Welcome! I am fortunate to be able to read the books in the new Tactical Crime Division series. Today I am featuring 48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy. This series of books is perfect for fans of Criminal Minds and Blacklist...
Stopping criminal activity wherever it happens. The agents at the Tactical Crime Division are ready for anything.
Stopping criminal activity wherever it happens. The agents at the Tactical Crime Division are ready for anything.
More and more, federal law agencies have to mobilize to remote locations to address large-scale crime scenes and criminal activity—terror, hostage situations, kidnappings, shootings and the like. Because of the growing concerns and need for ever increasing response times to these criminal events, the Bureau created a specialized tech and tactical team, combining specialists from several active divisions—weapons, crime scene investigation, protection, negotiation, IT. Because they are a smaller unit, they are more nimble for rapid deployment and assistance to address various situations. This joint team of agents is known as the Tactical Crime Division (TCD).
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Evan Duran—Special Agent Duran is a hostage negotiator for the Tactical Crime Division, a specialized branch of the FBI.
Annalise Taylor—A teacher held hostage at a private school. She’s also Evan’s ex-lover. She’d broken his heart several years before, and now he holds her life in his hands.
Jacob Noble—Is he the leader of a charitable church or the dangerous leader of a cult?
Gretchen Noble—Jacob’s wife, who is not afraid to abuse or kill. Will she kill Annalise before she can be freed?
Hendrick Maynard—Brilliant tech agent for the Tactical Crime Division. Will he be able to get the information Evan needs or will he be destroyed by old painful memories?
Walter Cummings—Chief of police in Asheville. Would his incompetence be the death of the hostages?
Each title can be read as a standalone novel, featuring a unique hard to solve crime case.
About the Author
Carla Cassidy has published over eighty romance novels since her first published novel in 1988. Carla grew up in Kansas. She has been a professional cheerleader, actress, and singer-dancer in a show band before settling down with her true love--writing. Carla lives in the Midwest with her husband, Frank.
Q & A with Carla
The Tactical Crime Division is a specialized unit of the FBI. Did you do any research before writing about this type of fast-paced, high-adrenaline lifestyle?
Since my hero is a hostage negotiator, I definitely used the Internet to learn more about that particular skill. I also watch a lot of law enforcement-themed television. I’m addicted to shows like Live PD, Cops, and others.
Harlequin editors came up with the initial premise for the series, and then assigned the books to different authors. I was lucky to get to write the first book in the miniseries, which meant that I didn’t have to do a lot of collaborating. However, I’ve been a part of many multi-author series before and working with other authors has always been a pleasure. Everyone is respectful of each other and their writing processes, and it’s usually a lot of fun to work with others for a change!
About the Book
When TCD learns of a school invasion turned lockdown, every agent is ready to engage. With children in jeopardy, the stakes couldn’t be higher. But it becomes personal for hostage negotiator agent Evan Duran when he learns Annalise Taylor is one of the captives holed up with the students in a school for the gifted. He’ll need every resource available at TCD and every ounce of his expertise to turn this disastrous situation into a rescue mission—and if he succeeds, maybe reunite with the woman he never stopped loving.
![48 Hour Lockdown (Tactical Crime Division Book 1) by [Carla Cassidy]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vHvCEmz4L.jpg)
My Thoughts
48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy has Evan Duran, a hostage negotiator, heading to Pearson, North Carolina to rescue children and adults who were taken hostage at Sandhurst School for the Gifted and Talented. The case is personal for Evan because his ex-girlfriend, Annalise Taylor is one of the teacher’s being held hostage. Evan and Annalise broke up three yeas ago, but he still loves her. Evan will need to utilize all the resources of the Tactical Crime Division is he is to rescue the hostages from people with extreme agenda. 48 Hour Lockdown is the debut of the Tactical Crime Division series. I enjoyed meeting Evan Duran and the other individuals in the Tactical Crime Division. I thought the story was well-written and it moved along swiftly thanks to the action. Evan and Annalise still care for each other. Evan’s feelings are obvious from the moment he learns Annalise is being held hostage. I like that the romance was clean (no intimate scenes) and I like how it progressed. The tension was thick as Evan negotiated with the hostage takers who kept shooting out the windows and threatening the hostages. I enjoyed the suspense that kept me swiftly turning the pages. There is a mystery as well which was fun to solve. It was interesting to see how the police handle a hostage situation. I am looking forward to reading Secret Investigation. 48 Hour Lockdown is a riveting romantic suspense with tense situations, a touching romance, complex characters and cruel kidnappers.
