Judgment Day by Wanda Dyson

Sensational journalism has never been so deadly.

The weekly cable news show Judgment Day with Suzanne Kidwell promises to expose businessmen, religious leaders, and politicians for the lies they tell. Suzanne positions herself as a champion of ethics and morality with a backbone of steel—until a revelation of her shoddy investigation tactics and creative fact embellishing put her in hot water with her employers, putting her credibility in question and threatening her professional ambitions.

Bitter and angry, Suzanne returns home one day to find an entrepreneur she is investigating, John Edward Sterling, unconscious on her living room floor. Before the night is over, Sterling is dead, she has his blood on her hands, and the police are arresting her for murder. She needs help to prove her innocence, but her only hope, private investigator Marcus Crisp, is also her ex-fiancé–the man she betrayed in college.

Marcus and his partner Alexandria Fisher-Hawthorne reluctantly agree to take the case, but they won’t cut Suzanne any slack. Exposing her lack of ethics and the lives she’s destroyed in her fight for ratings does little to make them think Suzanne is innocent. But as Marcus digs into the mire of secrets surrounding her enemies, he unveils an alliance well-worth killing for. Now all he has to do is keep Suzanne and Alex alive long enough to prove it.

My Review:
This multi-layered suspense novel has an unusual protagonist. Suzanne Kidwell is not a nice person. She is the television star/host of a tell-all show by the same name as the title: Judgment Day. Getting on top of the ratings heap and staying there are far more important to Suzanne than reporting the truth. She knows how to stretch the truth and keep her vast audience of followers.

When Suzanne finds herself framed for murder, she has so many enemies that she barely knows where to turn. She faces death more than once.

Short chapters keep the pages turning. Characters are well-written and people I'd like to meet.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and WaterBrook Press for my copy.

If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter, click here.

If you would like to buy a copy, click here.

The Shepherd's Fall (The Prodigal Recovery Series, Book 1) by Wanda Dyson

He is about to face the hunt of a lifetime.
Bounty hunter Nick Shepherd is fearless when it comes to chasing down criminals. It’s his difficult ex-wife, rebellious teenage daughter, and dysfunctional siblings that keep him awake at night. In charge of the family business, the Prodigal Recovery Agency, he thinks of himself as a shepherd of sorts. When his “flock” is out of his control, Nick’s well-ordered universe falls into chaos.

Danger comes too close to home.
Prodigal Recovery’s search for Zeena, a prostitute on the run, leads to a faulty arrest, complicating Nicks’s business. He is thrown together with Zeena’s twin, the beautiful Annie, and the two find themselves on a desperate search. The stakes significantly increase when Nick’s daughter is kidnapped.

Can the shepherd stand?
Nick and Annie unwittingly uncover a drug trafficking ring that further condemns the kidnapper. Now, to save someone he loves, Nick must risk everything…but will it be enough?

My Review:
Bounty hunting is a tough business, and this novel has the main character sacrificing all for it--even his marriage. An A-driven personality, Nick lives on very little sleep and Mountain Dew. He heads Prodigal Recovery, a bounty hunting organization struggling in these rough economic times. He has a hard time relating to his brother, and absent sister, along with his willful teenage daughter his ex-wife. His world is his business. 

The plot involves drugs, murder, kidnapping. However, some things are just not believable. For instance, a character breaks into a house, and after eating some food, wondering throughout, even reading a Bible passage, discovers that it's her brother's home.

Things are tied up too quickly and neatly at the end. The author seems to be telling rather than showing the tale. This was not one of my favorites. Perhaps you'll enjoy it.

If you would like to read a Prologue excerpt, click here.

If you would like to buy a copy, click here.