a sunset cruise turns deadly, Matt Costa’s Mobile Response Team heads to the San Juan Islands. A bomb on the boat killed several people including a retired FBI agent, so this case is personal. The case is not what is seems though and there are multiple layers to it, not least of which is Matt and Kara also working to hide their relationship from the rest of the team. Allison Brennan has woven another multifaceted mystery with the same strong characterization from previous novels in the series. This is a must read for readers of the series, and it’d also be a great standalone. There are nuances that loyal readers will catch, but this is a completely new mystery that’s worth checking out.

This was a very well done and well rounded novel. I really enjoyed the characters and the development of the plot throughout.

This is actually the fourth book in a series featuring g these two detectives. Can easily be read out of order but I had just finished the second and was willing to skip the third to see what was happening to these two really interesting characters. When a bomb explodes on a charter boat we investigate a series of angles, all fascinating before hitting on the truth. Highly recommended.

When a bomb explodes on a sunset cruise out of Friday Harbor, the community is in shock. Was this an attack by an environmental group that wants to stop the charter boat company, or did the explosion target one of the people on board?

The FBI’s mobile response team is called to investigate, but will they figure it out before more people are killed? Allison Brennan has given us an intricately woven suspense novel, with emotional pull. Highly recommended. #TheWrongVictim #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthord

Domestic terrorism or a very specific target? Kara Quinn and Matt Costa, along with his recently formed mobile FBI team, are definitely on the case when an explosion on a charter cruise ship claims nine lives. This happened at the San Juan Friday Harbor and has rocked the community.

Matt is the Special Agent in Charge and Kara is on loan from the LA police Department. Due to a previous case, Kara has a target on her back and if it weren’t for Matt and his team she would not even have the opportunity to work. Kara and Matt have much more than their current case, they are involved. Very involved. However, for now he is Kara’s boss so they do their beast to keep their relationship private.

What a thrilling third book in this remarkable series by Allison Brennan. The first two books are The Third to Die and Tell No Lies. Those books were both excellent five star reads and this one here, The Wrong Victim, is right on par. It is a thrilling and exciting story that shows the balance of mystery and romance. Considering the drama with at least one other member of the team, I can’t wait to see what will be next for Kara and Matt.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please also enjoy the following YouTube video - https://youtu.be/-9KvgiLHNN8

This was a well written book with a great plot. I had not read the others in the series and think I would have enjoyed it more if I had done, although it was fine as a stand-alone book. An enjoyable crime thriller series!

3.75/5 stars, rounded up.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

A small fishing community off the coast of Seattle is rattled when a bomb explodes on a fishing charter, killing everyone on board. The FBI is called in, led by Special Agent Matt Costa. Together with Detective Kara Quinn, who has a few secrets of her own, Costa's FBI team sets off to investigate a very complicated, very vague and very confusing case.

This is actually the third installment of Costa and Quinn's story, which I didn't know until I was about halfway through the book, proving that reading the first two wasn't necessary to keep up. I found the start of this book to be chaotic and slightly confusing, but as the story went on it became easier to differentiate between the various characters. A pet peeve of mine was noticing the inclusion of "you know?" at the end of a significant amount of the dialogue. I wasn't really invested in this book for the first 60%, at which point my interest was finally piqued! However, there were a lot of really well written tense moments in the story that, once interested, kept me absolutely hooked! The relationships between characters were deep and impactful. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and has me super interested in what's next for Quinn and Costa!

The FBI is called in to discover the truth behind the bombing of a charter cruise in San Juan island. It is the biggest bombing ever on the island.

An act of terrorism is here - but is it domestic? And who was the real target?

Although this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend you read the series in order to understand the teams dynamics, development, and relationships. The story opens with a charter cruise ship exploding killing all nine people aboard, including a retired FBI agent. I really enjoyed the wrong victim with all its lines of investigation. There were several suspects and angles to pursue that had me completely absorbed into the story. The characters are very well developed and we learn about their past and history throughout the books in the series. I’m curious to see what’s going to happen between Matt and Kara as their personal relationship seems to have some major roadblocks. I am ready to see what is next for the mobile FBI team and what their next case will be.

3.5 stars

The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan is the third in the Detective Quinn and  FBI Agent Costa Series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin - MIRA and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Background:    (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Under Assistant Director Tony Greer,  Special Agent Mathias Costa runs the new Mobile Response Team at the FBI. The goal is to travel to locations which have minimal law enforcement and offer their assistance. The team consists of Matt, analyst Ryder Kim, former Navy SEAL Michael Harris, forensic specialist Jim Esteban, and Zack Heller, a white-collar crimes expert.  LA Police Detective Kara Quinn has been an undercover cop for 12 years, and since she is cannot return to LA at the moment, she is on loan to the FBI, and assigned to Matt's team.  Kara and Matt have a "thing" going on.  Forensic Psychiatrist Catherine Howard is back working with Matt after taking a leave to deal with her sister's death.


My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
When a bomb kills 9 people on a sunset cruise in Friday Harbor, part of the San Juan Islands, the team is called to action.

The hardest part will be determining who the target was, and then find the murderer.  Perhaps the environmentalists were targeting the cruise ship itself.  It wouldn't be the first time one of their protests got a little out of hand.  Of course the target could have been a passenger, as there was a very wealthy man on board.  Then there was the captain...a retired FBI agent who has been digging around a cold case.

Whoever the target, it's going to be a major investigation, and already Kara and Catherine are butting heads, and Matt isn't handling it well.


My Opinions:
As with the others in this series, I found the book rather long.  It was good, and since there was so much going on it moved fast.  So I'm not sure why I felt it was too long.

Again, I didn't find that there were any major surprises or twists, but the plot kept the story alive and interesting

I still have a bit of a problem with Kara.  I didn't enjoy the antagonism and bickering between her and Catherine, although most of that was Catherine's fault.  As well, Matt didn't display much of a leadership role when it came to handling their differences, but I still like him.  I whole-heartedly love the rest of the characters.  Hopefully the next one will see a more cohesive team.

So, overall, I still recommend the series.

Alison Brennan involves the reader with murder in a small community as a bomb rips through a charter boat. The FBI team is also investigating the suspicions of a former agent in the deaths of five victims in a cold case; the same agent dies in the boat bombing. Read how The Wrong Victim died on the boat. Very interesting case. Dynamics within the FBI team are also fraught. Read and enjoy.

When I read the first sentence of the blurb for the third book in the Quinn & Costa series - A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board.  - I was hooked on waiting for it to come out.

We get a quick glimpse of all those aboard the boat before the explosion. Was the bomb for the retired FBI agent who is captain of the charter and who has been reinvestigating an old case and the man he is sure got away with murder. Or was it the pregnant much younger wife of a millionaire who gets off the boat at the last minute.

Matt Costa and his FBI Mobile Response Team are sent to find out if the bombing was an act of terrorism or something else. The team is made up of LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, FBI forensic expert, Jim Esteban, profiler, Catherine Jones and others. Catherine was an emotional mess in the previous books from the murder of her sister. You felt compassion for her but in this book she horrible to Kara when she finds out that her and Matt have been secretly seeing each other. She then becomes the most unlikable character I've read recently. I also wasn't fond of the reason for the bombing. By the end of the book I still liked Kara but am unsure of my feelings for Matt and really don't like Catherine. I'm not sure if I will continue with this series.

Fantastic story! great plot and suspense. figuring out who the killer is will keep you guessing.


I've enjoyed Allison Brennan for a while now.. read all her books