A Carol for Kent (Song of Suspense #3) by Hallee Bridgeman

Title: A Carol for Kent (Song of Suspense #3)

Author: Hallee Bridgeman

Pages: 300

Year: 2014

Publisher: Olivia Kimbrell Press

Note: I received a free copy of this book through The Book Club Network in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the book:

     A ruthless serial killer seeks to end a love song eight years in the making.

     Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Carol Mabry heads up an investigation into a string of stranglings in Virginia’s capital. The serial killer known as Richmond Red remorselessly snuffs out beautiful young women with violin strings before ritually enshrining their lovely lifeless bodies inside a pentagram of blood red candles.

     Country music superstar Bobby Kent makes an unscheduled return trip to his Virginia home for the first time in years. To his shock, he discovers that he and Carol have a young daughter, Lisa. His parents have kept Lisa hidden from him her entire life while simultaneously deceiving Carol about Bobby’s interest in fatherhood.

     Angry and hurt over the deception, Carol and Bobby strive to cope with this newly discovered reality. They struggle to overcome harmful secrets and years of lies to decide whether they have a future. Neither of them realize how every waking moment they move closer to the serial killer who harbors an unnatural and deadly obsession.

     With the beautiful Carol locked in Richmond Red’s sights, the clock is ticking down to her destruction. Will the two find love, or is their sonata striking a dangerous final chord?

My review:

     An absolutely fantastic inspirational suspense!

     I love the characters that Hallee has developed for this novel. Both Carol and Bobby have so much depth to them that they are a joy to get to know. As soon as the deception that they have been living under was revealed my heart broke for all that the two of them, plus Lisa, had missed out on. I have never wanted so badly to see the characters in a book receive their “happily-ever-after” as I did with these characters. The way that they each dealt with everything that life threw at them was amazing. The fact that they both take time to pray is wonderful in my mind. The road that they have to travel to come to the point that they can forgive those who have hurt them is very well written.

     The plot caught my attention and pulled me in so thoroughly that I was really trying to figure out who the murderer was. I felt an urgency to ensure the safety of the characters.

     Even while I was learning so much about both Bobby and Carol there were brief appearances from a number of characters from both of the previous books in this series. It was very satisfying to catch up with them even as we were seeing how they helped Bobby and Carol deal with their story.

     The writing of this novel was an excellent job done by a fantastic writer and I highly recommend it. I would be remiss if I didn't give it the full 5 stars, so that is what I'm giving it.