I love reading Allison Brennan's work and this one didn't disappoint. I like reading from each character's point of view, including the killer's, it makes it more interesting. Having a strong female character who doesn't take any BS is always a win in my book and Kara Quinn fits that perfectly. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!

An exciting first installment in a new series, The Third to Die introduces us to an interesting cast of characters intent on catching a serial killer once and for all. Fast paced and full of action, The Third to Die is perfect for thriller and mystery readers.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

The Third to Die is the first installment in author Allison Brennan's Mobile Response Team which is supposed to be a book a year series featuring recurring characters. The story takes place between March 3 & 14, in & around Liberty Lake, Washington. The main characters in this book are Los Angeles Detective Kara Quinn who has been an undercover cop for 12 years, and Special Agent in Charge Mathias Costa who leads the newly formed Mobile Response Team. MRT is supposed to go to areas where the local law enforcement is under served or have limited forensics capability.

His team currently consists of Ryder Kim (team analyst), Michael Harris (former NAVY Seal), and Jim Esteban (team criminologist. I should also add Catherine Jones to the mix since she's one of the FBI's best criminal profilers as well as being the one who wrote the profile on The Triple Killer. Catherine and Costa are friends who have been in mourning over the loss of Catherine's sister and the fact that Catherine wants to take a sabbatical or quit the FBI altogether. Costa does everything in his powers to keep her around which is a good thing since her clues and her ability to get into a killers heads is priceless to the investigation.

The book actually begins from the point of view of a serial killer whose meticulous nature and disturbing psychology are immediately apparent as he is described cleaning up after his latest crime. His main goal was revenge for wrongs he felt he suffered. He created a rather intricate plan to exact payback, which he felt would leave him clear of any repercussions. How dare the FBI get in his way before he can complete his mission! The killers plans are interrupted when HRT and Kara seemingly find connections to past murders which lead them to put into place obstacles to stop his successful hunts.

Kara is on vacation after being placed on administrative leave by her boss pending an investigation into her last case which led to a CI being killed. Kara is agitated at what happened and is itching to get back into the game. She's been a really good undercover cop for a very long time and has seen things others would shrink and gasp at. Kara soon discovers a dead body while out jogging. Kara just missed the killer by minutes. Kara doesn't know it yet, but this dead body is just the first of 3 that is suppose to happen between March 3 and March 9.

The Killer, nicknamed The Triple Killer because he always kills 3 people over 9 days every 3 years and then stops. His victims have been nurses, educators, and cops. Even though Kara is supposed to be on vacation, she's a strong, intelligent investigator, with knack for reading people, and a superb memory. She might be a bit snarky and keeps people at arms length, but her insights into the female victim added an element that Costa's team needed. She soon joins with Costa and his team trying to uncover the identity of the killer and stop him before he kills more innocents.

As Kara, Costa and cops from Spokane and the surrounding areas put their resources together, the clock is ticking until the killer strikes again. What's worse? The “Triple Killer” might be targeting someone that Kara, who grew up in this area, knows. It's also apparent that anyone close to the investigators are prime targets. “Triple Killer” has evaded capture due to his long waiting periods and victim profiles that defy easy classification. As always, whenever the FBI is involved, small town politics and jurisdictional issues arise to complicate matters.

Hopefully, Brennan’s follow up will go deeper into the development of the MRT team which apparently will be one book a year and avoid veering again into unnecessary romance which wasn't needed. I also want more background on what happened 9 months with Catherine and Matt before this story takes place. If these characters were in another of the author's series, please let us know.

The Third to Die is the first book in a promising new series that reads like a police procedural with a smattering of suspense.

The lead characters are complex and interesting, though several also fall into the overused lane of past trauma causing them to become emotionally unavailable. Sometimes I feel like every cop out there has suffered unimaginable personal tragedy. I like that Kara is the wildcard, hard to pin down and more likely to go rogue, while Matt is the law and order type.

Early on, we’re introduced to a whole lot of characters, and at times we get bogged down in their backstories and personal drama. In this respect, the story suffers from the ‘first in a series’ pitfall of trying to incorporate too many players and their life stories, all at once. At times, we also wade in tedium and repetitive detail, as happens with some police procedurals. This book is roughly 464 pages, and I think pacing would’ve benefited by losing about 75 pages.

