HACKED - Geri Hosier

Liz Paxton, head of a London Murder Squad, and her friend Lou Brighouse, a top-notch journalist, are trying to find the murderer of a reporter who had been in the middle of investigating a phone hacking scandal. Could a simple hacking story really be worth killing over? The deeper Liz gets in her investigation the more terrifying the reporter's death becomes (she learns he was tortured before being killed) and she finds herself with formidable enemies on both sides of the law.

Liz will need to fall back on her natural talent and carefully honed skills to stay one step ahead of those trying to kill her while uncovering and exposing the criminal activity.

I've started, and stopped, this book a few times over the years and finally decided I was just going to read it. The mystery in this story is fine.  A decade ago it would have seemed really relevant seeing as how the story seems to be pulled from an event in England in 2011 involving Rupert Murdock and phone hacking.

What slows this book down for me is the romance. Liz and Lou  fall quickly and decidedly in love with one another and there's probably more pages dedicated to their relationship than there is to the mystery (maybe that's not true, but it feels that way). This becomes a 'chick-lit' (I really don't like using that term) romance over a thriller backdrop, rather than an action thriller mystery with a touch of romance.

The book rather fights with itself - competing story lines - and really neither wins out in this scenario.

Looking for a good book? Chick-lit lovers might not like the heavy action and killing and thriller lovers might be a bit disappointed with the heavy romance, keeping Hacked by Geri Hosier from reaching much of an audience.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Hacked

author: Geri Hosier

publisher: CreateSpace

ISBN: 9781492163183

paperback, 258 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more