Avenged

Avenged by Janice Cantore

Police Officer Carly Edwards is back with a new enthusiasm for life. She has remarried her husband, Nick Anderson, and her only dilemma is whether to remain in a black and white or take the federal task force position offered to her.

Unfortunately, the honeymoon ends abruptly. Carly and her partner, Joe, respond to a call one night and find two gang members dead and another one critically wounded in an apparent execution. As the investigation progresses, the facts don’t line up with a gang war. The city stands on the brink of a gang war and yet the catalyst seems to be a personal vendetta against Carly. As the gang tension gears up, Carly is facing a battle of her own. She’s become the start of a reporter’s blog about corrupt cops. Ginny Masters is calling into question every arrest and investigation Carly has been a part of.

Cantore excels with presenting the facts in a cop-centered action-adventure. Unfortunately, her writing often times comes across as a police report. Her 20+ years as an officer has given her experiences to draw from and she lays out the mystery plainly. Avenged held my attention because I was eager to see how all the unrelated mysteries were intertwined. At the end of the story the threads were all tied together and were satisfactory. Much like many action-adventure movies, you stay for the excitement even if you don’t feel connected to the characters.