While the plot moves in a predictable direction, it’s entertaining and does provide a surprise or two.
The major issues are all resolved at the end, so no cliffhangers. We’re left with an intriguing thread to pull on for the next book in the series.

Suspenseful Page Turner!

Kara Quinn is an undercover detective who is on a mandatory leave from her L.A.P.D. job so she is staying with her grandmother in Liberty Falls, Washington when she discovers a corpse while out for her morning run. Little does she know that the dead body will be the victim of a serial killer and a team of FBI agents will be arriving immediately and Kara will become involved with the team of agents against her better judgement and is now taking a working vacation and will put her heart and soul into stopping more murders and they only have 6 days before the killer will try to take two more victims.I

This was a fast paced and interesting police procedural crime mystery. The book steadily moves forward introducing many characters from the FBI task force and many members of the Liberty Falls police department and giving a good background for this suspenseful story. The main characters were strong with relatable personalities. The last 30% if this book was excellent with edge of your seat action and twists and turns that I just couldn't get enough! Hopefully there will more books to follow because I will definitely be on the list to read them.

I wanted to say that I really enjoyed this book but I felt there were many repetitive thoughts and statements from characters that could have been left out, although this did not affect the storytelling in anyway and some readers may like the characters repeating their thoughts. This book was a first in the series but there were a few characters that seemed to have a huge history together and unfinished business yet this was the first book in this series so that left me a little puzzled and wondering if a future book will backtrack the development of these characters since there seemed to be many missing pieces to their history together and left me wanting to know more.

I want to thank the author "Allison Brennan" and the publisher "Harlequin-Mira" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this terrific story!

I highly recommend for all crime mystery of suspense readers and have given a rating of 4 Page Turning 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!

FBI Special Agent Matt Costa is still putting together his Mobile Response Team, designed to be deployed whenever a local FBI agency gets stretched a little too thin, when he’s sent out to Liberty Lake near Spokane, Washington, to investigate what appears to be the latest victim of a serial killer the FBI have nicknamed the Triple Killer. With the clock ticking, Matt has six days to prevent two more murders… if he can figure out who the killer’s victims will be.

LAPD undercover officer Kara Quinn is on administrative leave after her last case ended badly. By pure chance, she’s the one who finds the body of the latest victim. Workaholic Kara can’t walk away from the case, and short-staffed Matt soon recognizes that she’s a formidable asset. The pair of them strike sparks, personally and professionally, and it’s a fascinating relationship dynamic as two very professional law enforcement agents negotiate their way around a confusing private relationship while keeping solid focus on their case.

There isn’t a lot too unusual about the actual mystery aspect to this case; we get some insights into the killer’s mind and know from fairly early on what his plans are, though as Matt and Kara get closer to cracking the case the killer’s psyche starts to unravel and he goes off the rails, improvising plans on the fly. The procedural aspects seem solid, with the frustration of agents hamstrung by bureaucracy or inability to get warrants in a timely fashion coming through loud and clear, forcing them to depend on the grind of old-fashioned police work, going through endless reports and interviewing potential witnesses to try and shake loose a lead, any lead, under the severe time constraints imposed by the killer’s timeline.

The tight timeframe keeps the plot moving, with no opportunity to get bogged down in tedium, but there were a few things I wasn’t too keen on. There was obviously a situation leading on from a prior incident with the team’s profiler Catherine, that maybe led on from a previous book… but this is the first book in this series. It’s all well and good to bring popular characters from another series in to start a new one, but when there’s a serious ongoing situation that’s not really adequately explained, it only serves to frustrate new readers who might be just picking up the first book in a new series and discovering the author for the first time. I actually felt like the profiler’s personal drama just detracted from the more interesting dynamic developing between Matt and Kara and the action in the case itself. Matt’s relationship with the profiler actually made me dislike him somewhat to begin with; he was bossy and refused to take no for an answer, always a turn off when it’s a man effectively giving orders to a female subordinate. It took most of the book for me to warm to him, and I still never liked his working relationship with Catherine.

