"Suspense in this Atlanta detective's tale"
Reviewed by Clare O'Beara
Posted August 7, 2013
Thriller | Romance Suspense
A man fires a rifle and murders an Atlanta officer on the
street. Only as the police are well into investigating do
they realise that the bullets were all fired to enter a
brick wall and ruin calibration markings. Does the
perpetrator know too much about investigative techniques?
THE LAST EXECUTION was carried out by Doyle Preston,
emotionlessly determined to get away with his actions. He
considers himself to be dispensing justice. This is his
third killing....
Detective Leigh McBride is assigned to the investigating
FBI team. The pattern is studied and shootings linked. The
dead officer's movements were normal before he died, but
his wife appears to have taken a beating. Could domestic
abuse be a factor? The team has to consider everything. If
a wife had her husband killed, what about the previous two
shootings? And could the gunman who leaves so few traces,
be trained in law enforcement?
Leigh who works hard on the case, is then visited by a past
boyfriend, a possessive, vindictive man who assaults her
when she refuses to be part of his life. Special Agent JT
Noble takes care of Leigh and her young son for extra
safety - he usually prefers to work alone, but this case
needs local knowledge, and anyway Leigh is fast making him
change his mind. JT has his reasons for not letting anyone
too close, but he starts to see that they are really
excuses. Meanwhile Doyle the shooter is out there lining up
his next target, and his warped mentality means that
potentially anyone could be next.
Jerrie Alexander previously wrote 'The Green-Eyed Doll'
about a serial killer of women in Texas. I thought her
police procedural writing has improved in this latest
suspense work; and the stakes have been raised in that it
is no longer vulnerable women who are potential victims.
Leigh is a determined and knowledgeable woman, made frail
by the fact of being a mother with a child's safety to
worry her. For those who like hard-slogging detective work
and the tension of ongoing serial killing stories, with a
personal journey interwoven, THE LAST EXECUTION will be a
satisfying read.
SUMMARY
Homicide detective Leigh McBride's first assignment with the
FBI brings her face–to–face with a past she's
tried hard to forget. And when her temporary partner, a
cynical ex–marine, lights a fire in her she thought
long–extinguished, her darkest secret is threatened. Scarred both physically and emotionally, Special Agent J. T.
Noble is a man of few words. He prefers to keep people at a
distance—until he meets Leigh. He's attracted to her
strength and drawn in by her secrecy. But in their line of
work, secrets can be deadly. When the killer they are hunting aims his vigilante justice
at Leigh's past assailant, the fine line between right and
wrong blurs. To heal the past—and find their future
together—Leigh and J. T. must learn that only through
trust and forgiveness can love grow.
Excerpt Ethan turned his head sideways as he studied J.T.'s
face. Wide eyed, the boy pointed at the scar with his index
finger. J.T. wasn't surprised. The kid was probably curious.
"How'd you get that?"
"A piece of shrapnel—" He paused and considered
Ethan's age. "I was in the war. A bomb went off and a piece
of metal smacked me in the face."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore." J.T. marveled at the innocence in
Ethan's eyes.
"Can I touch it?"
"I guess so." J.T. breathed in and waited. Ethan
hesitated, leaning closer.
"I'm not supposed to talk about your scar."
"Who said?"
"Mama."
"It's okay. I won't tell."
J.T. turned his head to the side. No one had outright
asked to touch the constant reminder of a day when his best
friend caught the worst of an IUD. Hell, people shied away
from his right side. Except Leigh, she looked him square in
the face. He lay still while Ethan poked a finger into the
scar a couple of times. After a few seconds of
investigation, the kid cupped the scar with his small hand
and patted lightly. The oddest thing happened to J.T.'s
heart. It swelled inside his chest and then clenched.
"Mama said you were a brave soldier."
Alien emotions swirled through J.T. and an
unexplained urge to hug Ethan put a weird lump in J.T.'s
throat. Unable to cope or understand, his mind raced for an
idea, anything to end the moment.
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