Just give me anything Nancy Mehl writes. I know I'll love it. Night Fall was full of suspense, twists and turns, and lots of fun for this reader. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow! An extremely gripping tale. You won’t be able to put this book down. If you enjoy this genre of book, you won’t be disappointed.

Nancy Mehl is a great suspense writer and I was definitely on the edge of my seat as I read this new series. Alex Donovan is an FBI Behavioral specialist. This story was creepy with lots of twists and turns... I read the book and then listened to it on audio during my walks. It definitely kept my attention! What a great book!

If you aren’t squeamish, then Night Fall, a suspense/thriller by Nancy Mehl could be the book for you. It definitely had the creep-factor going for it with a seriously sick killer. The book centers on main character FBI agent Alex Donovan who is called into the case not only for her profiler expertise, but because she is intimately familiar with many of the elements of the investigation, a fact that gives her both a leg-up and a disadvantage. Alex has ties to the cult that seems to be part of the case. The reader is also given insight into the killer’s mind — I liked this, but it really did send chills up my spine! There is a bit of romance, and though it played a small part in then novel, I expect more in the other books in the series. Alex grows a lot through the course of this book, but she is a somewhat troubled character with a lot to overcome. I look forward to her development in the next two books.

Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I purchased this book from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

This is an insane book with many twists and turns. You think you know who the killer is and then you’re wrong. An amazing read that will keep you up reading late into the early morning hours.

Night Fall is a contemporary thriller, and was written by Nancy Mehl. It is book one in the Quantico Files series.

Summary: Alex Donovan’s dream has always been to be a profiler for the FBI. But when her latest case intersects with her tragic past, Alex finds herself going home-a place she swore she would never return.

Can Alex face the demons of her past and help to capture a determined criminal before a deadly plague is released on an unsuspecting public? Or will her fears parazlyze her for good?

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It is a little dark, but not terribly so. There is a great villain in this book, which made for a fun read. There is also quite a bit of mystery and suspense.

The only thing I found a little off-putting, was that the two main characters in this series are extremely similar to the ones from the author’s Kaely Quinn series-they almost felt like copies in a lot of ways. If you haven’t read the previous series, you wouldn’t care, but it is definitely noticeable.

Regardless, I still liked the story.

If you enjoy murder mystery thrillers, then this book might be a good one for you to check out.

Thanks to Bethany House for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Having read Nancy Mehl's Kaely Quinn Profiler series, I should have known that she could scare me with how plausible her stories are. Night Fall is book one in The Quantico Files, and she brings to life a "demon" who calls himself the Train Man. In some ways, I'm glad I listened to this one on my daylight walks. If I'd read it before going to sleep at night, I'm not sure sleep would have happened!

Alex Donovan's childhood was cut short when her mother dies, leaving her in the care of her aunt who barely cares for herself. At 9 years of age, Alex becomes the adult in the house - cooking, cleaning, laundering - so that she doesn't have to live with the roaches or the filth her aunt's house had become. Her experiences as a child leave her with some pretty severe OCD behavior, and PTSD. She has finally reached her goal and been assigned to the FBI's Behavioral Analyst Unit, where she can use her skills to hunt the evil that stalks the world.

When bodies start appearing in empty train cars, Alex's team is called in to investigate. No one can make sense of the almost biblical verses that are spray painted in graffiti on each of the cars where a body is found, but Alex recognizes them immediately as something from The Book. Her aunt was a member of, what Alex now knows is, a cult called The Circle. Followers of The Circle would indoctrinate their children by reading from The Book, and her aunt had read it to her. She knows just enough about the Circle to help her team onto the right path, but when they ask her to secure her aunt's copy of The Book, every fear she ever had while living in that house comes roaring back. Can Alex continue to work a case that threatens every scrap of mental strength she has attained over the years?

As The Train Man keeps killing - he has to sacrifice a certain number before he is "allowed" to release his ultimate scourge, meant to kill 1/3 of the world's population - can the Alex and the BAU figure out who his next victim will be before he can make good on releasing his wrath on the world?

Nancy Mehl's books are not for the faint of heart. I think this one was so scary because it was so believable. She writes her deranged killer with a deft hand, even humanizing him by showing how he got to be the way he is. She approaches the many faces of mental illness - through her killer, through Alex's aunt, and through Alex herself - and explores a bit about what factors went into making them the way they were.

Readers who love suspenseful thrillers should always pick up Nancy Mehl's books, and Night Fall is a prime example. I highly recommend!

I love Nancy Mehl's books and was excited she had a new series called, The Quantico Files. The first installment, Night Fall, does not disappoint. Five stars.

This was a fun follow-up to the Kaely Quinn Profiler trilogy. I enjoyed the fast paced action and writing of this story. A bit darker in tone than the previous books, but I was still intrigued by the plot. I wasn't 100% sold on Alex as a character. I have no true connection to her. I did love Logan and Monty though!

The plot twists with the Circle and Adam Walker were both interesting. The reveal of the second killer was a shocker, but I was also always suspicious of the person from the beginning.

