When Selina, younger sister of Homeland Security Agent, Carmen Sanchez, survives a vicious knife assault, big sister jumps into the local investigation. Carmen needs to take a hiatus from her salaried job as the case is not in the Feds’ jurisdiction. The only clue is a spider tattoo on the perpetrator’s wrist. So he is dubbed “Spider.” Lots of information about arachnids are provided. You can speed read through those parts or enjoy,learning about spiders. Your choice.

Needing some backup, Carmen contacts Prof. Jake Heron, an expert in all things about providing security, His MO is sidestepping time wasting silly rules that might delay the investigative progress. There is history between the two, which is withheld until the climax of the story, causing Carmen to feel she is indebted to Jake. The two make a very good team despite vastly different personal styles.

Serious police work uncovers some similarities to other attacks. The killer always seems to be one step ahead of the investigation. Alternating chapters also provide a look into the killer’s thought process along with a well developed and interesting personna. In fact all of the characters are well drawn and three dimensional, which is typical of Jeffery Deaver’s writing. I’m not familiar with Isabella Maldonado’s books but the two together have produced a seamless police thriller and set the stage for a series that will hopefully continue.

Four lovely stars for a book that held my interest and kept me guessing throughout with many twists and turns. Publication date was September 1, 2024. I’m sure you’ll want to read it. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas &Mercer
for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest reviewable

Fatal Intrusion by two superb writers, Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado, reflects each author's excellence. The story bobs and weaves throughout 420 outrageously well-plotted and thoroughly executed pages. The two investigators, one working for Homeland Security and the other as a government consultant mesh together, lending their respective talents. Think of a superior gumbo made up of genuinely outstanding ingredients. The action never interferes with the characters, as Fatal Intrusion revolves around the hunt for a serial killer extraordinarily well-versed in today's technology. The book is one of this year's best, and I urge all mystery and thriller readers to quickly go to their local bookstore and buy this tremendous novel by outrageously excellent writers at the top of their game.

Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado knocked it out of the park!

This book wove in so many characters and events but in a way that all came together beautifully. The viewpoints from both the bad guys and the good guys were included, which I personally love.

If you like a crime thriller, this one is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jeffery Deaver, Isabella Maldonado, and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars

Let me tell you that the thriller part of this book is amazingly good. The plot is good and the pace is perfect. I loved it and I was just so engrossed by it! I wanted to keep turning the pages because I wanted to know what would happen next. And the bad guy here is pretty scary. And committed.
This part is masterfully done, and if you are in for the plot you should just go with this one, without a doubt.

What didn’t work so well for me were the characters. I am not saying that they are bad per se, because this would be a lie but we didn’t click, at least in the beginning. I started to be a bit more invested in them after the halfway point, and since I am a character-driven kind of reader this had a strong impact on my reading experience. Sanchez is a great detective, and I love that she is part of a team that works well, and I love that her direct superior is on her side, we have some internal political scheming, sure, but all in all, her direct superior is on her side, and this is a thing that I appreciated a lot.
But she has a sister, who is pretty central to the plot since she is one of the victims of the killer Detective Sanchez is trying to catch (or better, all this investigation started because the sister was one of the victims, but it is not the point here), and sisters (or siblings) in books are one of my pet peeves (I don’t have anything against sisters per se, but there are some dynamics that just made me mad and we usually find them in books). And this pair is no exception. I would have enjoyed this book way more without the dynamics between sisters (even if they are pretty functional to the plot, especially for the big finale, but functional does not mean necessary, and to be honest, I didn’t enjoy the big revelation at the end, either).
I enjoyed Heron better, to be honest, and he reminded me a lot of Andrew Mayne’s characters (this is a big plus) but even here, it took me some time to start and appreciate him, because he is sort of detached and it took some work to become invested in him, too.

So, all in all, I appreciated the story and I highly recommend this book for it, but the characters didn’t work so well for me, even if after a point I became invested in them too (and even if they are good characters on their own, their pairing took some work. They don’t immediately click as a team either, and I think that this didn’t help me here) and I found the ending quite unoriginal (and a tad disappointing). I don’t honestly know if I would continue this series, but I had fun with this book, so I am considering the idea!

Title: Fatal Intrusion
Authors: Jeffery Deaver & Isabella Maldonado
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pub Date: 09/01/2024

Jeffrey Deaver & Isabella Maldonado didn’t disappoint in this cat and mouse thriller. This is book one of the Sanchez and Heron series and I’m in for more from this duo.

