Thank you Libro.fm / Recorded Books, for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Atlantic Monthly, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of A World of Hurt in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press / Recorded Books
Published: August 6, 2024
Summary:
When someone dies to save your life, how do you ever forgive them?
A World of Hurt is Mindy Mejia’s highly-anticipated follow-up to the “propulsive” USA Today bestselling thriller To Catch a Storm where an Iowa City police officer and a DEA informant must work together to hunt down the remains of a hidden drug empire.
Kara Johnson always knew she’d die young and violently. It didn’t matter who delivered the final blow, she would deserve it—her years spent running drugs and spreading violence would guarantee it. But death doesn’t always go as planned. When her girlfriend sacrifices herself to save Kara’s life, Kara is left grieving and adrift. She doesn’t know why she’s alive until the DEA shows up and offers her a go to prison or turn informant to lure out the last of the drug trafficking ring that murdered her girlfriend.
Max Summerlin is the kind of cop who needs answers—he’s been shot twice in the last year while looking for them. Despite his family’s objections and his struggle with chronic pain, he accepts an invitation from the DEA task force eagerly. That is, until he realizes he’ll be babysitting reformed drug trafficker Kara Johnson as she goes undercover. Max knows Kara is keeping secrets. Kara doesn’t trust anyone, let alone Max. But the cop and the criminal will have to find a way to work together fast, because they aren’t the only ones hunting down the remains of a drug empire. And the kingpin who lurks in the shadows will stop at nothing to win.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of Mindy Mejia’s books ever since reading her debut novel, Everything You Want Me to Be. I’ve read all her books except for the last one, To Catch a Storm, which obviously is a problem because I did not know when requesting this new book that it was a follow-up to that one. While I still enjoyed it, I think I might have missed out on some of the character backstory and I clearly would have preferred to read that one first…and will be reading it as soon as I get the chance!
This book, however, does read quite well on its own. It certainly kept me guessing as to where things were heading and I always love that with my crime fiction stories. I loved the pairing of a cop and informant working together and how we never quite were sure who we could trust. So many people, it turns out, had their own agendas in this book.
I really enjoyed this police procedural, despite not having read the previous book. It moves pretty quickly and there is a lot of action, with just enough twists and turns to really keep you fully engaged. There’s a reason I keep coming back to this author and this book is why! Now to go read To Catch a Storm!
Audio thoughts:
I ended up listening to this one and I thought the narrators, Brian Hutchinson and Justis Bolding, did a great job bringing the story to life. Their pacing and intonation were spot on and they each infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into their voices as needed.
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