4.5 Stars

First of all, let me start by saying something that is probably odd. The last review I did for this series, I made a comment that I thought that the book covers were not doing the series justice because it made the reader think that the book was more in the general Fiction category. I said that I would not have known that it was in the FBI Serial Killer genre (or whatever genre that is) had I not looked at my Goodreads account and read my review of the first book. Anyway, THIS cover is much better. It is easy to see from the cover that this is an action thriller. I'm sure that is information that no one needs, it was just my opinion though, so I thought I'd throw it out there :)

Okay, about this book. To me, this series is only getting better. I love seeing the character development with the members of the Team, and I'm especially excited to see the personal growth that is happening with Nina. The new addition of her extended family in Phoenix is great and it is really fun to see Nina trying to understand and emulate some of the new behaviors she is getting to experience with the new dynamics of having a big and loving family.

Having Bianca come down to visit was interesting because it let Nina experience the two different facets of her life as they merged together. And Bianca is hilarious. She's a spit fire and having her there helped Nina to understand that she is TOTALLY capable of love. She's been gradually letting people in and has been actually doing it for a long time, she just didn't realize that's what it was.

The case itself was interesting. As I mentioned before, I like the dynamics within the Team - I think everyone has found their place and I especially loved the fact that each team member had someone else's back at several different times during all of the chaos.

Am I going to continue with this series? You better believe it!

I'm excited and ready for Book 4.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, and a crazy serial killer! Let me tell you, this person was crazy! Lol the storyline was very interesting and flowed nicely! I will definitely recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

This novel is totally entertaining, not extremely deep, relatively brutal, and a great addition to the series. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this advanced copy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I read it as a standalone, but the first book is on my TBR and I intend on getting to it at some point. The story was good and I truly didn't guess the suspect, so I was shocked at the reveal. I would consider this medium-paced, it took a while to follow who all of the characters were and the background of the case and its findings. Also, one part was predictable, I won't say which, but it was pretty obvious from the beginning of the book.

I considered this as a standalone since I have not read the previous two installments. The story started out slow at first, but I'm not too picky with that aspect of the story so it didn't bother me that much. I enjoyed how the plot played out and after the first parts of the book the plot actually turned out to be fast-paced. Now I'm considering reading the first two book because this definitely intrigued me!

Isabella Maldonado's books fill the void that Criminal Minds left in my life when it went off the air! I love the criminal profiling that goes into each one of these cases + books.

The mobile response team is the perfect combination of brains + brawn! Always compulsively readable and fast-paced from beginning to end.

Thanks to NetGalley + Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A faster medium-paced mystery/thriller due out later this year that's solidly written and earns a good middle of the ground three stars from me due to it featuring a femme protagonist who is struggling with some of her demons, but that repeats tropes around abused people being "incapable" of love (even if that trope is mildly challenged prior to narrative's resolution), and some other incongruous and/or frustrating portions of the narrative. Solid and will be enjoyed thoroughly by the right reader! Please note minor spoilers included in order to provide honest feedback as relates to the narrative flow and building of the novel.

CWs: emotional abuse + manipulation, gas lighting, psychological abuse, sexual violence, rape (minor, referred to in the past rather than present timeline of the novel, but could be upsetting for some readers nonetheless)

Positive factors:
- Good chapter length, and chapters that end on the right note to keep the pages turning/keep the reader engaged.
- The author doesn't make too many assumptions about their reader (e.g. Stockholm syndrome and other things that are explained sufficiently, but explanations aren't over the top/are sufficiently woven into the narrative as to not be distracting).
- Interesting use of science/AI/compsci that adds to the intrigue factor in this novel.
- Formulaic of thrillers/cop murder mysteries in a good way with some twists that felt predictable and others that didn't.

Factors that gave me pause/felt less positive:
- Poison used by the antagonist is distilled from a common southern/southwestern native plant, and is discussed by profilers as if it's not a commonly gardened native plant - felt unrealistic
- Unrealistic access granted by two of the profiler team to a special collections portion of an academic library without any interaction with library staff
- Minor story/narrative misalignment when Nina + co discover Melissa's body but then the text refers to a student discovering it earlier in the day in the next chapter
- Repetition throughout the novel of tropes that are simply incorrect by protagonist about abused people not being able to provide/give love or create loving environments (protagonist constantly refers to herself as "incapable" of love throughout), and while this is somewhat resolved by the end of the novel, it's nonetheless a worrisome trope to have repeated so frequently by an otherwise strong femme protagonist.
- Antagonist's backstory weave in isn't really resolved by the team, and the chapters where the reader gains insight feel a bit incongruous at the end/like things weren't quite resolved/wrapped as tightly as I'd have liked to see.