In the end I enjoyed the read, but there were a few niggly things that keep me from giving this a full five stars. The ending was excellent and does set the team up for future action; I’d read more books in the series and hope to see the problems resolved by the next book. Four stars.

OMG...I loveeeeee this book, hands down one of my fav suspense reads.
My heart racing the whole time, chasing serial killer whose already many steps ahead, prevent another murder, while solving the motives behind those murders, this book keeps me guessing and wondering who's the serial killer is and keeps me expecting something bad will happen on the next page. Then there's a hint of sweetness to break all the suspense. Oh yeah I love everything, the mystery, the gory, the chase, the personal affair, the smalltown setting, the characters, the sweetness, it's a complete package.

If you love suspense romance, this book is highly recommended, and definitely a MUST-READ.

A great beginning to a new series. Fast paced as the team knows their time to catch the killer is limited. Lots of characters to get to know, but did not distract from the story. The author always hooks me right from the start and delivers a page turning story.

I really enjoyed this Criminal Minds meets CSI crime thriller. The leader of the this new Mobile FBI group, Matt, was a fantastic character and I liked the conflict of him trying to be the leader of this group and catch the killer. Matt and the profiler in the group, Catherine, also have a history together with a traumatic back story that is not fully explained. Which I am guessing (and hoping!) gets explained in future books in this series. I also hope, as the series progresses, that we get to know the other members of the team better. They all specialize in different areas and I would love to see their perspective as they solve future crimes.

Another important character to this story is LAPD detective, Kara Quinn. She is on vacation in her hometown of Liberty Lake and quickly becomes wrapped up in the investigation. She is such a strong female character and I loved how unapologetic she is. I didn’t like how much her story took away from the Triple Killer but it does make sense in the full scope of the book.

We also get to read from the perspective of the Triple Killer and his perspective is fascinating in how he justifies and perceives himself. I watch, listen to, and read true crime because I am always captivated by the psychology of what would make a person do horrible things. So for me, this was one of the best aspects of the story. Brennan did a great job making him such a believable villain.

I really like the start of this series and where it is going. I feel like Brennan has left a few strings of story open and I am eager for the next book to see where she takes it. This book does have moments of repetitiveness but that is almost to be expected with a crime procedural. I still really enjoyed this and I cannot recommend enough to fellow crime thriller lovers.

Kara Quinn is a detective with the LAPD and has been put on leave, so she decides to go back home to Liberty Lake to visit the only family she has left, her Grandmother Emily. Kara doesn’t take time off, and she is at a loss. All she wants to do is return to her job. One morning, Kara goes for a jog and finds a dead body. Her leave just got a little more interesting.


Mathias Costa is heading up a new unit in the FBI call The Mobile Response Team. He gets a call about a possible serial killer in Liberty Lake and heads there immediately before the killer can strike again.

I love this first book in this new series written by Allison Brennan. The mix of characters leave you wanting a closer look into their lives and roles in the MRT. Kara is serious, yet quirky and fun the way she interacts with Mathias at the start of the book. The story of Kara and Mathias isn’t your normal suspense - romance read, but the ending leaves you in anticipation for the next book in the series. The mystery keeps twisting and turning as the team gets closer to the killer and you wonder along with the team………will they find him in time. An excellent book!

Thank you so much to Harlequin-Mira, the author Allison Brennan and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to read and review.

Third to Die by Allison Brennan is a page-turner!

With a balanced cast of characters, a fascinating plot, and interesting locale, Third to Die provides all the best elements of a terrific FBI mystery.

If you're a fan of police-procedural novels and/or a fan of the TV show Criminal Minds, you'll love Brennan's latest novel. This is the first book I've read by her, and now I'm a forever-fan!

The story is based on a "Mobile Response Team, a new squad of the FBI" which will aid small towns and underfunded communities in the solving of major crimes.