Good cast of characters. I enjoyed seeing Alex learn about God and Logan talk about him.

I'm more excited for the sequel, Dead Fall because Kaely Quinn will be in the book and I adore her.

Overall, I do recommend this book. It was fun to read.

Her past has just come back to haunt them...

Oooh! Just when I was lamenting the end of the Kaely Quinn series here comes Nancy Mehl with a new series that is just as deliciously chilling. Night Fall is the first book in The Quantico Files and it's a real doozy!

If there's one thing that I can always count on with Nancy Mehl it's that her books will be so riveting I won't want to put them down. Night Fall has all of the ingredients imaginable to keep you looking over our shoulder for at least the next week.

Night Fall was one intense read. Serial killers, cult members, and a deadly virus. There are so many threads that you are kept guessing and wondering if you really know what you think you know. Nancy Mehl packed all of the action possible in this book, and, if the rest of The Quantico Files follow in the same vein, I know they will be really good and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

On the slightly grittier side of Christian suspense, Night Fall was a great read and one that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any fan of the genre. Nancy Mehl's novels are all just THAT good!

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

I don’t want to give away any of the suspenseful details in this book, so I’ll be careful about what I share in this review. Nancy Mehl is a talented author of Christian suspense fiction, and this book is a great beginning to another series. The story is intense with twists and turns that will keep the reader quickly turning pages to find out what happens next. This storyline moves along at a fast pace and there’s never a good place to stop reading. I love reading clean suspense stories with a theme of faith and this author’s books never disappoints. Looking forward to the next book!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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A review by you!
Night Fall, by Nancy Mehl
dark slow-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0

The first third of the book I was really intrigued. It felt like an episode of Criminal Minds and there was a touch of romantic interest.

However, the further into the book the book the more it dwelled on The Book and the cult behind it I started to get bogged down. Then it brought up COVID-19 and I have to admit I almost threw my Kindle. I read to escape not dwell on current events.

Also, I love Christian Fiction until it gets preachy. I also am not a fan of relationships where one half is trying to convert the other half.

Like I said, the premise was intriguing and it really did remind me of Criminal Minds but in the end that wasn't enough.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

The Quantico Files is set to be an amazing series! To kick it off Nancy Mehl has written Night Fall that is sure to make you not stop reading, keep you on the edge of your seat and even might give you goosebumps… I got them! I give this book 5 stars and cannot wait for the next book! Enjoy!

This was a fun book! It was the first suspense book that properly spooked me in a good while. I’ve read Nancy Mehl’s books before, and I have been impressed with the suspense that was written and the characters in the books. In my opinion, this book was not quite as good as the other series of hers I’ve read, the Kaley Quinn Profiler series. However, it was still good and the message was also really well done.

In this book, Alex, Logan, and the rest of their team are trying to find a serial killer who also has a deadly virus that they plan on spreading to the world. The story is told in split perspectives, one from the team (and split among several members), and one from the killer’s point of view. This causes a really interesting form of storytelling, as it is already known who the killer is from the get go (in fact, the book opens in the killer’s point of view). I think it makes the pacing really interesting and the storytelling really unique.

There is a really interesting juxtaposition between Alex, the protagonist, and Adam, the antagonist. They were raised in similar situations, but Adam became a serial killer, while Alex worked to better herself and go into the FBI. There was a very heavy emphasis on religion (since they were raised in a cult that was analogous to Christianity, and thus, Alex has sworn off Christianity). If you want/like books that have a strong emphasis on Christianity, you might like this book, but I personally think the emphasis was a little ~too~ there (there were–I believe–THREE come-to-Jesus conversations?? which is great and all, especially with the cult stuff, but also . . . THREE?!). Overall, I think it was done really well but it was still a bit overdone.

Something that really bugged me from this book was the CONSTANT and FREQUENT mention of COVID-19. This book is set in the future (apparently), and due to the nature of the book (a deadly virus threatened to be spread), COVID-19 was brought up SO MUCH, for no reason. They kept sprinkling in sentences like “if this virus gets out, it will be infinitely worse than COVID-19, which as we all know was a terrible pandemic.” like YES?? WE KNOW. THIS BOOK WAS THE ESCAPISM FOR THAT. So if you are ~triggered~ by COVID-19, this is potentially something to watch out for.

The last part of this story that I didn’t really like was that there were some plot points that were simply not realistic? There were some plot points that seemed to come out of left field and were not as relevant to the story as they could have been. It was just a little disorienting, and I thought they detracted from the story rather than added to it. The final conclusion of the story was also not as strong as it could be, and left me wanting more.

With that being said, though, the final plot twist was INCREDIBLE. I definitely did not expect it coming at all, and I was thoroughly impressed by it. Overall, this book was really good: it was super suspenseful and the pace was really good. There were some aspects that I thought were unrealistic and some parts that I thought could have been done better, but overall I did enjoy it and I will be looking forwards to the next book!

Wow, what a way to start off a new series! Nancy Mehl's Night Fall has me impatiently waiting for more in The Quantico Files series!