Great read! I love this series and was very happy to receive an advance copy from NetGalley. Another intense Nina Guerrera story which takes you on quite a ride. Appreciated development of some of the recurring characters and learning more about them through the book. My only disappointment is that I now have to wait for book 4!

“The Falcon” is the third in a series, although I read it as a stand alone (and I promise to read “The Cipher,” the first in the series that’s been on my Kindle for awhile very soon now). For any fan of police procedurals or FBI investigations, this story’s structure is familiar. Six women have gone missing and there a lot of cooks in the law enforcement kitchen — the FBI, the campus police, the Phoenix Police Department, family lawyers, a local psychic, and the school’s IT department — trying to figure who has authority to do what and who can solve the kidnappings before there are more.

I really love police procedurals, but there really were too many people to keep track of beyond initially Nina Guerrera, the FBI agent that the series is based on. With enough time, the characters do become familiar and the story is pretty straightforward. This is how we investigate, eliminate suspects, learn about the perpetrator and eventually find him. The drama is interspersed as Nina’s young friend, Bianca, who Nina rescued from a bad family situation years ago, gets taken as a seventh victim, spurring Nina to want a quicker resolution and save Bianca. But it was a satisfying narrative and I look forward to further entires in the Nina Guerrera series. 4 stars.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Kelly Breck, an FBI task force member, has green eyes. Melissa, a victim, has equally improbably-colored gray eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO. A plot point involves the deadly Jimson weed, which used to kill people in season 2 of “The Sinner” as well. It grows well in temperate areas.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release date! 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 stars 

*Disclaimer: Please note that I read this book as a stand-alone, so I have no idea what happened in the first two books or if they relate to anything on this book.*

In this book, we follow Nina, an FBI agent who is called to Arizona to help the local police investigate the cases of six female college students at Arizona Institute of Technology (AIT). She brings along Bianca, a girl Nina helped rescue from her abusive foster parents when Bianca was 13 years old. Bianca is looking to tour the school and visit Nina’s family. 

What drew me into this book was the plot. Missing female students? No leads on the case? No site to examine? No bodies? Falcons and Egyptian mythology? Sign me up! 

However, I have a few minor issues that caused me to rate lower than I would have liked. 

For one, I think the timeline of when Nina got to Arizona to the time she solved whodunit was WAY too fast. I’ve read/watch/listen to enough true crime stories to know that these types of crimes don’t get solved in less than a week. (Literally, I think it’s solved within six days. And yes, I know that the local police spent a couple of months working on it, but still.) I know it’s just a fictional story, but I personally like my stories to have a little bit of realism in it. And it’s a little bit more disappointing after learning that the author had some experience working in the criminal justice system for several years—you would think it would be a little bit more realistic. 

The second thing—which is related to my first point—is how convenient everything was. Nina arrives to AIT and the bodies are found within a couple of days. People are able to determine time of death, causal of death, the relationship to ancient Egyptian methodology, the information about he falcons and how to train them, etc. way too quickly. Again, this takes place over a week. Too fast in my opinion. Especially when the police had NO leads. No bodies. No trail. No sites to examine. They’re literally going off of nothing. 

The third issue is my connection to the main characters. AGAIN. I did not read the first two books of this series, BUT I still think the main characters lacked voices. They kind of all sounded the same, except for maybe Bianca. Even the side characters felt personality-less. 

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. Granted, I had a few issues with it, but that didn’t deter me from DNF-ing it (which is solid in my case). I think what made this book good was the story behind why the guy was kidnapping girls. There was a lot to it that kept me on my toes. And while I didn’t correctly guess who did the crime, I think looking back, I could have figured it out if I payed a little bit more attention. 

Would I recommend this book? Sure!

This is one of my current favourite crime series. Great characters with developed backstories is often lacking in crime fiction but can be found in spades here. Twisted thrillers grounded by terrific characters. Reminds me of Karin Slaughter and that's an A+ for me.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Thomas & Mercer and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

The third in a series- I didn’t know when I read- it works as a stand-alone. The writing is great, it’s a fast paced story. A suspenseful thriller filled with intrigue.

