This anthology highlights longer shorts from Ali Vali, Carsen Taite and Michelle Grubb. I was familiar with the first two but this book introduced me to Michelle Grubb's writing. All three are strong stories and I enjoyed reading each of them. All three work particularly well as gritty suspense novels - each with their own take and flair.

Note that the Vali and Taite stories take place within the confines of two of their series so you may feel a bit lost without the backstory or knowledge of some of the characters. Grubb's is a standalone so no obsessive pre-reading and you can dive right in.

Taite's novella, Bow and Arrow, is a follow on to the Luca Bennett series (omigod ... love Luka) and we rejoin the most kick ass bounty hunter with a heart of gold as she tracks down a rogue cop, gets roped into juror duty and has to deal with her new domestic situation. This is a great re-visit of Luca and reminded me how much I loved the series. Lots of action, humour and best of all, lots of Luca. I'd recommend you read the series as this book seems to wrap up some of the loose ends from the last book - and it was a fantastically fun series.

Vali's novella, Hell Fire, is sort of a sidebar to the Cain series. I didn't realize that until a good portion into the story and thought it might be a standalone. At a certain point though, if you haven't read the Cain series you'll be a bit lost with who this Cain person is and if you are reading the series, it will make the newest book make a bit more sense. Now that I've spoiled the fact that its part of the Cain series ... Finley is a blacksheep of the Cain dynasty who is working for the Feds . As part of an investigation, she ends up entangled with Abigail and her children as they are being targeted by some rather nasty folks. This was a fun read and I actually want to see more of Finley and Abigail in the larger Cain series or in their own offshoot.

Grubb's Hammersmith is a standalone and was quite captivating and full of suspense. Bel is an operative who is responsible to monitor public areas for suicide bombers. The very idea of this being a real role is disheartening but it actually seems like it may be true. Grubb builds up a fair bit of suspense and tension. I will admit there were a few twists that had me second guessing myself and Bel's girlfriend. A great suspense story.