Carmen Sanchez is a DHS agent who brings in Jacoby Heron a Professor and security guru specializing in intrusion theories to find a killer who is fascinated by spiders. While I’m not an arachnid fan, there were some interesting facts that I learned and it solidified my keep your distance stance on the creatures.

Carmen’s character is a strong, cool headed agent with dogged determination and Jacoby’s specialty at first glance might make you think he’s nerdy but, he’s not. When Jacoby uses hacker terms, the reader is given an understanding of the terms woven smoothly into the story. Even the killer’s character is given substance.

The web was spun so well, that while I was lost deep in the story, I never saw the big twist coming.

Thank you #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the opportunity to read this thriller and learn some things as well.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fatal Intrusion
By: Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pub Date: 9/1/24

I love the combination of these two authors. Isabella definitely brings her crime/police procedural knowledge from real life to her books. It always seems to give more depth to her characters.
Carmen is a federal agent who puts herself in the middle of a local agency’s investigation when her sister is attacked. Knowing she needs more help in the computer world she brings in Jake. He’s an English professor but also a civilian consultant. They had a former relationship that didn’t turn out well. (You will learn the details as you read.)
We soon meet Spider, the criminal they are after. As soon as they can figure out why he’s killing these random people they will be able to stop him.
I really enjoyed their banter and how they used technology to catch him.
First in a new series looking forward to more.
Thanks to Jeffrey Deaver, Isabella Maldonado and Thomas and Mercer for this galley.

‘Fatal Intrusion’ is the first book in the new series by co authors Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado. On the whole I enjoyed this book and got better the more I learnt about the main characters Sanchez and Heron. Carmen Sanchez is an Homeland Security agent who is thrown into a personal and dangerous case when her sister becomes the latest target of a brutal, calculating killer known only as “Spider.”

Sanchez teams up with Professor Jake Heron who is an unconventional yet unconventional private security expert. Sanchez and Heron share a troubled past with Heron always likely to bend the rules while Sanchez plays everything by the book. I found the partnership of Sanchez and Heron fascinating and look forward to reading more in the future.

The villain of the story “Spider,” is another excellent character who is a methodical, well organised killer with no discernible motive, making him an unpredictable. The story is well plotted, hard to predict and an enjoyable read but my one criticism is that it was unnecessarily too long which for me was the difference between a 4 and 5 star rating.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never read Isabella Maldonado’s books before, but I’m a long time reader of Jeffrey Deaver. This is a great pairing and I’m thrilled to hear that there is a second book in the works.

Unfortunately, couldn't get into this book and was so disappointed because I've been a Jeffery Deaver fan for so long. The spiders, the other tropes, seemed ordinary and I didn't finish.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to future books in this series.

I was issued this book by NetGalley for my unbiased opinion

Thank you @amazonpublishing for the ARC!

♦️ 𝙈𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 ♦️
This was a very cleverly written thriller! I love reading new to me authors and these two did a fabulous job with this new series!

This story follows Homeland Security Federal Agent Carmen Sanchez and a security expert Professor Jake Heron through a mystery that involves Sanchez’s sister and a past that ties both Sanchez and Heron together. They both have knowledge that can help solve a string of murders that start happening along the Southern Coast!

I love the IT elements of the story, from the hacking, to the dark areas of the web, the IT jargon used from Heron. I have an IT background so books that feature this are always fun for me!

I love two opposites working together too, despite some past history that isn’t pretty between them. There are constant twists and turns in this story that kept me intrigued throughout it, and leading me down different thought processes on the bad guys.

I am excited there will be a book two with these two main characters. We are left at the end of the book with a possible what’s to come for them, and I will be happy to read more of their story!


♦️ 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🚨 Police Procedurals
🔪 Serial Killers
💻 Hackers
🐭 Cat and Mouse Games
📲 Unexpected Twists and Turns

“I’m talking about . . . 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. Which I define as someone or something deliberately entering into a place or situation where they’re unwelcome or uninvited.”

WOAH! This is a pulse pounding cat and mouse thriller that had me at the edge of my seat. It has been quite awhile since I’ve read a serial killer/police procedural like this and I am blown away. This story is multi faceted and very relevant to our newer electronic and online world. It is also rife with spiders 🕷️ and quite a few head snapping twists.

