Repeat Offender – Book Review

When you hear the name Las Vegas, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  Elvis? Jerry Lewis? CSI? Long-running shows with BIG names, like Wayne Newton or Celine Dion? Lavish shows with half-naked dancing girls? The Strip with all those fantastic bright lights and flashing marquees?

Yes, there is that, but everyone’s first thought is G.A.M.B.L.I.N.G. Am I right? High-rollers with millions of dollars exchanging hands 24/7.  In his debut novel, Repeat Offender, Det. Bradley Nickell, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police [LVMPD] will introduce you to a different kind of high-roller.



*This is a spoiler free post*

Basic Info: 434 pages, released April 4, 2015, from WildBlue Press. The book has 76 customer reviews, 91% of which are 5 Stars, and the rest have 4 Stars! Impressive. Read on to see what this reviewer thinks.

From the Back Cover:

Las Vegas Police Detective Bradley Nickell brings you the inside scoop of his harrowing investigation to catch the most prolific criminal Las Vegas has ever known. Daimon Monroe looked like an average guy raising a family with his schoolteacher girlfriend, but just below the surface he was an accomplished thief and sex offender with an uncontrollable lust for excess. REPEAT OFFENDER gives an insider’s view of the intense crusade to stop Monroe, set against the bright lights, colorful personalities, and seamy underbelly of America’s Sin City. It’s an epic battle between a driven cop and the remorseless criminal who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, including a plot to kill his pursuer and others.

~

My rating: 5 STARS! (5/5)

“Early one evening, I left the Detective Bureau and soon noticed the same compact car had been in my mirror for a few blocks. A silver-colored Toyota, beat-up looking with no front license plate, driven by two Hispanic-looking men. I wasn’t sure if they were following me, but I didn’t want to take a chance. My nerves were shot. I’d been dreading this exact thing for weeks.”

Whoa, how’s that for an attention-grabbing opening paragraph?! It sure pulled me right in. The next paragraph shows that Detective Nickell was prepared for what he expected might happen…with a shotgun across his lap.

Nickell, as the narrator, obviously writing in first person, is, of course, the main character. But master-thief Daimon Monroe is always present in one form or another, along with his partners-in-crime. Monroe is as narcissistic as they come. A man with neither conscience nor remorse. He delighted in thumbing his nose at the law, playing a  ‘Catch me if you can…I’ll deny everything’ game. But the overly self-confident, egotistical Daimon hadn’t counted on the bulldog tenacity of one Las Vegas Police Detective named Bradley Nickell.

REPEAT OFFENDER is a True Crime novel that takes the reader through the years-long–even life-threatening–pursuit to take this habitual criminal down.

I guess, in a way, this could be called a legal thriller. The author takes us step-by-step through his investigation. The long grueling, endless hours spent listening to recorded phone calls from inmates to the outside, for example. These guys know they’re being recorded but they need that outside communication. So they invent a special code when they discuss ‘'’business,’ and it’s up to our detective to decipher them. Along with Det. Nickell, we sit in court rooms listening to testimonies for both defense and prosecution. We read his own testimony when called on. We wait, along with him, biting our nails, for the juries to return with their verdicts. Yes, I used plurals. Our man Daimon, so self-assured, loves litigation.

I like court room scenes. It’s fascinating to me to ‘watch’ each attorney try to one-up the other with their arguments, examination and cross-exam, opening and closing statements.

Would I recommend this book? Oh, yes. We have the privilege of seeing behind the scene police work. Their tenacious pursuit for justice to protect you and me, our loved ones, our neighborhoods, communities, and cities from predators like Daimon Monroe.

~

About Bradley Nickell:

Out of high school, Bradley Nickell spent almost four years in the United States Air Force, working on the super-secret SR-71 and U2 spy planes. In the last two years of his military service, Bradley also worked as a Reserve Police Officer in Marysville, California.

