Lisa Green has amnesia. Her “boyfriend” Roland, insists that he’s protecting her in the remote Florida Everglades cabin where she’s locked in most of the time.

He’d told her they’d been together for three years, that they’d planned to get married before everything went to hell. A little over a year ago, he said, she’d had her first spell. She lost her memory, didn’t know her own name, didn’t remember him. Then her memory came back. Then it happened again, and it lasted a little longer. “Ya’d lose your memory,” he said, “and then it’d come back, then go again. Really crazy. The docs said you was mental, wanted to put ya in the nuthouse. Couldn’t let ’em do that, so I brought ya out here.”

Lisa didn’t know what to make of it. Whenever she stared at her image in the black-streaked mirror above the sink in the cabin’s grimy bathroom, she’d get a prickly feeling that a stranger was staring back.

Someone she couldn’t quite bring into focus.


And then there was the other thing.

As Roland led her to the truck, grumbling because he wouldn’t be able to stop for a beer at Joanie’s diner, his iron grip on her hand reminded her of that other thing.

Reminded her that sometimes sex with him could get a bit rough. He would zone out … almost like, in his mind, he was just getting a quick screw from a hooker, not making love to the fiancée he had saved from an asylum.

And then there was that last time, two weeks ago.

They were on the cot in the safe room. He was on top of her, pounding away, when something snapped in her head and she’d starting fighting back and he’d smacked her. Hard.

It had only happened that one time.

But it had happened.

He’d smacked her and something inside her head had commanded her to fight back, to make him pay for that humiliating blow. But self-preservation told her she simply owed him too much, that she’d be completely lost without him, so she’d suppressed the urge.

Lisa has slowly come to the realization that she’s a prisoner, and after convincing Roland to let her go on a supply run with him, she hatches a plan to escape. And escape she does. Her memory is coming back, including the car crash two months ago that preceded her kidnapping. Turns out Roland was hired to dispose of her but decided to “keep” her for a while instead. If that's not bad enough, the events leading up to her capture and imprisonment are pretty shocking too.

Read an excerpt from Killing Pace!

Turns out, Lisa Green is actually Laura Pace, a US Customs agent—and a legendary one, evidently. Schofield only hints at a case that resulted in her bringing down a US Senator, but he makes it clear that she was in deep cover for a while, which resulted in some very high-profile takedowns.

Previous to her capture, however, she was in Italy working to stop the transport of counterfeit goods when she stumbled on a baby-smuggling ring. Babies were being stolen from poor immigrant families and sold to wealthy US couples. Now, Laura is wanted for murder, and she doesn’t know who she can trust—except one person: Collier County Sheriff Scott Jardine, who is immediately intrigued by Lisa when she’s brought in after her escape, proclaiming herself a missing person.

But when the district 7 deputy showed up at the substation with a distractingly attractive, disheveled woman who had just reported herself missing, Jardine’s curiosity had been immediately aroused. He’d heard the radio call, and he’d watched through the window as the officer walked her in from the patrol car. Even on ill-fitting wedge sandals, she moved with sinuous grace. As he studied her now, sitting across from him, there was something of the wild about her—and it wasn’t just the soiled dress and unkempt hair that gave that impression. Those dark, almond-shaped eyes, when they locked on his, were like searchlights. Minutes into their interview, he’d had the strange sensation that he was in the presence of some mysterious, subterranean intellect.

He was intrigued.

The woman was claiming she had amnesia; that she didn’t know how she lost her memory; that until today she could only remember waking up on a gravel road somewhere out in the bush. But now, she told him, memories were coming back—memories from before that awakening—memories of houses and faces, of seaports and ships and cranes and containers.

Memories of a uniform.

Memories of the military, or maybe the police.

And … memories of Italy.

“Italy?”

“Mi ricordo che parlo italiano.”

He stared at her.

She spelled it out. “I remember speaking Italian. I realize now I always remembered it, but there was no context. No reason to speak it.”

Then, we’re off to Italy a year prior, where we get to see the ins and outs of Laura’s day job before her capture (she goes by the name Sarah Lockhart while there) and the events leading up to her discovery of the baby smuggling. It’s when she finally gets back to the States that Laura gets to let loose, though, and let loose she does. She is a bonified badass and undeniably smarter than just about everyone around her. With the help of Sheriff Scott and others, she resolves to get to the bottom of the smuggling ring.

Double crosses abound, and it was fun trying to figure out who might have ulterior motives and who might be genuine allies for Laura. Schofield also shines a light on the despicable practices of human smuggling and trafficking. It’s eye-opening, to say the least.

I really enjoyed 2015’s Time of Departure, so I jumped at the chance to read this one—and I wasn’t disappointed. While I don’t mind a little romance, I did appreciate that this book largely stayed away from it. It’s obvious that Scott has a thing for Laura, but there really was just no time! I’d love to see future books about Laura since there are so many ways to take her story. The possibilities are endless for a strong, smart character like this, not to mention one with her unusual skill set. Here’s hoping! Killing Pace is a fast-paced, unputdownable read—perfect to pass a weekend!

This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a review. Don't want to give a thing away. Read this book. Now!! SO great! You won't be able to put it down! Loved! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!!

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Killing Pace. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Killing Pace starts slowly, but gains a thrilling pace towards the middle of the book. Involving criminal enterprises that reach from Miami to Italy, it is a story of a young woman's desire to do her job to the best of her abilities. When she uncovers a deplorable human trafficking ring involving babies, will Laura find herself trusting the wrong people to aid her in capturing the perpetrators?