Excerpt
As he drove he made a few phone calls, and he finally pulled up in front of the nondescript brick building where TCD’s offices were located. He parked, got out of his car and hurried inside. As he strode down the hallway toward the main meeting room, he could hear Director Jill Pembrook apparently still conducting the morning meeting.
The main conference room was the heart of the office. It was where assignments were handed out and situations were brainstormed. The agents sat at a long, highly glossed wooden table. On one wall was an oversize FBI logo, and opposite that was the TCD emblem. A large, digital flat screen was mounted on the far side of the room, and a tablet lay at the head of the table.
Evan burst through the door. Director Jill Pembrook looked at him in surprise. “Agent Duran, how nice of you to join us on your day off.” The director was an attractive, stylish woman of substance with cropped steel gray hair and a penchant for dark, custom-tailored suits.
She’d been with the FBI for over forty years, and she was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Her blue eyes could be warm and friendly or they could frost a puddle of water into a sheet of ice. “I just saw the news out of Pearson,” he stated. “I need to get there… It’s Annalise.”
There was a collective groan from some of the other agents. Evan ignored it. “I’ll need you to arrange a plane to be ready for takeoff. Also, I’ll need Hendrick’s help on this. And I’m taking Agents Brennan and Lathrop with me.”
“Call off the SEAL team, Duran is on the case, everyone,” “Agent at Large” Kane Bradshaw murmured as the three men headed for the door. Evan ignored him. While he liked Kane okay, there were times in the past they had butted heads when Kane could sometimes be a bit of an arrogant jerk. Director Pembrook though tolerated his glib attitude. And while Kane had no official rank as an agent with the bureau, he had an extensive background with deep black ops.
Hendrick Maynard, the tech guru nodded. “You got it,” he answered without hesitation. “Heading to my desk now. I’ll send you any relevant info ASAP.”
The director narrowed her eyes, and Evan felt the frost radiating from her. “Agent Duran, you are way out of line.” She paused and continued to hold his gaze. “Ten minutes ago North Carolina state officials called for federal help…” She paused and he was wondering if he should offer to submit his resignation. “You will also take Special Agent Rogers along with the others. This is an all hands on deck situation. Rowan as usual will accompany you and provide team support.”
Rowan Cooper, an attractive woman with long dark hair who worked as a liaison between the local police departments and the TCD team members, also rose and followed the men out the door. She accompanied any crew that deployed to a different location. Her specialty was smoothing over any personality difference or turf wars among different law enforcement units on scene. But her main responsibility was arranging overnight accommodations and making sure the agents had what they needed in order to remain focused on the task at hand.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied to the director. He knew he’d overstepped boundaries by barging in, but he’d felt the need to act immediately when he’d heard about the situation… About Annalise… “Plane leaves in twenty minutes. Now go,” Di-rector Pembrook said. To him she added, “Duran…don’t pull this kind of stunt again.”
Evan would have offered to quit after the assignment if he met any resistance from the director to him heading up the detail due to his personal connection to Annalise. Nothing was going to keep him from negotiating this hostage situation. “Never,” Evan replied before turning to leave.
Here is the book trailer for the Tactical Crime Division:
Are you ready to read 48 Hour Lockdown? 48 Hour Lockdown is available from Amazon*, Barnes & Noble, Google, IndieBound, and Harlequin. The other novels in the Tactical Crime Division series are Secret Investigation, Midnight Abduction (June 1), and Running Out of Time (July 1). Thank you for stopping by today. Tomorrow I am featuring The Land Beneath Us by Sarah Sundin. It is the final novel in Sunrise at Normandy series. On Sunday's, I review a book that I could not when it was released. I hope you have a marvelous day. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
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