In this book, we meet FBI behavioral analyst Alex Donovan who is having to come to grips with her troubled childhood being raised by a cult member aunt as this cult comes to focus in a murder investigation. With a plan to fulfill a prophecy that will ultimately lead to a release of a virus more deadly than Covid-19, the race is on in this high paced suspense.

Yes, this is a novel about the potential release of another pandemic... and honestly, that's not going to be for everyone right now. For many of us, books are so often an escape from reality, and so perhaps not everyone will be interested in seeing Covid mentioned during their reading. I totally understand that, and perhaps later on it might be one to revisit. On the other hand though, I think because we are still in the midst of a pandemic, it very much makes the idea of a weaponized virus all that more intense and really helps us as readers feel that drama.

From the start, we know exactly who the primary villain is and what his plan is. While that may take away some of the mystery, I still found myself wanting to see how it all played out...and really dig deeper into the why of why our villain and our hero are the way they are--- given their very difficult (and somewhat similar) upbringings. There were a few twists and turns thrown in to keep things interesting, and while I figured out at least one of those reveals quite early on, it didn't impact my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, I found this to be a fantastic read that fans of Christian suspense do not want to miss. I cannot wait to see what comes next!

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

A new member of the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, Alex is assigned a case sending her back to her hometown. The terrible memories that she thought she had left there come to surface when she recognizes the graffiti the "Train Killer" has left as his calling card. While hearing the thoughts of the killer and Alex, there is definitely a line between good and evil at work here. Fast paced with surprises, memories best not remembered and twists that kept me turning the pages. It is not one to start before bedtime unless you can't sleep anyway!

The more Mehl I read, the more I like. She definitely pushes the envelope in the Christian genre by giving us a bone chilling thriller, but ties it with an obvious undertone of hope. I think knowing who the bad guy was from the onset of the book helped curb the "terror " that is generally unacceptable in the Christian genre, while also giving the book a unique element of characterization from the bad guy's point of view.
This book follow the story of the train man, a cult motivated killer who believes he is destined to bring about the end of the world by fueling the fight again angels and demons.
Alex, a behavioral analyst from the FBI is forced to sort our her own demons, as her upbringing was eerily similar to that of the train man. The more she learns about him, the more she must deal with the hauntings of her past.
As always, there was a unique, underlying romance that kept pace with the story, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out in future books.

I received a copy of this book digitally via NetGalley. I also pre-ordered a copy from Baker Book House. I read and reviewed this book voluntarily, and all opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Night Fall is the first book in the Quantico Files series by Nancy Mehl. I've read several of Mehl's other books, but I found this book has an incredibly slow start and was a little too dark for my reading tastes. Alex Donovan is a member of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit who had a troubled childhood and is struggling with her own emotional baggage as she investigates a series of train killings. The case and Alex's personal life intersect through a cult connection, and it becomes a race of time to stop one man before unleashing a biological weapon and killing thousands of people.

The premise of this book had me hooked: the BAU team at the FBI looks for a deranged serial killer who’s part of a crazy religious cult. Sounds great!
However, the execution fell completely flat for me. The secret religious cult of “The Circle” had every religious cliche: their holy text being referred to as “The Book”, their God called “Master”, angels and demons, “The Destroyer” who brings about a new earth...and then on the opposite end of the spectrum the “good” people in this story so to speak are all Christians. Even one of the FBI Agents is nicknamed “Preacher”. Our MC Alex even hears the voice of God and finds herself being pulled toward Christianity. I don’t have a problem with religion, but this book felt like it was trying to convert me. If this is considered a Christian thriller I wish it would’ve come with a forewarning.
Aside from the religious aspect this still was a dud of a story to me. The dialogue was mundane, I knew who the accomplice was when I was 1/3 of the way through. Every part of them solving the case seemed to coincidentally happen at exactly the right time. There were no twists or turns and even the “traumatic” events the characters went through didn’t seem believable.
This definitely wasn’t for me.

Fans of the hit television show, Criminal Minds, will love this book! With main characters, Alex Donovan and Logan Hart working for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, they determine to stop the elusive Train Man from unleashing a deadly virus he believes is part of a prophecy he's destined to fulfill.

Author Nancy Mehl delivers an imaginative, frightening new novel with ominous threats - a new, super virus following on the heels of COVID-19, a psychopath, murders and a dark cult with a deep following. The suspense in this story and the curiosity it sparked kept me interested to the very end. Mehl's knowledge of the BAU and the procedures the FBI uses were interesting and Mehl does a beautiful job of showcasing the freedom of choice humans have to choose good or evil. In addition, she aptly delivers a message of hope that only the Bible can offer. There is a hint of romance and it begs readers to follow up with the second book in the series to see how it develops.

There were parts of this story that I struggled with, however, including connecting to the characters in the beginning, repetitive information that detracted from the suspense, and an ending that was predictable which in turn made it anti-climatic for me. Some readers may find the faith-based elements of this story very strong and frequently discussed though that did not bother me.

*I voluntarily received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts below are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.