In 1992, Bradley joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and was promoted to detective in 1999. For the past sixteen years, Bradley has been assigned to the Repeat Offender Program, specializing in identifying, catching, and helping convict career criminals who prey on the citizens of Southern Nevada.

Although still a police detective, Bradley is a credentialed member of the press and has written several law enforcement-themed features for both American COP Magazine and POLICE Magazine.

Bradley has been interviewed on TruTV (formerly Court TV) as a subject matter expert and was a key speaker at the Fifth Annual LeadsOnline ® Law Enforcement Leadership Conference (2012).

Links:

• Nickell's Corner Blog: http://bradleynickell.com


• WildBlue Press author page: https://wildbluepress.com/authors/true-crime-author-bradley-nickell/


• WildBlue Press REPEAT OFFENDER page: http://wildbluepress.com/repeatoffender


• Bradley Nickell on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CrimeAuthor


• Bradley Nickell on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BradleyNickell1/about


• Bradley Nickell Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Bradley-Nickell/e/B00T188CJS/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0


• Bradley Nickell author page on Facebook: http://facebook.com/authorbradleynickell


• Repeat Offender book page on Facebook: http://facebook.com/repeatoffenderonline


• Repeat Offender website: http://repeatoffenderonline.com

What others have to say:

“This will be the ride-along of your life…Fasten your seat belts!” ~Anne Bremmer, attorney and television legal analyst

“If you like mayhem, madness, and suspense, Repeat Offender is the book to read. It’s a provocative journey into a world one rarely uncovers, with shocking twists and turns that will keep you riveted!” ~Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author

Dubiosity, by Christy Barritt: A review

Book Description

Savannah Harris vowed to leave behind her old life as an intrepid investigative reporter. But when a friend raises suspicions about two migrant workers who’ve gone missing from the sleepy coastal town Savannah calls home, her curiosity spikes.

As ever more eerie incidents begin afflicting the area, each works to draw Savannah out of her seclusion and raise the stakes—for both Savannah and the surrounding community. Even as Savannah’s new boarder, Clive Miller, makes her feel things she thought long forgotten, she suspects he’s hiding something too, and he’s not the only one. Doubts collide in Savannah’s mind: Who can she really trust?

As secrets emerge and danger closes in, Savannah must choose between faith and uncertainty. One wrong decision might spell the end…not just for her, but for everyone around her.

Will she unravel the mystery in time, or will doubt get the best of her?

My Review

I love a good mystery, and Christy Barritt delivers. Again. But mixed into the mystery is a little suspense, and, of course, a little romance, a recipe for a good read.

The setting, rich with history, also filled my cup, but the beauty of the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay is threatened by the presence of a human predator. And he’s spying on our heroine. Savannah Harris is living in relative seclusion, buried in grief and guilt over the death of her husband and child. That car bomb had been meant for her, she was sure of it. As an investigative reporter, she’d gotten too close to the truth for someone’s comfort.

The characters are well developed, some introduced in such a way that the unseen, and unknown predator could be any one of them. The Bay area is temporary home to many migrant workers, and when several of them mysteriously disappear, one dies, and others grow mysteriously ill, Savannah’s investigative instincts are piqued, especially when her best friend Marti is found, apparently from an overdose of depression medication. Marti is hospitalized and lapses into a coma.

But Savannah doesn’t believe her friend tried to commit suicide. Neither does her new male border, Clive, who has recently moved into her guest house. She is drawn to him, but senses he’s not quite what he pretends to be. But as things heat up, Savannah pushes her doubts aside and joins Clive in getting to the bottom of what’s really happening, eventually putting her own life on the line.
You’ll love getting to know Savannah. You’ll even understand why she’s lost her faith in God. While Clive’s faith, even dealing with his own losses, has been strengthened.

I have read several of Christy Barritt’s previous novels, and this one did not disappoint. In fact, in my opinion, this one surpasses them. And that’s the mark of a good writer . . . to make each book better than the last.

Kudos, Christy!

Buy Dubiosity on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and Happy Reading!