While there is a lot of head-hopping with multiple points-of-view (there are a LOT of characters), Brennan does a fine job of clarifying whose perspective we're reading the story from. The only time it got weird was when the POV switched to a five-year-old boy. And yet, while it was weird, I must admit, the conclusion of his POV choked me up - almost to tears! The main characters were set up with personal wounds they each had to overcome in order to help solve the crime, and these emotional hurdles made them so much more lovable. For example, Brennan writes about Kara: "She left this place for good at the age of eighteen with a GED in her pocket and the hope of being a cop in her heart." And regarding Catherine: "You're the single best profiler the FBI has. You're the one who has these skills, this awesome and terrifying ability to get into the heads of killers ... if you leave the FBI now, because of your sister's murder, it will haunt you forever." Additionally, while I assumed from the beginning that some of these characters would have to die, when the time came, I was still surprised in the moment and impressed with how Brennan handled it.

There were several places throughout the narrative where I felt like Brennan's writing was repetitive, but overall I loved the writing. For example, passages like: "Catherine disliked the word normal because there was no true normal. To her, normal simply meant a person who flew under the radar, who didn't register as good or bad, kind or cruel, attractive or unattractive." If you have an aversion to the f-word, be warned, Brennan uses the word a lot, but not so much that it made me stop reading.

As the story reached its climax and the hunt for the killer was at full-throttle, I was fully engaged and reading faster and faster in order to see how the story would be resolved.

I'm always concerned when I see that a novel is the first in a series, because I dislike cliff hangers at the end of a novel. My favorite way to read a series is to have each book have its own plot neatly tied up at the end, with the characters continuing from novel to novel. I am thrilled to say this new series by Brennan does just that! I look forward to reading the next in the series and continuing on with this great cast within the Mobile Response Team.





[I received an early copy from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.]

The Third to Die is the First Book in the Mobile Response Team Series and also my first book by Allison Brennan.

FBI Agent Mattias Costa is the head of the mobile response team and this book had me hooked from Page 1! I could not put it down!!!

This book was unbelievably well written. A police procedural but ticked all the boxes for me as a thriller. Every word in this book is well crafted. I needed to know what was going to happen next, I felt it in my core.

The plot was so well written and perfectly paced with engaged, well developed characters.

I seriously can't wait for the next book in this series while I go looking for this author's back list.

The Third to Die by Allison Brennan is the first in the Mobile Response Team series.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harlequin-MIRA, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Information:

Under Assistant Director Tony Greer,  Special Agent Mathias Costa runs the new Mobile Response Team at the FBI. The goal is to travel to locations which have minimal law enforcement and offer their assistance. So far the team consists of Matt and Ryder Kim, the new analyst. Michael Harris, a former Navy SEAL, and Jim Esteban, a forensic specialist, are also joining the team.


My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Matt is on a recruiting mission when the first case for his Mobile Response Team arises.  "The Triple Killer" has struck again.   Matt will have 3 days before the next body is found, and then 3 more before the next. Then the killer will not be active for another 3 years.  They have to stop this guy.  Maybe Matt will be able to recruit Dr. Catherine Jones for the team. After all, she wrote the profile on The Triple Killer, so he is sure she'll want to be involved, although she's on sabbatical after her last case. That one hurt Matt too.

Los Angeles Police Detective Kara Quinn, an undercover cop with 12 years experience,  is on administrative leave, back visiting her grandmother in Liberty Lake, Washington.  She is the witness who finds the first body.  She eagerly inserts herself into the investigation.  After all, she isn't allowed back in LA for a while.

With the team working quickly, they quickly find more clues than they've ever had, and Catherine soon finds a pattern emerging.  But it looks like one of the targets may be one of their own...and the count-down is on.


My Opinions:

This was a great start to a new series!  I really like most of the characters.  The author has already given them enough depth that I am looking forward to seeing them in future books.  I didn't particularly like Kara, whose exterior is very rough, and her attitude careless, and although the author occasionally tried to show a sensitive side, it wasn't convincing.  However, I really liked Matt and Ryder.  The verdict is still out on Catherine, and I don't know enough about Jim and Michael.

I did not like the romantic angle between Kara and Matt.  It seemed really unprofessional in the middle of a time-sensitive case - although as I am not a romance reader, that could be on me.

The plot was good, and part of the book was told from the killers perspective, which I found really interesting.  His main goal was revenge for wrongs he felt he suffered.  He created a rather intricate plan to exact payback, which he felt would leave him clear of any repercussions.  There was a lot of action and suspense, so I just kept turning the pages.  It was a really captivating and engrossing read.