The beginning of Killing Pace is so slow that I contemplated not finishing the book. I was glad that I stuck with it, as the latter half of the book is quite good. Although I did figure out some of what transpired, there were some surprises during the reveal. I was not a fan of the constant flashbacks, as they make the story disjointed to a large extent. Laura Pace is an interesting main character, though, and I would be interested in reading more about her in the future.

As young as she was, she had already learned one of life's most bitter and important lessons: that law and justice can be diametrically opposed. Long before she joined the brigade, she had seen her enemy up close. She had seen them for what they were- cruel men claiming "lawful" orders. Monsters who did what they were commanded to do, ruthlessly and meticulously, and took deep satisfaction in their evil. In fighting against men like this, she had chosen justice over law. That was all she needed.

I loved how this book read, a strong woman Laura Pace who had a strong tie to her Nonna who taught her many life lessons who lived thru the atrocious of World War II, her grandmother warned her never to trust coincidences and never forget the treachery of human beings. As an customs agent working in Italy, she comes across a crime that plays against the refugees of Syria. A crime that becomes so personal that her life becomes in danger. This story reminded me of a female version of Jason Bourne. Laura is intuitive and knows to solve this crime and bring it to justice she must go rogue.

There are twists and turns and with the beginning that starts with the intensity that stays all the way to the end. A woman who has survived a deadly car accident that can't remember who she is and why she was there to a woman who never gives up. With many characters and going back in forth in time, it all comes together with clarity as you catch up.

A Special Thank You to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

2.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book opens with a woman (Laura Pace) that has amnesia and is being held captive by a man that claims to be her boyfriend. She eventually regains her memories and escapes her captor, only to discover she is a wanted fugitive that has been set up for a double homicide. Laura goes on the run to clear her name and solve the international mystery that started her problems in the first place.

The story includes stolen babies from Syrian refugees, rich families trying to adopt babies, international smuggling, the Mafia, the U.N., U.S. Border Control and the Justice Department. HUH? Just.Too.Much. Rather than letting the story develop and add a few twists and turns, the author crammed too many elements, concepts and side stories into the book. The result is a rambling story that I lost interest in half way through. I'm not sure if it was the writing style or the frantic pace of the book, but I just found it annoying. Plus, the main story simply didn't interest me.

Back in 2015, I read and reviewed Time of Departure by Douglas Schofield, so when (thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley) I had the opportunity to read Schofield’s new novel, Killing Pace, in return for my honest review, I leapt at it.

Like Time of Departure, Killing Pace also features a female protagonist facing some crime-related challenges. Time of Departure was set in Florida, and while Killing Pace begins in Florida, it then moves back and forth between Sicily and Florida.

The first chapter is straightforward, and provided me with a good hook, as it described a woman named Lisa Green crawling bleeding and barefoot out of a car accident, completely confused. Not only does she not know where she is or how she got there, she doesn’t even remember who she is. In the next chapter, the woman begins to regain memory with flashes of remembrance related to Flight 103 (crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland), conversations with an older woman, and eating Nutella. She beats the crap out of the man who had been holding her captive and reports herself missing to the police. The next section, titled Sarah, describes the activities of a female Customs and Border Protection Office named Sarah Lockhart, and just as I was wondering if she was the woman in the car accident (despite the different name), the next section was back to Lisa. Because my reading was interrupted by a couple of weeks of personal chaos, I was a bit disoriented by the shifts among Lisa, Sarah, and yet another female character, Laura Pace – but in looking back over the book, I realize this was just me – Schofield did a great job weaving the sections together, and it all made sense.

The story becomes an international chase, involving not just Sarah’s efforts in Italy and Miami on behalf of the US Border Control, but expanding to include the Sicilian mafia, human trafficking (infants taken from Syrian refugees and made available for adoption to wealthy American couples, also known as “baby laundering”), and smuggling. There is also a tiny bit of romantic interest, which I would expect will be explored in the next Laura Pace novel (and I hope there will be one!). And I JUST realized the title is a play on words!!
There are several issues explored, including questions of trust, ethical behavior of government officials, and loyalty. Like Time of Departure, this novel requires some willing suspension of disbelief, but I read with the attitude of “just go along for the ride,” and I am glad I did. Following the two-week hiatus between when I started this book and yesterday when I picked it up again, I was hooked and spent the majority of the day yesterday reading it. I love mystery-thrillers than take over my whole day, and give this one four stars. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Schofield, whose experience as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney contributes to his ability to tell a story that hooks the reader.

the beginning of the book was really interesting and then i got confused between the two "people". To be honest... the first part sounded better than the second one and i kept hoping that i would go back to the first story line. It was well written but i found there was a lot of "police characters" and different names and got a bit confused (that might just be me thought). Her memory did not come back gradually i found.. one minute she is doing something then BAM... she remembers everything and has no issues doing all the things that she used to do (work wise).

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

"Killing Pace" requires its readers to pay attention. There's a lot of detail in this book, and some of it occasionally feels overwrought even though it comes together in the end. One of my favourite elements of the book is the strong female characters. There isn't a wallflower among them. I had a couple of issues with the book, but won't go into them for fear of giving anything away. All in all, an intetesting, well-written novel.

Wow !! What a thrilling book. So much suspense!! I was captivated from the very first chapter when Laura/Sarah was kidnapped and got away from her derelict perverted kidnapper. This book took you on so many ups and downs and you kept you suspicious of every person in this book. I loved it! Perfect suspenseful read that kept you on the edge of you seat!!!!!

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