Left for Dead

This is my favoriate so far in the series. Ali is working a mystery but she\’s not the only one (I really hate books where they have a superman or superwoman character that does everything without help) and we\’re introduced to some of her police academy friends and a nun she befriended in an earlier book. The plot is taut and the ending completely unexpected. I did have a couple of questions. The teen runaway in the book went missing from her Mom and StepDad\’s at 14, yet she has a tattoo she said her Mom got her for her 15th birthday. Also in one scene, Ali is introduced by a long-time friend to another person as a \”Reserve (LEO) Officer\” yet, nowhere in this book or the prior one is she working for law enforcement in any capacity. She was not hired by LE in any capacity after completing police officer training due to budget cuts in an earlier book.

I have enjoyed all seven entries in the Ali Reynolds series, and the latest, Left for Dead, is, I think, the best. The person left for dead is a teenage prostitute who met up with the \”john from Hell.\” Tortured and assaulted, she is dumped in the desert to die. She is found by a Border Patrolman and taken by airlift to the same hospital used as a setting in earlier series entries. Meanwhile, a police officer from Santa Cruz County (in which the U.S. Nogales lies) is shot and also left to die in the desert. As is typical in Jance\’s novels, these separate plotlines comingle, which provides Ali with a means to become involved in both, along with Sister Anselm, a character introduced in Trial by Fire. The Santa Cruz officer is a friend of Ali\’s, who we met in Fatal Error. So, even though she still has no official responsibility in dealing with these characters\’ problems, she becomes involved anyway, because she is the principal protagonist. The result is a story well worth the time to read. It is also revealed that Ali\’s parents are going to sell the Sugar Loaf Café and her mother plans to run for mayor of Sedona. These plans seem to have the potential to provide a plotline for a future Ali Reynolds novel. I have given the other Ali Reynolds each a rating of 4; this one, I think, deserves a 5. I think readers will enjoy it a great deal, especially if the earlier entries are read first.

This is one of my favorite mystery authors; however, I found the beginning of this book to be a bit confusing at times. I almost quit reading it early on because I thought I had bought a book in which the heroine was Ali Reynolds, but she seemed to remain very much in the background. However, Ali finally shows up to play a significance part in investigating the attempted murders and other actual murders. A young, run away from home, call girl is brutally beaten and a cop is shot. Both are left for dead in unrelated cases…or are they? Both individuals end up at the same hospital in the same ICU. There are also some thugs, the murder of a small town postman and a very mean old lady. Yep, all the i\’s get dotted, the t\’s get crossed, and Ali Reynolds finally plays a major role. It appears initially that Ali\’s friend, Jose the cop might be involved in drug trafficking. Both Jose\’s wife and Ali refuse to believe that could be the case even though there seems to be quite a bit of incriminating evidence. Ali\’s good friend, Sister Anselm is a pretty good amateur sleuth herself. She is a patient advocate for the young call girl; however she does a pretty good job of super sleuthing and she and Ali give the real cops some competition in case closure. The ending was a bit of a surprise; however, that makes for a good read.

I only recently found some J. A. Jance books in our community library. They left me hungry for more and I have been ordering them frequently. Love the Ali Reynolds, Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont series. Keep them coming!!!

I got hooked on this author when she began writing the Brady series. I live in Tucson and could identify with all of the places she wrote about. This book disappointed me because she fictionalized so many of the places, specifically the hospital and the convent. Putting that aside it was a very good book. I haven\’t read any of the other Reynolds books but plan to do so. Another reviewer mentioned the Beaumont series and how well written those books are. I agree, this book is not the quality of the earlier books written by this author. Nevertheless this is an easy read, and if that is what you are looking for then please purchase it. The characters are well drawn and there are some plot twists. This is a good book to read if you aren\’t looking for any thing heavy or any obnoxious page wasting love scenes.

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