Spiraled picks up after Bridged, with Ava recovering from the injuries she received in the previous book. She is attending a yoga class at the mall to help with her flexibility and healing. As she is leaving class, a shooting happens. A young girl from the class is shot in the leg, and Ava stays with her, barely escaping getting shot herself. She is still off work, but unofficially, she works with Mason and Zander on the case. There is another shooting and law enforcement is working against the clock to try and figure out what is happening to get young men to do this, then kill themselves. When there is another shooting, Ava picks up on something that gets the team looking in another direction. Can they find the mastermind behind these crimes before there is another mass shooting?

This is the Kendra Elliot I am used to reading. This was a twisty crime and it kept everyone guessing for awhile. I like seeing the investigation play out and how they follow their hunches and clues to figure out what is happening. Of course, once again, Ave is in danger, when the mastermind figures out that she is the one that changed the direction of the investigation. Again, Jane plays a role in messing with Ava's emotions and perhaps causes her lapses in judgement. This one kept me guessing and with the twist, which was a bit earlier than I expected, I enjoyed seeing how this played out. Once again the audiobook is narrated by Nick Podehl & Amy McFadden. I am getting used to their voices as they tell this story, but I still wish there was more separation in the voices.

Spiraled is the third book to Kendra Elliot’s Callahan & McLane series. This book started immediately with a big bang. I was not prepared for how it began. Kendra Elliot, you had me in shock. How will you put Ava through something like that immediately after what happened in the second book? How will you put poor Mason through it too? These two characters deserve a real vacation away from their job duties for at least a year.

My Thoughts & a little bit of Storyline:

You already have an idea of how I feel about the book from the first paragraph of my review. This book left me shook. I was not prepared. From the beginning to the end of this book, I was on the edge of my bed when reading it. There were shootings left and right, and it felt like Ava is already the one in danger of the group. She was on vacation when the first mass shooting happened in this book. She can’t even enjoy a relaxing break from work after what happened in the previous book. I felt for her character. She has some severe PTSD from her kidnapping, and now she’s dealing with a mass shooting case. Hasn’t she gone through enough, Kendra?

Poor Mason and Ava have gone through enough together, but this one may have almost broken them. I love these two characters, so I was rooting for them to stick together. They need each other more than they know. Mason had a big part in this book on solving who was behind the mass shooting, but he also became very protective of Ava. I adored his character. He knew that Ava already had PTSD from her past cases, and he put his foot down with Ava.

Let’s also not forget about Ava’s twin sister. Jayne needs help, and Ava knows she can’t keep being there for her sister. Ava should be focusing on herself, and everyone knows she needs to take care of herself.

What did I think about the villain(s)? I have no words because this one may cause me nightmares. I can’t say it enough, but every villain gets worst in each book that Kendra writes. She ends up topping the next one.

Overall, this book gets five stars from me because I couldn’t put it down. I needed to find out who was behind it all. If you are a fan of Romantic Suspense or Mystery Genres, this book/series is for you.

Now, I need to read another book before reading Targeted, but I will be back in this series. I need more of Mason and Ava’s story together, especially after the ending of this book.

Misty had been shot in the thigh and Ava pulls Misty down on the floor as she heard more shots. Ava looked for the shooter. People ran past the two women on the ground. Ava knew she had to find cover after she had put a tourniquet of sorts on Misty’s thigh Ava was a special agent of the Portland FBI office and she calls 911. Ava tld the person on the line there was an active shooter and who she was and Ava was with a woman who needed medical attention she had been shot and Ava had used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and Ava told the person where they were by the sunglasses kias. Then Ava seen the shooter and he was going in the direction of the garage. Ava and Misty had been walking away from their yoga class and were talking as they walked and then Misty was shot. Ava texted Mason her live in boyfriend and a cop and she told him she was at the Riverton Mall and there was an active shooter.. Ava added she was O K but couldn’t talk. Then she added love you. Mason tried to get into the mall when Ava didn’t answer his calls or texts after he had heard from her. A deputy told Mason told him no. He had been in this same position last spring when Ava had vanished , she had been taken by a serial killer on a crazed mission. Ava and Ray had met eights months ago and she had changed his life. After getting out of the mall incident and the killer looking right at her then just leaving her and going into the restroom to commit suicide Ava isn’t bouncing back. Then another unexplainable takes place and Mason and Jay are assigned to the task force to figure out what is going on with these shootings. This is keeping all of the task force extremely busy. As this is the third shooting at a lakeside park with the same scenario- WHY ? . Then Ava’s identical twin sister Jayne is becoming unstable and suicidal again. . Jaybe has a history of mental illness and dangerous behavior. This messing with Ava’s head and emotions. Mason doesn’t know how to help Ava but he isn’t letting her push him away from her when she really needs him
I liked liked this book. IU really liked the suspense and action. I loved Mason and Ava together and how Mason fights to not let Ava push him out of her life as she is falling apart while also being very busy on the task force. I advise you to read the first two books of this series to give you background and bring things together. Why didn’t Ava’s professional training kick in? Ava is on vacation from her job why is she being allowed to go with other agents to crime scenes ? Especially since she isn’t bouncing back from the mall shooting and facing the shooter? Jayne what a twisted wench Ava has to get her out of Ava's life before she destroys her with all that is going on with Ava. I enjoyed the twists in this story. I liked the characters a lot and the twists and turns of this book and I recommend it.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

FBI Special Agent Ava McLane solves crimes; she doesn’t witness them. When she’s trapped in a mall without her weapon as a shooter picks off victims, she hides with a wounded teen and prays for her survival.
But that’s only the beginning…
An epidemic of mass shootings has swept across Oregon. The young shooters terrify the public, committing random murders before taking their own lives. The task force assembled to solve the case—which includes Ava’s boyfriend, detective Mason Callahan—remains stumped. And on top of this chaos, Ava’s troubled twin sister reappears, throwing Ava’s already-tumultuous life into a tailspin.
An old-fashioned cop with a strong sense of duty, Mason struggles to find the cause of the shootings as workaholic Ava spins ever closer to breaking down. But can one detective save the lives of countless innocents—and prevent the woman he loves from going over the edge?

This is the third book in the series - I haven't read the others (as I wasn't aware at the time of requesting that it was part of a series.) My review, however, is only based on this book - but I do suggest you read the previous books, if for nothing more than continuity of characters.

There are a number of sub-plots running through this story which always gets the tick of approval from me. At the forefront, a series of shootings in malls across Oregon. This was an interesting set-up for the story as the mystery got deeper the longer the story continued. The two major sub-plots were the appearance of Ava's twin sister - she has a history of mental illness and is able to make Ava feel guilty and angry all at once. She is a dangerous character and one that fits in nicely with the ongoing drama of the shootings. The other story happening is the relationship between Ava and Detective Mason Callahan - his reaction when he discovers Ava is in the mall of the first shooting was a little much, but it does kinda set the platform for how they feel for each other.

I have to say that I had some severe issues of eye-roll at times (especially the detectives names being McLain and Callahan - Die Hard and Dirty Harry meet!) and there were some moments that were just a bit beyond the realm of believability - which is a shame because I had been in the "realm of believability" for most of the story...

Aide from those few instances, this was a really strong romance suspense novel. Certainly worth going back and finding the other two stories.


Paul
ARH

Another strong female character to root for! Loved this story and am looking forward to the next book.

This series is quickly becoming a favorite for me, and I loved this installment! Ava and Mason are wonderful characters. I like the balance of romance and suspense. The mystery in this one kept me interested and reading as quickly as I could.