Thursday, July 09, 2020

Credible Threat by J.A. Jance

First Line: On a mid-March afternoon as the sun drifted down over Piestewa Peak, seventy-year-old Rachel Higgins wrapped her sweater more tightly around her body and took another sip of her vodka tonic.

Rachel Higgins' life has been limping along for years, but the bottom drops out of her world when she learns that her beloved son's addiction and fatal overdose may have been caused by the damage he suffered at the hands of a pedophile priest when he was in high school. Now Rachel is completely focused on vengeance, and she chooses the Catholic Church's most visible local figure, Archbishop Francis Gillespie, as her target. When Gillespie begins receiving death threats, the police dismiss them, saying they're not credible. When the threats don't stop, he turns to his friends, Ali Reynolds and her husband, B. Simpson.

B. is out of the country on a cybersecurity emergency, so it's up to Ali to track down the source of the threats. When the archbishop's driver is assassinated and the archbishop himself severely injured, Ali forms an uneasy alliance with a Phoenix homicide cop in hopes of preventing another attack. It's going to take all their expertise and a large helping of luck for them to succeed because, having missed her target once, the killer has become more unhinged and even more determined to succeed.

Although the synopsis of Credible Threat tries to cloak the identity of the person out to kill Archbishop Gillespie, it's clear from the beginning who's behind the threats and attempts on his life. This is another solid outing for J.A. Jance, who knows how to craft a fast-paced, ironclad mystery.

As good as she is with pacing and plotting; however, Jance's true (and marvelous) strength lies in the creation of her characters. Even characters who don't have that much time in the spotlight come to life under her pen. In many ways, my favorite was Sister Anselm, who has a Taser and isn't afraid to use it, but no one who reads Credible Threat can't help but be touched by the damaged Rachel Higgins. It's not easy to create a sympathetic assassin, but Jance has. It's not always easy to create a sympathetic priest in an organization seemingly riddled with pedophiles, but Jance has. As I've already said, the strength of Jance is in her characters.

I haven't been a faithful follower of the author's Ali Reynolds series. I dip my toe in from time to time just to see what Ali is up to. Even though Ali crashed and burned in her original occupation, I've had the tendency to regard this series featuring her as a sort of fairy tale. Yes, Ali crashes and burns, but she bounces back stronger than ever. She's smart. She's strong. She's pretty. She's rich. She's married to a man who has all the high tech gadgets you could ever dream of. She has all the right clothes and all the right transportation... she even gets notified of traffic jams ahead of time so she can avoid them. I imagine that there's more than one reader who envies Ali Reynolds just a tiny bit.

But-- guided by someone as talented as J.A. Jance-- the Ali Reynolds series is fun, and that can count for a lot right now.


Credible Threat by J.A. Jance
ISBN: 9781982131074
Gallery Books © 2020
Hardcover, 336 pages

Private Investigator, #15 Ali Reynolds mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.


14 comments:

  1. Not easy to create characters who have histories behind them so this is a clever writer. Thanks for the reviews.

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    1. You're welcome! Jance is a very good writer.

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  2. I've read some of Jance's work ('though not this one), Cathy, and I think you're right about her characters. They're always well-developed and interesting. And this one sounds no different in that respect. It's a timely topic, too, and it takes a skilled writer to handle it well.

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    1. Yes, it dos, and she is certainly skilled.

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  3. I've also dipped my toe in this series, but it's been a long time. Can't believe this one is #15. I think I've read 3 or 4 of them. One day.

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    1. I think my jaw hit the desk when I saw that this was book #15. Time flies when you're reading as fast as you can go.

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  4. I haven't read Jance in a long while, but that first line is definitely a temptation!

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  5. I've never read Jance, but this one sounds maybe like a good one to begin with. A sympathetic assassin can't be the easiest thing to pull off.

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    1. No, it isn't, but I thought Jance did it.

      Jance writes four series: J.P. Beaumont set in Seattle; Joanna Brady set in Bisbee, Arizona; Ali Reynolds also set in Arizona; and the Walker Family set in Tucson. Of them all, I really enjoy her Joanna Brady series.

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  6. A nun with a Taser? How could I not read it? I don't like reading about pedophiles, but if they are caught and stopped, then I can probably read it.

    I am intrigued by this character and Jance's other books. But the library? I've purchased books during this pandemic and have to stop, but I will see if the library has this series.

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    1. You'll be happy to know that none of the pedophiles come to a good end.

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