Fatal Intrusion is Sanchez & Heron book 1 and one hell of a start to a new series! I have never read either of these award winning authors before but will certainly be doing so going forward.

“Never hurry when the issue is life and death.”

Thank you to Netgalley, @Officialjefferydeaver, @authorisabella, and @mbc_books for the #gifted copy.

I am a huge Criminal Minds fan and Fatal Instrusion by @officialjefferydeaver and @authorisabella gave me those vibes. If you enjoy detective and serial killer stories, you’ll like this one.

This book is one of those stories that has many different layers and things are woven together really well. You have to pay attention, which I enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the relationships in this story, from the main characters to the bad guys. Sanchez and Heron are great together. Looking forward to the next book in this series!

Thank you, @mbc_books !!

Even though the reader knows who the killer is and his motivation, this book was an exciting read because of the clever cat and mouse game as Carmen and Jake chase down the killer. I really enjoyed the interplay between Carmen and Jake. There was a hint of a romantic interlude between them in the past that results with a twist for the reader. The story got a bit heavy with explanations of spiders, tech geek speak even the history of roulette but I did not find it diminished my enjoyment of the story. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author partnership.

Fatal Intrusion by Jeffery Deaver; Isabella Maldonado is a wonderful action thriller that kept turning the pages!
Deaver weaves an intricate tale.
The characters are well developed and the pace of the book kept me turning the pages. I could hardly wait to see what happened next.
This was such a good read.

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

“Fatal Intrusion,” by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado, Thomas & Mercer, 446 pages, Sept. 1, 2024.

Carmen Sanchez is an agent of the National Security Division, a subsection of Homeland Security. She is based in Southern California. One day her sister Selina is attacked by a man with a knife. A bystander who runs to help her is critically injured. Selina is able to grab the attacker’s cellphone which he drops when he runs off.

With police unable to crack encrypted files on the burner cell phone, Sanchez turns to Professor Jacoby Heron. He teaches at Hewlett College in Berkley and is also a private security expert. He also owes Carmen a favor. They team up to catch the assailant, who, has no discernible motive and fits no classic criminal profile.

While the reader knows who the killer is from the beginning, and that he is driven by a compulsion he calls the Push, the story is about tracking him down.

This is the first in a new series. It is a high-action crime drama with good characters. The details of the technological analysis and investigatory processes are fascinating. Readers of either Jeffery Deaver or Isabella Maldonado will enjoy it.

I rate it four out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It grabbed my attention right away, was action-packed and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and will look forward to reading more books in this series.

Even though I haven't read any of these authors' earlier works, I think this collaboration is fantastic! I was not expecting to enjoy it so much, but I couldn't put this book down. The plot advances at a steady pace, never becoming mired down in unnecessary details.

The characters in this story were everything I could have hoped for and I felt they worked well together. Despite having different ideas about how to do tasks most effectively, this odd duo is brilliant and efficient when working together.

Just as much as I enjoyed learning about the killers' perspective, who believed they were staying one step ahead of the law, I also admired the intricacy of the technology analysis and investigative methods.

I can’t wait for the next adventures of Carmen Sanchez and Jake Heron. This is an absolute MUST READ new series for fans of thrillers and police procedurals.

Fatal Intrusion is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller featuring Homeland Security Investigations agent Carmen Sanchez and university professor/security expert/hacker Jake Heron. After her sister is apparently randomly attacked, Sanchez inserts herself into the police investigation and recruits Heron to help her track, identify, and try to stop the assailant. With its likeable main characters that have good chemistry and a twisty and unpredictable plot, I found this to be a fast and enjoyable read. Can't wait to read #2 in the series!

Jeffrey Deaver is a master of the plot twist and this book lives up to his reputation.He has teamed up with Isabella Maldonado who's twenty years of law enforcement experience add ring of truth to Deaver's over the top style. The resulting novel is chef's kiss to please any thriller fan. The main characters are a hard edged female fed and an expert consultant who likes to cut corners in his tech deep dives. The duo reminds me of J.D. Robb's Dallas and Rourke at the beginning of the "IN Death " series- minus the Irish accent and the spicey scenes. I requested an advanced copy of this book from the publisher because Deaver is one of my must read authors. I can honestly say that this is one his best books in recent years. I look forward to reading more of this new series and will be adding more books by Maldonado to my reading list.