Title – Deep Blue Trouble
Author – Steph Broadribb
Published – November 2017
Genre – Thriller
This is the follow-up to Steph’s debut ‘Deep Down Dead‘ and takes place pretty much where Deep Down Dead ends – Lori is desperate to get JT out of prison and in the absence of a witness (the only one who can vouch for JT is in a coma) Lori agrees to take on a job for FBI agent Alex Monroe.
Monroe seems to hold all the cards which isn’t a situation that Lori is exactly comfortable with and flies in the face of everything she learned from JT – but she has no choice. Leaving her daughter, Dakota, at summer camp she sets off to recapture Gibson ‘The Fish’ Fletcher, a man she has captured in the past but who is now on the loose following a jail break. It’s obvious that Monroe has a personal reason for wanting Lori to be the one to take Fletcher but he operates on a strictly ‘need to know’ basis. What unfolds in a rollercoaster of a chase across America and even venturing into Mexico on the trail of the missing man.
Lori remains driven by her feelings for JT and her worries for her daughter. She’s as ‘kick-ass’ as she was in the first book but the situation demands that this time she’s acting more on her own than as part of a team. She has one person she can call on for help and is given the support of a team through Monroe but she’s not used to trusting people she doesn’t know but her lack of allies leads to more internal monologue.
The first book featured a lot of Lori’s backstory (so you may be better reading the series in order) so it was going to be interesting to see how the second book would develop without this. Some of this is dealt with by having some of the story from JT’s point of view and for the reader understanding his situation in jail adds to the tension – there are some repercussions from the previous book. There’s also more of an investigative aspect – so part PI/part bounty hunter.
What I particularly admire is how different the voice in the book is to the author. You can often go to events or meet authors and when you speak to them you can see something of them in their books – the voice they write with is similar to their own. If you’ve ever come across Steph at an event you will know how different she is to Lori. Perhaps if you’re American and read the books something might jar but for me it feels completely authentic and there’s nothing that would make me think this wasn’t written by someone as American as Lori.
If you like a strong female character with a unique voice and rollercoaster thriller then this is the book for you. Many thanks to Lounge Books for the free download.
Novel Heights 