Bookshelf Friday - Lethal Legacy by Irene Hannon

A fan of Irene Hannon's, I've been waiting for Lethal Legacy to come out. I picked it up on Sunday and dug in, happy to finally have it in my hands and yet sad that it was the final book in this series. I always hate to say good-bye ***sniff sniff***

While I can't say this was my favorite book in the series, it still was a great read. I love Irene's style of writing, she does a lot of research and sucks you right into the middle of her character's lives and scenes. I did find this time around the bad guy was easy to pinpoint, but she didn't let the reveal wait until the end...so maybe she wrote it that way on purpose. Here's a short blurb:

The police say her father's death was suicide. But Kelly Warren says it was murder--and she has new evidence that she believes proves it. Detective Cole Taylor doesn't put much credence in her claim, and nothing in his case review suggests foul play. But when Kelly ends up in the emergency room with a suspicious life-threatening medical condition, the incident strikes him as more than just coincidence. Digging deeper, he discovers she's linked to a long-ago crime. Is history repeating itself? And who wants Kelly silenced?

As I said, you find out early who wants Kelly silenced, and the end of the book wraps everything up as you'd expect. Still, this book did not disappoint. It was a great Contemporary Romantic Suspense--Irene is one of the best authors in this genre--and though I was happy when I closed the book, it took my reading a friend's Facebook status to realize what more I wanted from this book...from many of the books I've read recently. My friend posted that she was at the 1/2 mark in her WIP (work in progress), with twists, turns, and no one is safe!!!

Sign me up! Many books nail the twists and turns, and I LOVE that. But I also love the unexpected, the feeling as if you don't know what's coming and truly, no one is safe. Sure, you hurt a favorite character of mine and I may hurl your book against a wall, but there's something to be said about shocking your readers. I miss that. As an author, you can't do it everytime (you kill everyone off and suddenly your cast of characters is gone), but you can unsettle your readers just enough to make them keep coming back.

My friend's book has yet to be published, but when it is, I'll be reading it. In the meantime, I'll happily look forward to more of Irene's books--luckily she's got one coming out this winter. As for you, who's some of your favorite authors and why?