Review: Cold Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff (Huntress/FBI #3)

Note: This ebook was provided by Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The moon is waxing. December moon. Cold Moon. 

Through the windshield, she watches it rise in the sky, bathing the hills in icy light, illuminating the long, slow serpent crawl of trucks in the far lane. 

So clear, what it was saying to her now, and it is not hard to find what she needs.

Mass murderer and massacre survivor Cara Lindstrom has been arrested and is awaiting trial and while the man whose life she saved he knows he should keep his distance, Special Agent Matthew Rourke of the Federal Bureau of Investigation can't stop his thoughts from turning to her, going so far as to visit her in jail. He tries to separate his personal feelings from his professional duties, but when new murders occur and everything about them has Cara's signature all over it, Rourke knows things are about to go off-kilter. With the only witness for the prosecution disappearing and Cara's lawyer asking for a dismissal of all charges, Roarke and his team are suddenly pulled in several directions as the number of murders increase and Cara vanishes. This time around, the suspect pool includes women close to Agent Roarke himself.

Goodness! This Huntress/FBI series has given me a book hangover that I still haven't gotten over, even days after I finished this third book, Cold Moon, by Alexandra Sokoloff. Saving Matthew Roarke's life may have cost Cara Lindstrom her freedom but there's so much more to this third book than seeing Cara pay for her crimes. As is the case with my reviews for the first two books, I can't really go into too much detail because then it spoils everything for future readers. Suffice it to say that there's a lot that goes on here and there's definitely more than meets the eye with some of the characters. With as far as the new rash of murders involving pimps and tricks is concerned, Roarke and his team have their hands full with the number of suspects increasing as each new murder occurs. Could it be Jade Lauren, the one witness to Cara's crimes, doing a copycat with a personal angle to each crime? Could Cara be on the hunt for more evildoers, and if so, does her motive remain the same? Could it be some other woman who has joined the growing throng of females who demand justice be served through whatever means possible, even if they have to take the law into their own hands? Too many murders and too many suspects to choose from.

There's a part of me that was growing increasingly unhappy with the roles Damian Epps, Roarke's fellow agent, and Rachel Elliott, a social worker and someone Roarke has slept with, played in the series. Of course, I blame this on my twisted desire to see Roarke and Cara together, but then that's the romantic in me. The serious reader of this particular genre recognizes that Epps and Rachel were necessary to the overall story arc and that having them around made more sense than having Roarke and Cara simply riding off into the proverbial sunset together. One of my favorite things about this book and the series as a whole is that you leave behind all your preconceived notions on how a story should go because doing so will have you appreciate the overall reading experience. Cara Lindstrom will go down in my reading history as probably the only fictional or non-fictional mass murderer that I sympathized with and if I were Roarke, I would have probably done everything he did as well. This book had its own fair share of surprises and often had me questioning if my own guesswork was right and if the people around Roarke could really be trusted. I know, I know. I've become even more paranoid thanks to Alexandra Sokoloff.

I'm not entirely sure if this is the final book but if it is, I must say that I'm more than satisfied with how everything ended. It isn't the typical or expected ending you would get from most novels and I do feel that it does leave the door open for but still feels as if Roarke, Cara, and the rest of the characters are where they should be. Don't get me wrong; I would love nothing more than to keep reading about this cast of characters that I've gotten to know over the span of three full-length novels, but I'm also a realist and would rather that a series ends on a high note than keep chugging along with more novels that may or may not be to the same standards as their predecessors. So, if this is truly the end for what is now one of my all-time favorite series of any genre, then I have no complaints or gripes whatsoever. I loved the story lines of each book and the cast of characters is one that will be difficult to ever forget, if that's even possible, considering how obsessed I am with Matthew Roarke and Cara Lindstrom.  I highly recommend that you read the books in order because they aren't standalones. Unsurprisingly, I'm giving Cold Moon five-plus stars while the Huntress/FBI series gets a resounding overall rating of five-plus stars! ♥

Date Read: 26 May 2015

Learn more about Alexandra Sokoloff here.

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