Book Review: "Deadly Pursuit" by Irene Hannon

Summary from BN.com: As a social worker, Alison Taylor has a passion for protecting children and seeing that justice is served on their behalf. But when she starts getting harassing phone calls and bizarre "gifts," it seems she may be the one in need of protection. When her tormentor's attentions take a violent turn, her brother Cole comes to her aid, along with his new partner, an ex-Navy SEAL, Detective Mitch Morgan. As her relentless stalker turns up the heat, Mitch takes a personal interest in the case. Protecting Alison has become more than just a job—because his own happiness now depends on keeping her safe.

I never realized the danger that people who work in child protective services face every day. Alison is in danger throughout the book because someone thinks their life was ruined by what she did in protecting a family. Because of the abusive nature of the person they are unable to grasp the fact that they are the ones at fault. Instead they turn all their rage and bitterness on Alison and therefore feel they are justified in making her hurt as much as she has made them. People like Alison are extremely brave because not only do they have to take up the fight for justice but they are also putting themselves at risk to do this.

While I enjoyed the story, I found myself not being a huge fan as I have with Hannon's other books. I think this was due to the fact that the story focused more on romance than with suspense. It's made clear very early in the book that romance will play a key role in the story when Mitch and Alison are set up on a date together. I had read in a previous review about how many times it's noted about how attractive both Mitch and Alison are and I found this to be true throughout the book. It's not really a problem but I guess since it was pointed out to me, I kept constantly seeing it.

Overall, I stated, this probably was not my favorite book of Hannon's. The suspense is very good but I didn't feel as drawn into the characters as I have before. The romance is nice but as I am fan of minimal romance in my romantic suspense, I thought it was a bit too much. Fans of this series will probably enjoy the book more than I did. I still look forward to the next book in the series.

Deadly Pursuit by Irene Hannon is published by Revell (2011)

This review copy was provided by the publisher

Other books in the Guardians of Justice series that I have reviewed:

Fatal Judgment (Book 1)