The Pledge is the third and final installment in author Kathleen Kent's Betty Rhyzyk trilogy. Things are looking up for Betty Rhyzyk. She’s been promoted to Detective Sergeant in the Dallas Police Narcotics Department. She now has her own team including a transplant with an attitude from Chicago. She's in a stable relationship with Dr. Jackie Nesbitt that has managed to last 10 years even with all the ups and downs and experiences of the past year and living in Texas. She's even helping to raise a baby, Elizabeth, belonging to a young woman, Mary Grace, who she rescued from the streets.

After Mary Grace and her baby disappear along with the woman hired to watch over the child, Betty discovers that her nemeses have not forgotten about her. Cartel leader El Cuchillo (The Knife) wants Betty to either find Roy within 2 weeks or he'll wipe out Betty's entire family. Evangeline Roy, the drug dealing, faith healing psychopath who nearly destroyed Betty's life is back in metro Dallas and making waves. Evangeline is back in Texas and her drug business is encroaching on the Sineloan cartel's territory. Roy hasn't forgotten to what Betty did to her sons.

To make matters even more twisted, when Mary Grace’s wealthy and powerful stepfather starts making noises about wanting custody of the girl and threatens legal action, Betty is legitimately torn about whether or not she really wants to throw their life’s savings into a custody dispute that they’re unlikely to win. That leaves Betty asking for help from a pair of Private Investigators named Peg Bartles and Rocky Bentner. Peg and Rocky also help Betty track down the elusive Evangeline Roy which leads to yet another suspenseful confrontation.

Betty's relationship with her partner Detective Seth “Riot” Dutton has gotten better, but there's still room for improvement and Betty owes a story about her Uncle Benny and the things he trained her for. There is an abundance of violence balanced on occasion with Betty's remembrances of her NYC family and her interactions with her girlfriend and her detective partner Seth Dutton. I still marvel at the amount of brutality and physical damage Betty faces through the series. The amount of injuries and lack of sleep she amasses over the two weeks is pretty impressive.

But it's nothing normal if you've read this series from the very beginning and walked in Betty's shoes as she was nearly defeated. One of the more realistic part of this entire series is the amount of drugs that is flowing into this country by Mexican Cartels, MS-13, Honduran gangs, and college kids looking to make a little money to pay for their education. This is what Betty and her team do. They try to shut down the illegal drug trade, but are constantly battling against those who are well armed, well funded, and aren't intimidated by police officers which leads to some expected and shocking deaths in this story.

The story itself actually begins September 10, 2001, which just happens to be the day that the world went crazy with terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, and the Pentagon. For Betty, she has always respected Benny told her. He even warned her to stay away on 9/11 when her fellow officers were murdered because she had a huge heart and would want to do too much to find the bad guys. Coincidentally or not, the present tense story takes place from September 11, 2014 thru September 25, 2014.

Detective Sergeant Betty Rhyzyk of the Dallas Police Department is beset by problems – both from her job and personal. Evangeline Roy, a cult leaders wants her dead; she is being threatened by a notorious drug leader, and she and her wife are now responsible for a seven-month-old infant abandoned in their care. Non-stop action and great characters. A must read!

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review electronically. The characters get into all kinds of trouble...there are surprises...red herrings...characters we like...others not so much...a good one.

The Pledge by Kathleen Kent is an enthralling and engrossing read with a great plot and characters! Well worth the read