Vendetta (Catherine Ling #5)

I love all of Iris Johansen’s books. This is a Catherine Ling novel, but it introduces Rachel Venable the daughter of the CIA agent. She works with Catherine, HuChang, the Guardian, as well as some new characters. They work to take down Red Star, a vast criminal enterprise. The book was interesting, well written, and had a few surprises as well. I enjoyed it but still prefer the Eve Duncan series. I would recommend this book to others. It definitely held my interest until the end.

If I had realized this was an Eve Duncan spin-off I would not have bought this. I gave up on that series when she did the cliffhangers with the individual names because that smacked of getting triple the money for what really have been just one book. Nevertheless I started reading this one. The characters all have the same “voice”. Any one statement could be said by any of the characters. They “sound” wooden and way too formal, not speaking like a real person would. Scenes that should have been emotional just sound clinical. I’ll be more careful of my purchases in the future. I love her Kendra Michaels series that she writes with her son Roy and I had hopes this was the start of a new series. This was definitely not worth the price I paid. I gave up reading about 120 pages in.

Iris Johansen is one of this voracious readers favorite authors and I preorder all her books and I normally devour them in hours. But this book was different in that the main character Rachael wasn’t very likable. Just didn’t feel a connection with her except exasperation. Thankfully the book contained many of Johansen’s previously introduced and fascinating characters like Catherine and Cameron ( one of my favorites) and Hu Chang. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Will I continue to preorder Johansen? Yes! I want many more stories about her other characters just not about Rachael.

I could not put the book down until I read the entire book! I love the continuity of each her new novels as she defines the main character in the current but weaves the characters from previous novels to enrich and expand the depth of relationships between each familiar character in every new adventurous journey. Please hurry with the next adventure. I want to know if Joe ‘s ability to see and talk with ghost developed or progress of Catherine and Cameron , Rachel and Brandon, Seth and Jane. So many adventures waiting to explore.

I was enthralled with this book and really found it hard to put down. Although a few parts felt unbelievable I could not stop reading it. It kept me on my toes with its plot and story line, twists and turns AND then the ending. Wow. I cannot wait to read the next one that follows this story line and characters .

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member