Title: The Wrong Victim
Author: Allison Brennan
Publication: April 26, 2022
Publisher: MIRA
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 453
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board. Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands.
Forensic profilers know there are two types of domestic terrorists: those who use violence to instill fear for political purposes but stop at murder because it detracts from the cause, and those who crave attention and are willing to maim and murder for their own agenda.
Accused of putting profits before people after leaking fuel that caused a massive fish kill, the West End Charter company may itself have been the target. But as special agent Matt Costa, detective Kara Quinn and the rest of the FBI team begin their investigation, they discover that plenty of people might have wanted someone dead on that yacht. Now they must track down who is responsible and stop them before they strike again.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I don’t know how I have never read a book by Allison Brennan before because she writes crime/police mystery novels that are exactly what I look for. Needless to say I was excited to read this novel.
The story follows an FBI group of agents that is investigating a bombing on a small island that usually has no violent crime. Right off the bat we are introduced to a handful of characters, although most of the story comes from only a couple of their points of view. I get the impression that Allison Brennan introduced us to these characters and their personalities in a way that would guide how we felt about them. I had a love/hate relationship with Kara because I loved her fire and her sureness that she was a good cop and could get the job done, but at the same time I think there needs to be a humbleness in people that Kara was very clearly lacking. I was not a fan of Catherine because she came across as judgmental and whiney a lot, although I am sure she is great at her job. She also needed a dose of humble pie. I quite enjoyed most of the male characters. They were good people that I could relate to others in my life that I enjoy spending time with. Brennan did a fantastic job of making likeable, relatable, and fun to read characters.
The overall mystery was incredibly intriguing. I was guessing the whole time and, while one of my guesses was correct, I have to say that I was definitely all over the board the entire time. Brennan kept me on my toes and just when I pegged it, she would change it up and throw me a new curve to have me question myself. The amount of details written into this story were incredible and made the story realistic and believable. I love how Brennan writes and keeps the story flowing easily even during quieter moments where it’s just filling the characters time in.
Overall I am a fan of The Wrong Victim. The only thing keeping me from giving the book five stars was the dislike I had for Catherine and sometimes Kara. Disliking the general type of human of main characters can really tug on a book. I want to love my characters, but I know it’s not always possible. In this case, I really wanted to be rooting for the good people, but those good people really annoyed me at times. Either way, I’ll be checking out all of Brennan’s other work because her stories are packed with twists and turns and shocking moments. Just what I like.