Looking forward to more!

FBI’s Mobile Response Unit Responds to Serial Killer

LAPD Detective Kara Quinn is on an enforced vacation in her home town of Liberty Lake. She’s bored and wants to cut the downtime short. That changes when she finds the body of a nurse on her morning jog. She knows immediately that this is murder and also knows that the police in Liberty Lake are unequipped to handle it. She needs to find a way to get involved.

Mathias Costa’s newly developed Mobile Response Team is almost ready for it’s first case. Even though arrangements are not perfect, Costa jumps at the chance to assist the Liberty Lake police. As more details emerge it starts to look like a case from three years ago. Catherine, an FBI profiler was assigned to that case, but now she’s on leave recovering from the devastating death of her sister. Costa must convince her to come back for this case. She’s the only one who can put the pieces together.

This is my favorite kind of police procedural. The emphasis is on looking for clues and putting the pieces together. I thought the author did an excellent job bringing in new facts to keeps the tension high.

Costa and Kara are well developed characters. Both their flaws and their strengths are on display. Their interaction makes the story more than just chasing clues. I also liked Catherine, the profiler. She seemed very talented, and I wanted to know more about her past with Costa and the case that forced her into retirement. I also liked the fact that the serial killer had chapters devoted to his view. It made the story more believable.

This is the first book in a new series. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

The Third to Die is a suspenseful page-turner about a small FBI team sent to Eastern Washington to catch a serial killer who has just struck again. LAPD undercover detective, Kara Quinn, happens to find the body soon after the murder, giving the FBI a chance of solving the case before two more people die – because this killer strikes in 3s, three days apart, starting on March 3rd every three years. After he kills the third person, he disappears and doesn't emerge again for three more years, which has made it challenging to discover the identity of the killer – until maybe now.

What I Loved

Usually, my "favorite character" section would be here, but this time what I loved about this novel and my favorite character are the same. Kara Quinn is a character for which I will happily read this series for many years to come. She is complicated with such a level of depth and dimension that I feel like I can anticipate her reaction to things beyond even the story.

Kara is focused and determined with an intelligence and a keen eye that make bosses love her, and others hate her simply because they aren't her. They resent her natural abilities, which they could only hope to have, and the fact that many others sing her praises. In spite of this, she can blend in undercover and catch the lowest of low criminals.

She loves her job, and she knows she is good at it. She doesn't care what other people think as long as she is happy with her performance. She doesn't live to please others; she lives to help people by catching the bad guys and bringing them to justice. She is a wonderful character, and the reason I gave this story 5-stars.

What Else Did I Like

The story has odious police chiefs and even a very hateful FBI agent in LA, but I liked that they only had small parts in the story. I tend to get annoyed with a story when I have to spend lengths of time with this type of character, but luckily they just had appearances now and again.

I also really liked the plot, even if it is predictable, and wanted more when I reached the end. The amount of times I tapped the screen to turn the page when there were no more pages to turn to is a testament to this fact.

To Read or Not to Read
It is a suspenseful thrill-ride made more intense by interspersed chapters written from the serial killer's perspective – a must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and MIRA books for granting me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Also, a special thank you to Justine Sha and Harlequin Trade for organizing this blog tour and for giving me a spot on the tour.

The Third to Die is the first in a new series by Allison Brennan. The hunt for a psychopathic serial killer bring together LAPD detective Kara Quinn and FBI special agent Matt Costa who are dealing with their own problems. The story is very well written and keeps you eager to find out what happens next. It felt like we were missing some key information about the character of Catherine the profiler but hopefully that will be addressed in the next story. Overall a great fast paced game of cat and mouse. I look forward to reading more in this series. Thank you to NetGalley, Goodreads and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

While on a forced administrative leave, LAPD Detective Kara Quinn returns home to visit her grandmother in Liberty Lake, Washington. While out for a run, Kara discovers a dead body. It becomes clear the young woman is the latest victim of a serial killer known as the “Triple Killer”. A newly formed FBI Mobile Response Team led by Special Agent Matt Costa is assigned to the case. Kara offers her detecting skills to help the FBI and sparks fly between she and Matt. The team is racing against the clock to try to prevent the next two deaths the killer has planned, but one of their own seems to be in the killer’s crosshairs.

