Unremarkable but not bad

I would like to thank Allison Brennan, Harlequin MIRA, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review, and also thanks to Justine Sha, who invited me to participate in the blog tour.

This book was okay. The plot was compelling enough to keep me hooked, and the pace was steady, which kept me from getting bored—with the exception of the first chapter, which was a tidal wave of exposition that I hardly absorbed a word of. If you can get past the first chapter, it gets better from there.

But the story was rather dry in general; there wasn’t a whole lot of humor or even just levity to entertain and appeal to the reader. I get that it’s a thriller with a serious tone and there’s supposed to be lots of suspense and tension—but from time to time, someone needs to be the comic relief.

Despite the lack of humor, most of the characters were likable, sympathetic, and somewhat well-developed. Michael was a sweetie, as was Ryder, though he could stand to unclench a bit. Not sure about Zack; it’s hard to judge him when he was only present over the phone and in a manic state most of the time as he doggedly pursued the case to the point of obsession. They all have some humanizing self-doubt and are struggling to feel like part of the new team and to prove themselves valuable. I loved Angel and Bianca, and Frank surprisingly grew on me. Peter and Wyatt were cool, Catherine was fine, didn’t see much of Tony. Didn’t see Jim at all, unfortunately.

Kara’s somewhat of an exception; she was borderline unlikable. At times I admired her drive, determination, and skill, other times she could be rather apathetic or even callous. What bothered me the most was that she thinks of/treats sex so casually that to my mind it speaks less of modern liberation and more a lack of self-respect, or perhaps selfishness. She doesn’t seem to like herself very much, and the reader picks up on that and hesitates to like her as well.

I was most invested in Matt. He was level-headed, reasonable, kind, intelligent, just an all-around good guy. Kara’s not a good match for him; I get strong vibes of the good, responsible girl falling in lust with the bad boy, only gender swapped. Unless she has a major change in attitude, she’s going to break his heart and say “I told you so.”

That’s about it. The book wasn’t all that remarkable, but it certainly wasn’t bad, either. If you don’t mind a slow-burn police procedural that’s smart and realistic, this should be perfect for you. If you’re looking for something more energetic and exciting, this probably won’t do it for you.

Lastly, a weird subjective complaint: I got so sick of characters grabbing a beer, offering beer, beer beer beer. I hate beer, so that bias obviously didn’t help, and I understand Kara was a bartender, so naturally there would be lots of beer in that setting. But even outside the bar, it seemed like all anyone drank was beer or tequila. Which is an exaggeration, of course; some drank water or coffee, and Ryder was a teetotaler. My point is that beer appeared with noticeable and annoying frequency. Or whiskey, or wine, definitely tequila. Have some freaking iced tea, people.

Oh, and I’m not sure why they changed the name of the series from Mobile Response Team to Quinn and Costa thrillers. To me that means less of a focus on the team, as was presumably originally planned, and more focus on Kara and Matt as a pair. But I don’t know. *shrugs*

FBI SA Matt Costa and LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, who is detailed to the FBI Mobile Response Team, find themselves investigating murder in Arizona in this second in a series - which will be fine as a standalone. Is the murder of a college student active in environmental issues tied to criminal activity at a copper refinery? That's the question the team, which also includes Michael Harris, sets out to answer. Kara and Michael take undercover jobs which bring them close (too close) to a group of villains and puts them at risk. The mystery/procedural is complex enough to keep you guessing but read this one for the characters, who are more fleshed out in this outing. There's also good romantic suspense. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC, No spoilers from me on what's really going on but Brennan fans know that this will be a rewarding read and those new to her will be happy to discover a new storyteller.

Tell No Lies is the second installment in author Allison Brennan's Quinn & Costa Thriller series. The story takes place in and around a town called Patagonia, Arizona. Two months ago, something mysterious was killing the wildlife in the desert hills just south of Tucson, Arizona. Emma Perez, a college-intern-turned activist, and her boyfriend Billy Nixon, set out to collect evidence to give to her boss Frank Block of AREA (Arizona Resources Environment Agency). She ended up dead. Billy demanded answers to why she was murdered. Enter the FBI.

Matt Costa and his shiny new FBI Mobile Response Team arrives on the scene. The core of their investigation is to find out why Emma was murdered and by whom. This investigation also dives into possible illegal toxic dumping by a copper refinery planet. What they learn is even more shocking. Former LAPD Detective Kara Quinn, who had her career cut short after her cover was blown, gets the job of going undercover at a local bar to see what information she can gather. Kara is an interesting character in that she was a con artist trained by her family before becoming a cop. She spent 12 years as an undercover cop until someone blew her cover.

Michael Harris, a former Navy SEAL, takes a job at the Southwest Copper Refinery hoping to get close enough to expose whether or not the company is illegally dumping toxins into the water and the desert. Michael struggles with telling lies to good people as he investigates a different angle of the investigation. Michael isn't cut out for being undercover, and he gives all the respect in the world to Kara for doing it for so long before someone destroyed her career. For Kara, reading people is in the blood. Another key player in this story is Joe Molina who is not only an informant trying to help his family, but he falls for Kara. One could say that there are plenty of villains waiting to be uncovered.