Love this series!

This particular installment, for me anyhow, started out slow. The middle was fast-paced and really exciting. The end definitely left me wanting more!

Thank you #netgalley and #thomas&mercer for the eARC.

I was delighted to see that the Falcon was available to request and I was extra delighted when I was approved to read an advanced copy. Nina Guerrera is back with her kick ass team of FBI Special Agents and they have been called into one of Arizona's elite universities where young women are being stalked and kidnapped.

When the team arrive 5 young women have been kidnapped without a trace and the town is at breaking point. The FBI team up with the campus police and then eventually the Phoenix Police Department so it is an all in effort to save/find these girls. Meanwhile, another girl goes missing and everyone is feeling pretty useless.

Nina is still getting to know her bio family that she has only just met and her headstrong neighbour Bianca is out to visit scoping universities - Nina is on high alert trying to make sure nothing happens to anymore girls but also keeping an eye on Bianca. She has a huge job ahead because some really hellish things are about to happen.

Some really sick and twisted things are happening in this book and that kept me wanting more, however, I would be lying if I said it had the same quality as the first two books. I couldn't ever quite put my finger on it but there was something missing in the storytelling during this one.

I felt that a lot of time was spent spelling out technical details and while we definitely needed to know the details it came across a bit wooden and didn't flow as easily as the first two novels. Similarly the characters conversations didn't flow nicely and each time someone said something the next person repeated what they had said in a different way... so it made the story a bit repetitive.

While I don't think this was the strongest and best book of the series so far I still did really enjoy it and the twists and turns were very exciting. I didn't guess who the kidnapper was, and when the backstory was revealed it was very interesting.

I will definitely be keeping my eye out for another instalment as I think there may be a bit of romance on the horizon and no doubt Isabella Maldonado has many an interesting albeit sick and twisted story left to tell.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer and Isabella Maldonado for an advanced copy for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of The Falcon. This is book three in a great series, but can be read as a stand-alone book. A benefit of reading the series from the beginning is seeing how the characters grow and learn. The writing was wonderful, as I knew it would be. It was a bonus to learn things while enjoying the story. I loved the intriguing story and was excited to see the profiling revealing so many interesting facts. I also loved how the facts were researched and how they mirrored the actions of the killer. These books just keep getting better and better! If you want a ‘smart thriller’ and appreciate great writing and characters you will love, this is the book for you!

THE FALCON was such a great book!
Once I started reading I couldn't stop.
It hooked me right from the start.
Book three was better than the first two IMO.
It's well done and interesting, becoming more and more suspenseful as the story progresses. 
Nina is such a wonderful character and I have grown to love her.
I hope they're more books to come in the series.

Thomas & Mercer,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

*4 Stars!!

Falcon is the 3rd book in the Nina Guerrero series and I believe that there will be at least one other book which follows this one. This book follows Nina who's an agent with the FBI. Following on from the last book Nina is building a relationship with her biological family including an auntie who's a lot like Mrs G and we see the first meeting of Nina and Bianca 5 years previously.

The FBI is called in to help investigate when 5 female students of an elite tech university disappear without a trace and without much time to find the abductor as the chancellor is considering closing the university for good the race is on to find these girls, but things become a bit tense between the FBI and the missing women's families as a conman claiming to be psychic inserts himself within the group of grieving families causing nothing but trouble. We also see the story from the abductors point of view as he uses behavioural psychology along with falconry techniques to control his captives and make them become dependable upon him.

I enjoyed this book so much I read it in one day as I couldn't put it down. I really liked all the characters and really liked how the tech room/base of operations room was described i was able to get a good idea of what it was like. I really really hated that jerk of a boyfriend who knew that female co-eds were being abducted but still let his girlfriend walk to the dorms alone because he didn't want to get wet and how he referred to women as furniture belonging to the 'house' and to be used as the men pleased, god that made me want to much him in the balls so bad!!! I also didn't see who the abductor was totally took me by surprise and I liked the miss direction and the build up to the final showdown and reveal.

On a good note there was some slight romance towards the end, not gonna say who I'll leave that as a good surprise. So overall really enjoyed the book and the series. Im looking forward to seeing what the future books bring.

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review.*