Seconds to Live ~ Review

Seconds to Live
Homeland Heroes #1
By Susan Sleeman

A cybercriminal has compromised the U.S. Marshals database of persons who are in their Witness Protection Program (WITSEC) and the data is available for purchase. With time running against them RED Team is assigned the lead in this case. FBI Agent Sean Nichols is the led agent in this multi-agency team and they need to move fast to stop the individual they believe responsible for this breach - Phantom is known for not only incredible hacking skills but a deadly ruthlessness.

First stop is Portland, Oregon, to connect with U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills, with whom RED Team had previous dealings. Taylor's charge in WITSEC is of particular interest as she has the hacking skills needed to pull this off and she has had previous dealings with Phantom. Dealings that have her life in danger and on Phantom's radar.

There is just one little problem though they have never met in person Sean and Taylor have a relationship that is about to put a serious dose of awkward into their face-to-face dealings. Working with someone who knows some of your deepest feelings is never easy and Sean and Taylor are about to find out just how hard it is very quickly. Can you say stepping on toes when they each try to do their job with no compromise?

With the threat that someone inside the U.S. Marshal office is involved Taylor is effectively cut off from her normal support team with need to know severely limited. Phantom is always seemingly two steps ahead of them and every lead soon becomes a dead-end.

Tick-tock is the refrain that must be running through the minds of this group as the threat to protected witnesses begins to become reality. Trust is what is needed to get them to their goal - Phatom's capture and the recovery of the stolen database and trust is the one thing that both Sean and Taylor have in short supply.

Seconds to Live is the first book in Susan Sleeman's new Homeland Heroes series and it has a wide cast of characters whom one is more than willing to get to know in future books. One would assume that the RED Team will continue to work on a seemingly cold case that they haven't solved - the Montgomery Three has haunted all of them (we are given little about this case other than that the team sees this as a failure). I like that little hints are offered throughout about the other team members but nothing to truly flesh them out so that they become a friend rather they are like the neighbor you only pass on the way to and from work. The book works well as a series staring point but also works well as a standalone book.

This book is classified as Romantic Suspense and falls well into that genre - those who have read Susan Sleeman's work with Love Inspired Suspense will not be disappointed in this offering from Bethany House. Great way to pass the late-night hours when you should probably be sleeping but what can I say I was hooked and could not stop reading.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the publisher with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion - all thoughts expressed are my own.


About the Book:

The Seconds Are Ticking Down before Someone Dies

When cybercriminals hack into the U.S. Marshals' Witness Protection database and auction off witnesses' personal details to the highest bidders, the RED Team, led by FBI Agent Sean Nichols, begins a high-stakes chase to find the hacker. But before he can even get started, the first witness is targeted and barely escapes with her life. Sean believes Phantom, an obsessed hacker who previously outwitted the top minds in the field, is behind the attack, and Sean needs this witness's help, as she's the person who has come closest to discovering Phantom's identity.

Trouble is, she's under the care of U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills, and Sean is reluctant to work with the captivating Marshal who knows his deepest secrets. But Phantom seems to be one step ahead at every turn and will stop at nothing to kill the witness. To stop the hacker, Sean and Taylor must learn to trust each other as danger draws ever closer.