While Costa's team, including Ryder Kim and Zack Heller, are scouring the desolate landscape looking for answers to Emma's murder, the clues lead to something much darker. Murder, deception, lies, and human trafficking. As the body count continues to rise, it's clear they have stumbled onto more than they bargained for. Now they must figure out who is at the heart of this mayhem and stop them before more innocent lives are lost. This story also features two young kids who are victims in the Drug Cartel's Human trafficking operations into the US. I do hope that you pay attention to these remarkable children who lost everything.

This story had more fact than fiction. Human trafficking is a huge problem for this country. Two of the tertiary characters are basically children who were sold by their mother after their father was murdered by drug cartels in their hometown. The Cartels are very good at exploiting families for money. If you don't pay them their fee, they destroy innocent lives. The two are forced to hide from bad men who sell young children to buyers in the US and elsewhere. In this case, the cartel's use of stupid American college kids to run guns and weapons across the border. Bianca and Angel's story is a story about how American politicians are turning a blind eye to what's happening at the border.

This is a timely novel for the reasons that thousands of unaccompanied minors are flooding the border and nobody seems to have answers except to bloviate and blame others. Politicians have ignored cartel's for far too long. They have ignored coyote's who are paid thousands of dollars to bring people across the border. Politicians love to bluster and promise solutions only to turn around and do nothing. Mexico and the US need to be more aggressive towards cartel's who bring unaccompanied children across the border who then end up in collection facilities. American's need to wake up and do something except point fingers at each other. It doesn't help when all you do is scream at each other instead of offering positive solutions.

Second in the Quinn & Costa series, Tell No Lies bring Matt and Kara back together investigating the murder of a university student who was investigated contaminated water, and they suspect it's tied to a local company they suspect of illegal toxic dumping.

This flies by, and has a really exciting ending. I'm also really enjoying the characters in this series, and particularly how strong Kara is. The will-they/won't-they from the previous books is much more complicated given that Matt is officially her boss in this book, which added a fun element.

Ultimately, I didn't like this *quite* as much as the first in the series, but there was a lot of financial crimes that played a role, which just went completely over my head and left me confused about what was going on as they solved the crime(s). I'm still really enjoying the series and will definitely continue when more come out!

Allison Brennan does it again. I am loving this new series and the new characters Quinn and Costa. I love how her stories have deep dives into the characters while the story is happening. I am so excited to see where the next book take us.

DNF

I really enjoyed Third to Die, the first book in the Quinn & Costa series, and I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.

We’re immediately bombarded with a ton of characters at once. No one stands out, there’s a lot going on, and the story feels chaotic.

I pushed through to the 30% mark on my Kindle, at which point I was forcing myself to read something I wasn’t enjoying, so I gave up.

This is just my opinion. If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you might also love this one.

Returning to Detective Quinn and FBI Agent Costa in the second book in the series. As in most mystery/thriller series, each case is solved in each book, but there is character development of the repeating characters from book to book, so I suggest you start at book one before you dive into this one.

Detective Quinn is undercover again in Arizona as a college student was murdered while investigating possible ecological anomalies - i.e. weird amount of dead birds in a spot. FBI Agent Costa is running the investigation into a copper refinery to find out if they had a motive for murder and were illegally dumping things to cause the dead birds. This is the main mystery, but goodness there was a lot more going on, but I don't want to spoil a thing.

There were many moments in this book where I wondered if the author tried to put too much into this book. By the end, it worked out and everything tied up nicely, but there were a few mysteries going on and I was worried that it was too much for one book.

I am keeping this review brief and vague because I appreciated going into this book with minimal knowledge, so I would say pick up book one and then quickly dive into this one and enjoy the ride and the characters.

Something suspicious is happening in the Arizona desert and a crack FBI team goes undercover to figure out just what it is. TELL NO LIES places the action just outside Patagonia as what begins as an environmental justice mystery swings into something a bit more well-known at the U.S. border. Author Allison Brennan has good characters but telegraphs more of the plot than I might have wished, even as I love Arizona locations and chose the book for that very reason. For readers of thrillers with characters that love relationships as much as thrills, this is a good book. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley

I’m sorry to say I did not like Tell No Lies as much as I liked the first book in the series, The Third to Die. I think it was because of the slow pace of the story. Though things did pick up toward the end of the book, I struggled to finish it.
There are ALOT of characters to remember! The main characters are detective Kara Quinn and FBI agent Matt Costa. In the first book I was excited to watch the romance between Quinn and Costa but did not get the same feeling reading this one.
I did like the story and look forward to reading more in the series. I do have to say, it seemed a bit much toward the foul language aspect which in reality, didn’t add to the story in my opinion.
It just felt like something was missing this time....
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was kind of a long drawn out FBI thriller. I hadn’t read the previous book in the series but it didn’t seem to matter to the story. Kara is a strong female cop working undercover. There is a lot going on in this book, lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed the book
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Another great read by Brennan! I love this series and the characters that Brennan brings to life feel so real and relatable. A great mystery!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Quinn and Acosta book, so I really looked forward to this second book. No disappointment here! It is a slam dunk, roller coaster of a trip through the minds of criminals and the procedures of the FBI to capture them. It can definitely be read as a standalone, but I love this series so much that I personally would not miss a single one of them. This book presents a complex story of a family business, environmental damage done by the by-products of manufacturing, trafficking in drugs and people and cartels. Set in the small town of Patagonia, Arizona, the portrait painted of a little rustic place with desert and dunes all around was perfect for the action of the story. Kara is undercover in a bar while Matt runs the team. The first objective of the team is to find out who murdered Emma, a young student who discovered that birds were dying from something in the water and determined to find out who and what was causing their deaths. Her investigation led to her death which led to the FBI sending in a team to investigate. The action was non-stop, with a few romantic scenes thrown in at various times. There were a lot of characters, but the author did a good job of making them realistic and memorable, so I was able to keep up with all of them. My favorite, of course, was Kara Quinn, the “take no prisoners” fighter for truth and justice. She is absolutely perfect in her role, and I could see a movie made from this series because of the strength of the characters and the well-developed plot. With intrigue, secrets and evil machinations in just about every chapter, there was no way to put this one down for long. I enjoyed getting to know other members of the team, like Ryder, who contributed to the take-down of the bad guys but who stayed in the background unless Matt called him out of hiding. I especially liked the teamwork demonstrated in the unraveling of the complicated crimes being committed by a whole gang of people. Fans of the author and the series will devour this book and new fans will find a new group of heroes who are crime fighters putting it all on the line.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Well written with a great plot and believable characters. There was loads of action, gripping suspense, a little romance and heartfelt emotions. I enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

am 100% sure that Allison Brennan can do no wrong when it comes to story telling. Quinn and Costa are amazing team that readers will be excited to jump back into their worlds. The story is dark and gritty as they are trying to end the greed the evil men in the world.

When they they murder, mayhem and heart bounding moments this story does not disappoint.

The story is everything readers have come to love from Allison Brennan. Character's to connect with, real life stories that readers will wonder if it is real.

This is a Can't miss story in the Quinn and Costa Thriller series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Allison Brennan Tell No Lie

I love Allison Brennan books. Normally, I'm hooked from the first page. This one ... not so much. It took me several chapters before I found myself fully invested. Then .... I could not put it down! Really enjoyed it! Looking forward to seeing this series and group of characters grow.

Thank you #netgalley and #HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) #Mirabooks for the eARC.

Minor spoilers.

I know several people have complained about this book being a lot slower than the first book, and that we know in advance who the bag guys are, but I loved it all the same, especially considering that the murders investigated were very different (serial killer vs. drug cartel). Of course the pacing has to differ depending on the investigation. I loved seeing Kara going undercover, and that we get a lot more of Matt’s perspective (at least, that’s what it felt like to me). It’s obvious that the author did a ton a research for this book, and it was woven in well, didn’t feel like info dumping to me. Overall, I was very pleased reading this story and can’t wait to read the next one.

Leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon

This was a very complicated and complex case for Quinn & Costa. The team investigates a murder of a young college student. Things get very complicated after that. This book takes place a couple months after the first book. The relationship with Quinn & Costa becomes more entangled and more interesting to follow. I can't wait to see what the author does with the two of them. This case has a domino effect to it. Reader you will enjoy unraveling the mystery of this book.

I absolutely loved this book and was so wrapped up in what was happening, i didn’t realize I had literally sat and read the entire book in one day.

The author takes you on a journey that includes murder, deception, lies, human trafficking and much much more. The emotional rollercoaster you will go on, is totally worth it, even if you can’t figure out if you want to be happy, angry or cry in frustration.

Hands down, this book is now one of my top favs from this author!

This was such a fascinating book. There was so much going on in the storyline. There are twists and turns and lots of suspense. Quinn and Costa’s personal interactions are sizzling. Professionally they are both very intelligent law enforcement professionals. We get a little more insight into the other teammates. I loved all the added information about the human trafficking and drug running. The bird migration patterns and water poisoning was equally fascinating. This is a long book but I was totally ensnared in the storyline and gobbled this book up in no time. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

An innocent hike starts out this mystery where a women is unexpectedly killed, somewhere in the southern desert near Patagonia AZ. Soon an entire FBI field team is investigating her apparent murder, and before long we learn to respect this undercover motely group that includes agents posing as bartenders, factory workers, and others that are brought in to solve the case. What I liked about this novel was the very realistic treatment -- or so I imagined -- about how the team works together, including a love affair between team members that isn't entirely kosher. There are lots of bodies as the book progresses, and lots of bruised egos to, some deservedly so. While Patagonia is a real town, the rest of the book is the author's responsibility and she pulls it off quite nicely. Highly recommended.