"Diamonds and frozen falls in this tension-filled romance"
Reviewed by Clare O'Beara
Posted February 16, 2016
Inspirational Mystery | Inspirational Romance | Romance Suspense
Fourth in the suspenseful Northern Border Patrol
series,
this tale introduces us to Liz Cantrell who is abruptly
ordered to provide a necklace as RANSOM for her terrified
sister Jillian. Not only has Liz been chased around her
antique store by a prowler, who used the name of her
sister's dodgy husband, but Liz has taken a phone call in
which Jillian was threatened. Heading north by plane, Liz
is picked up by the Canada Border Services. Nat Longhorn is an agent with the Service, and he works
with
the FBI to counter serious crime such as smuggling. He only
has a rumour about the kidnapping, but obviously the
kidnapper ordered Liz not to tell police. This lady is
clearly afraid and her bag contains a valuable necklace of
unpolished stones, seeming to confirm his suspicions. Agent
Blake Fallon of Customs and Immigration concurs that their
priority is to free the hostage, but he also wants to take
down the crime lord behind the reprehensible activity. The
only way he can do that is if Liz co-operates. With beautiful settings such as the frozen Horseshoe Falls
at Niagara, this adventure grips from the start. Liz is an
ordinary citizen, not in the habit of dealing with police,
and suddenly she is being followed and threatened by
vicious men. She has to depend on her own wits and two
agents to keep her unharmed. But now that the criminals
know she is in the hands of law enforcement, what will
happen to Jillian? RANSOM really is a nail-biting series of
escapes and tensions. I like that a female agent called
Sami
is brought in to accompany Liz and there are some
references to characters from earlier books. A few times the complex story stops for conversations and
while this does slow down the action, it serves to remind
us the decisions are now out of Liz's hands. Indeed
the agencies would rather not have her around, so only by
persuading the agents that she is determined and reliable
can she attempt to be allowed to stay in Canada. In this
way we get to know Liz and the people she deals with, who
come across as hard working and hardened. Terri Reed is a top-class author of romantic suspense and
RANSOM is every bit as good as we'd expect. The
understated, inspirational romance is suitable for adults
and young adults.
Learn more about Ransom
SUMMARY
"WE HAVE YOUR SISTER." Liz Cantrell is terrified when she receives a call from a
man holding her newlywed sister captive—and she's
convinced
her sketchy brother-in-law's involved. Willing to pay any
price for her sister's freedom, Liz flies to Niagara
Falls
with the ransom: an uncut diamond necklace worth
millions.
But the moment she lands, a handsome, world-weary
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent takes her into
custody. Blake Fallon's determined to catch a ruthless
diamond smuggler—and the pretty antiques dealer trying to
save her sister could be just the break his case needs.
But
as they team up to rescue Liz's sister and trap the
criminal
mastermind, a desperate standoff will threaten everything
they hold precious—including their lives. Northern Border Patrol: Keeping the US-Canada border
safe.
ExcerptA crash from her sister’s bedroom brought Liz Cantrell
bolt upright on the couch. She was alone in the apartment
she shared with her sister and had been seated with her
feet tucked beneath her, trying hard to be interested in
the movie on the television with no success. She muted
the sound and listened.A floorboard creaked. No way was that from the blustery January wind outside
her second story apartment. Someone was definitely in Jillian’s room. Alarm flooded Liz’s veins. “Please, Lord,” she whispered as she fumbled to grab her
phone from her sweat pants pocket. A thud and then a man’s deep growl jolted her into
action. No time to call for help. She had to get out of there.
Fast. She jumped to her feet and hurried to open the
apartment door. The hinge squeaked as loud as a shotgun
blast. Thunder rumbled through the apartment. Not thunder, but feet. A tall figure, wearing a plastic
masquerade mask like those worn at Mardi Gras time and
dressed all in black, rushed out of Jillian’s room. He
had Jillian’s big burl-wood jewelry box—thankfully not
their mother’s special jewelry box-- in his gloved hands,
spilling the contents of Jillian’s costume jewelry on the
floor as he ran toward Liz. Adrenaline fueled her fear. She whirled away and ran for
the stairs leading to her family’s antique shop, her
slippers snagging on the old carpet. The walls of the
stairwell seemed to close in on her. She hated dark,
confined spaces. She pushed through her anxiety to scuttle down the stairs
as fast as she could. The man came after her, breathing
down her neck like a monster from a horror flick, adding
to the fear tightening her chest and constricting her
throat. Before she reached the bottom of the staircase, the
burglar grabbed a handful of her hair. With a painful
jerk, he brought her to a halt and pushed her face first
against the stairwell wall. Pain exploded in her cheek
and radiated through her head. Would he kill her? Rape
her? She squeezed her eyes tight, tensing her body in
preparation to fight back and sent up an urgent prayer.
God, help me! Help me, please. “Where’s the necklace?” her attacker growled in her ear.
His hot, stale breath made her gag. “What?” Liz struggled to process what was happening. Why
had this man broken into her home? What was he talking
about? “What necklace?” “Come on Jillian, Travis bragged to me he’d lifted it
from Santini’s shipment to give to you. Since Travis is
so stupid to not keep his mouth shut, he doesn’t deserve
it. And neither does Santini, the pig.” He pressed his
weight into her, his knee jamming into her thigh, his
elbow crammed into her back at the tender spot below her
ribs. “Give it to me or I’ll kill you!” His words beat into her, almost paralyzing her with
terror. He thought she was Jillian. What would the man do
when he realized she wasn’t Jillian but rather her
sister? Kill her then go after Jillian? She couldn’t let
that happen. She had to protect her little sister.
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