DECEPTION BY PATRICIA BRADLEY

After being forced to kill an FBI agent gone rogue in self-defense while working in the violent crimes unit for the Investigative Services Branch, ranger Madison Thorn is comfortable with her move to the fraud and cyber division. At least numbers don't lie. So she's less than thrilled when a white-collar crime investigation in Natchez, Mississippi, turns violent. She could also do without being forced to work with former-childhood-enemy-turned-infuriatingly-handsome park ranger Clayton Bradshaw.

When a woman who looks just like Madison is attacked on the same night Madison's grandfather is shot, it becomes clear that there is something much bigger going on here and that Madison herself is in danger. Madison and Clayton will have to work together--and suppress their growing feelings for one another--if they are to discover the truth before it's too late.

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Patricia Bradley closes out her popular Natchez Trace Park Rangers series with this complex story of family secrets, mixed motives, and learning to trust.

MY REVIEW

If you are looking for a story that has action, suspense, identical twins and an edge of your seat adventure, look no further. The author gives us a thriller that takes us into the world where deceit and murder reigns among the people involved. I loved the story within the story where Madison’s grandfather has kept a secret that will have lasting consequences. The dynamics of Madison’s upbringing can be described like an onion that is peeled off one at a time. There are so many mysteries in her life that I was hoping something good would finally show up for her. 

Clayton is a great character and steps up to help Madison out. There is a little tension from them at first but as the story continues they are able to talk honestly with each other. I’m glad their romance wasn’t the main focus and directed our attention to Madison that has someone out to kill her. Adding to the mystery is a woman who could be Madison’s twin. Clayton is shaken when he thinks the woman in the hospital with a bullet in her is Madison. I loved the tension as these two women meet for the first time. 

With the unexpected death of her grandfather, Madison is desperate for answers. She knows her grandfather would never kill himself so who murdered him and why? I was trying to figure out how all this would tie together and couldn’t wait to see how the author would put the pieces together. As the ending draws near, I find myself shocked at the secrets that were revealed and the pain so many had endured at the hands of two unexpected people. Madison must face the realization of what has happened to her and the people close to her that deceived her. 

The book is one that I can highly recommend as the author delivers a story filled with everything you would expect from a gifted writer who threads together pieces that end with answers and a feeling of a chapter closed. The theme of forgiveness is illustrated in the story and shows us that even though it may be hard to forgive, we must in order to move ahead with our lives.

I received a copy of this book from Revell Blogger Program. The review is my own opinion. 

USA Today best-selling author, Patricia Bradley is the recipient numerous awards, including an Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award in suspense, a Selah winner, was a Carol and a Daphne du Maurier finalist. Her romantic suspense novels include the Logan Point series, the Memphis Cold Case Novels, and the Natchez Trace Park Rangers. She is now hard at work on the second book in her new Pearl River series set in the Cumberland Plateau area above Chattanooga. The first book in the series, Counter Attack will release in mid-2023.

She has conducted writing workshops for American Christian Fiction Writers, the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference, the KenTen and Scrivener retreats (where she was the keynote), the Memphis American Christian Fiction Writer group, and the Bartlett Christian Writers group. 

She and her two cats call Northeast Mississippi home--the South is also where she sets most of her books, and when she has time, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.