Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Grand Central Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of Overkill in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio
Published: August 16, 2022
Summary:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown delivers a riveting thriller where a conflict of conscience for a former football star and an ambitious state prosecutor swiftly intensifies into a fight for their lives.
Former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Zach Bridger hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rebecca Pratt, for some time—not since their volatile marriage imploded—so he’s shocked to receive a life-altering call about her. Rebecca has been placed on life support after a violent assault, and he—despite their divorce—has medical power-of-attorney. Zach is asked to make an impossible choice: keep her on life support or take her off of it. Buckling under the weight of the responsibility and the glare of public scrutiny, Zach ultimately walks away, letting Rebecca’s parents have the final say.
Four years later, Rebecca’s attacker, Eban—the scion of a wealthy family in Atlanta—gets an early release from prison. The ludicrous miscarriage of justice reeks of favoritism, and Kate Lennon, a brilliant state prosecutor, is determined to put him back behind bars. Rebecca’s parents have kept her alive all these years, but if her condition were to change—if she were to die—Eban could be retried on a new charge: murder.
It isn’t lost on Zach that in order for Eban to be charged with Rebecca’s murder, Zach must actually be the one to kill her. He rejects Kate’s legal standpoint but can’t resist their ill-timed attraction to each other. Eban, having realized the jeopardy he’s in, plots to make certain that neither Zach nor Kate lives to see the death of Rebecca—and the end of his freedom.
My thoughts:
It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Sandra Brown and I’m wondering why that is. I love to pick up a good romantic suspense novel every now and again – they are such a good palate cleanser between all the heavy, darker reads that I tend to gravitate towards. Luckily I already have at least one or two on my shelf that will be moving up on my tbr.
This book grabbed me from the beginning, and I found that I really had a hard time putting it down. It had just the right amount of suspense, romance and action to keep me engaged throughout and I loved that the entire time it had me thinking, “what would I do.” This book tackles so many different themes but the ethics is really where it shines and coming after the pandemic when so many had to make this difficult decision from afar really hits home how sensitive this topic is. You really feel the emotional turmoil that this brings up.
This book kept me on edge the entire time and while we know who the bad guy is, we don’t know how it is going to end. It really is quite the thought-provoking read and I definitely recommend it.
Audio thoughts:
I listened to this one and thought the narrator, Kyf Brewer, did a great job bringing the story to life. His pacing and intonation were spot on and he infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into his voice as needed.
