The second novel in the FBI Task Force Series by DiAnn Mills, Deep Extraction, is a great follow-up to Deadly Encounter.
A pacemaker should have saved oil and gas magnate Nathan Moore’s life. Instead, it provided his killer with a seemingly perfect means of execution.
A bombing at one of Nathan’s oil rigs days earlier indicates his death could be part of a bigger conspiracy, a web Special Agent Tori Templeton must untangle. But her first order of business is separating the personal from the professional—the victim’s wife, her best friend, is one of the FBI’s prime suspects.
Clearing Sally’s name may be the biggest challenge of her career, but Tori finds an unexpected ally in the newest member of the task force, recently reinstated Deputy US Marshal Cole Jeffers. As Tori and Cole dig deeper into Nathan’s personal and business affairs, they uncover more than they bargained for. And the closer they get to finding the real killer—and to each other—the more intent someone is on silencing them for good.
While I struggled with the believability of certain aspects of Deadly Encounter, Deep Extraction didn’t leave me with nearly as many questions. In this installment, instead of a civilian working with the FBI to solve a murder, a FBI special agent and a U.S. Marshall deputy work together on a special task force to solve the murder of a mutual friend. While some suspension of disbelief is still required, this is a much more likely scenario.
As characters, Tori and Cole make for good heroes. Tori’s life is complicated, with layers of loss and struggle in her past that bring her to the place she is now and influence her friendships and family relationships. I think this is something we can all relate to in some facet or another. Tori’s phobia seems somewhat inconsistent with the rest of her personality, but perhaps that’s what phobia’s are — illogical fears.
Cole is a likable, successful, handsome man — and he’s almost too perfect. Despite at least one tragic incident in his past that saw him leaving the U.S. Marshall service, everything seems to go his way. He starts a business and almost instantly becomes a raging success. He has good friends in high places that are willing to not only go to bat for him, but even pursue him back to his career in law enforcement. And when he does make that decision, he is given free reign to pursue exactly the case he desires. I don’t think the federal government works quite that way…
Some of the supporting characters feel a little underdeveloped, from the wife of the victim who stands at the center of everything, to the culprit committing the crimes.
Regardless, Deep Extraction is well written and enjoyable. While I was a little disappointed in the abrupt manner that the ending was wrapped up, it was still well worth the time to read.
I received a complimentary copy of Deep Extraction from Tyndale House Publishers, but I was not otherwise compensated for this review. All writing, thoughts, and opinions are solely mine.