I have read and enjoyed many other books by Allison Brennan. This book is the first in a new series by the author. The first few chapters introduce the many members of law enforcement, both FBI and local police departments. It was hard to keep track of everyone and meant the story got off to a slow start. Once I figured out who the most important players were, it was easier to focus on the plot. The story is told from a few different points of view including Matt, Kara, profiler Catherine Jones, and also the killer. The details of the investigation are included, which I usually like but there are some slow parts to the book. However for the most part, I was engrossed in the story and was eager to find out what would happen next.

The main characters are flawed and have complicated backgrounds full of tragic events. I predicted that two of the team members would end up getting together. I don’t know how realistic it would be for this to occur in the middle of such an important and dangerous investigation, but it was obvious from the beginning the attraction was there. Neither seem to be looking for anything serious, but developments at the end of the book that I assume will be a large focus of the next book in the series will complicate the relationship. Although the profiler contributed a lot to the investigation, I want to like her but had a hard time connecting with her. I think she has the potential to be a likable character and even though a lot of her background was given, I needed something more to get to know her better.

The killer is scary and the chapters from his point of view show how he starts to unravel at the end when things don’t go as planned. The ending is violent and has some surprising developments. There is such a build-up throughout the book on catching this killer, the ending seemed a bit rushed. I really love this author and liked this book. I would give it 3.5 stars and would read the next in the series to see how things progress with Matt and his team. Fans of J.T. Ellison would enjoy the book.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Mira. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

The Third to Die is the first novel in a new series, which I am excited to read more! There was a lot of characters in this novel, but it mostly focused on Kara Quinn (undercover cop on “vacation”) and Mathias Costa who is leading the investigation. I liked both Kara and Costa, but wish that the novel focused solely on one main character. I didn’t know who the lead of the novel was.

I really enjoyed the mystery and the Triple Killer. This killer is different because he kills only on March 3rd, 6th and 9th. Clearly those days are significant, but the team has a hard time trying to figure out the significance as well as the link between the victims.

4 calculators out of a potential 5. Really enjoyed this novel and will be on the lookout for future novels in the series.

Thank you to Netgallery and HARLEQUIN – MIRA (U.S. and Canada) for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Third to Die (Mobile Response Team Book #1) by Allison Brennan is the action packed first book of a new FBI thriller/romantic suspense series. This book grabs you from page one and does not let up.

LAPD Detective Kara Quinn is exceptional undercover, but there were some problems with her last case. She is put on leave for two weeks and returns to her hometown of Liberty Lake to spend time with her grandmother. While jogging, she discovers a murdered young nurse.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Mathias “Matt” Costa is working on setting up his new Mobile Response Team. They will travel the country to help jurisdictions with their special skills. Matt is notified that the murder in Liberty Lake fits an alert that is set for the Triple Killer. Even though his team is incomplete, he sets out to work the case.

The Triple Killer is meticulous. He returns every three years on March third to kill three times. This time, Matt and his team are out to stop him before he can kill again. Kara cannot stand being off work, so when she realizes Matt has limited manpower, she volunteers to help. Matt accepts and the two work against the clock to discover who the Triple Killer is and stop him before he disappears again.

This book has everything I look for in this genre! An edgy, individualistic and strong female lead with a hard-outer emotional shell, an alpha male FBI agent male lead and a group of secondary characters that play an important part in the plot and will be further fleshed and integrated in future stories. Ms. Brennan also always gives me an antagonist killer that is smart, intelligent and scary in their psychopathy.

I love these types of books and this is a definite winner. Ms. Brennan never disappoints me and I cannot wait for more Mobile Response Team books!

I love finding a new series with so much promise! Allison Brennan has obviously spent a lot of time and effort to build her cast of characters and place them into a community where they must work together to catch a killer who has evaded more experienced investigators. Each brings a unique skill set to the team and a very well developed attitude to the partnership. I've read Brennan's books in the past and have now added her newest series to my list of authors to track.