Friday, September 7, 2018

REVIEW: CHESAPEAKE VALOR 4: DEAD DRIFT ~ DANI PETTREY


Dead Drift is the fourth and final book in the Chesapeake Valor series by Dani Pettrey, and the series is best read in order as we check in with the “main characters” from the previous books, and find connections to cases going back to the previous books (I say “main characters” because Pettrey’s work reads more like an ensemble characters rather than main characters and secondary characters).  If you were to start the series with Dead Drift, you would miss out on a whole lot and might have a hard time connecting all the dots, so my suggestion is start with Cold Shot and make your way through Still Life and Blind Spot before getting lost in Dead Drift.  It is well worth it as the series only gets better with each book, and we spend a good amount of time with all the characters throughout each book. 

 
Dead Drift picks up right where Blind Spot left off; Luke walks into CCI where the friends he left behind are celebrating preventing the Bay Bridge Bombing, and he enlists them to help him stop suspected terrorist Khaled Ebeid once and for all.  The action starts right there and doesn’t let up until the very end. 

 
We finally learn why Luke left without a word, and the fact that he believed he was leaving only for a short mission goes a long way towards understanding how he could abandon Kate without a backward glance.  There is also a lovely gesture towards the latter half of the book which proves Luke always intended to come back for Kate, and it goes a long way towards mending Kate’s (and my) heart.  However, the longer Luke stayed away, the harder it became to return home, and before you know it almost eight years have passed and he no longer recognizes the man in the mirror.  With time, distance and perspective Luke has finally realized just how badly he was manipulated by once trusted Professor Malcolm (though he doesn’t play the blame game and takes full responsibility for the choices he made), and how badly he longs for the life, and love, he left behind.  Dead Drift gives us a marvelous villain in Luke’s unstable former handler, Lauren Graham, a woman scorned with an axe to grind; she could never forgive Luke for not falling for her “charms”, and she absolutely loathes Kate who so obviously holds Luke’s heart.  As if worrying about Ebeid was not enough, Luke must also protect headstrong Kate from the CIA’s most lethal assassin who has a penchant for playing games with her prey before she pounces.  Honestly, I feared Lauren more than I did Ebeid! 

 
While the majority of our group focuses on stopping the terrorist threat, Griffin and Finley both take a leave of absence from work and head to Houston to continue working all of the cold cases murdered Agent Steven Burke was investigating before his untimely death, and aim to finally bring Jenna’s killer to justice.  With the Shore Killer mysteriously aware of their every move, Griffin and Finley find themselves in greater danger than they ever anticipated.

As always, the characters’ faith is ever-present yet not overwhelming for non-believers.  Luke has a harder time than the others connecting with God, for while he never lost his faith, he carries much guilt over the choices he’s made and the orders he’s followed since he abandoned his old life.  Kate loves the Lord, but has trouble letting Him shoulder all of her burdens, and carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders is becoming an unmanageable task.  Throughout the non-stop action of Dead Drift, the biggest challenges these two face might not be the terrorist threat or figuring out their personal relationship after all these years, but learning to let go and let God.

I enjoyed every single page of Dead Drift, and find it to be my absolute favourite book of the series.  As I neared the end I honestly feared that there weren’t enough pages left to give us a satisfying conclusion, but Pettrey managed to deliver in spades.  My only criticisms would be that we didn’t get to spend much time with Avery and Parker this time around, and I keenly felt their absence, and there is also the question of an engagement ring that absolutely no-one reacted to.  I am also curious to discover if Tanner’s parents have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior – her father is such a mysterious (and apparently misunderstood) character, and I think there is a lot of story left to tell there.  We do get satisfying resolutions to the great mysteries we have been investigating alongside the gang since book 1, but I do feel there is definitely potential should Pettrey have an inkling to give us more Chesapeake adventures in future.  I find myself quite sad that our adventures with the Chesapeake Bay gang are over, and while I always look forward to Pettrey’s future projects, I sincerely hope that she considers rejoining them sometime in the future.  Oh the mysteries the eight of them could solve together!

The Chesapeake Valor series is a very satisfying faith-filled, love-trumps-all, action-packed ride, of which Dead Drift is the cherry on top.

 

Product Information:

Title: Dead Drift

Series: Chesapeake Valor (Series Best Read In Order)

Author: Dani Pettrey

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Year: 2018

Pages: 304

ISBN-10: 0764212974

ISBN-13: 978-0764212970

ASIN: B079C1N73V
 

Related posts:








1 comment:

  1. As stated by Stanford Medical, It is indeed the ONLY reason women in this country get to live 10 years longer and weigh on average 42 pounds lighter than us.

    (And actually, it has absoloutely NOTHING to do with genetics or some hard exercise and really, EVERYTHING to around "how" they eat.)

    P.S, I said "HOW", not "what"...

    Click on this link to determine if this easy test can help you unlock your real weight loss possibility

    ReplyDelete

Followers

Twitter

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...