Seconds to Live (Scarlet Falls #3) in J.D. Robb

Mar 31, 2023 Brenda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, read-on-kindle, romantic-suspense, 3500-2023, own-read, 2016-release, crime

Heading back to Scarlet Falls from Brazil where wildlife biologist Mac Barrett had been for some months, his hope of arriving before his father died was soon dashed. Mac had avoided Scarlet Falls, but now he was home, and on enforced recuperation, he was soon involved in a murder and missing persons case with Detective Stella Dane. He and Stella had a history, but at the moment they had more important issues to worry about. When first one body was found, and then a second, it seemed the killer w ...more

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Sep 15, 2020 Jonetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-finishing-the-series, audiobook, romantic-suspense, 2020-in-2020, 2020-audiobook-challenge, 5000-2020, group-read, 200-comp

Wildlife biologist Mac Barrett is working in the jungles of Brazil when he gets the call to return to Scarlet Falls as his father’s health has deteriorated. He’s attacked before he makes it home but manages to get there despite his serious injuries. However, they take a toll after visiting his father and he has an accident on the way to his cabin, caused by him attempting to avoid the body of a woman in the middle of the road. Rookie Detective Stella Dane comes upon the accident and an unconscio Wildlife biologist Mac Barrett is working in the jungles of Brazil when he gets the call to return to Scarlet Falls as his father’s health has deteriorated. He’s attacked before he makes it home but manages to get there despite his serious injuries. However, they take a toll after visiting his father and he has an accident on the way to his cabin, caused by him attempting to avoid the body of a woman in the middle of the road. Rookie Detective Stella Dane comes upon the accident and an unconscious Mac but the body of the woman is gone. Based on his description, she appears to be the missing woman Stella is searching for but she’s unsure whether to trust Mac’s recollection.

Of all the Barrett siblings, Mac is the one who seemed the most opaque and I finally learned why. There’s a lot more to him than I’d imagined, which made this one of the many reasons why I enjoyed this story. One other is the return of Stella Dane who is dealing with the mental repercussions from her involvement in a shootout detailed in the last story. She was a patrol officer and is newly promoted to the detectives rank but suffers from personal doubts and anguish from that debacle. Mac and Stella team up on her current investigation involving the abduction of two women but their personal attraction began when he was last home. I loved how they didn’t pretend it wasn’t there and faced their feelings head on. They were incredibly well matched even though I didn’t see that in the last story. Both are two vulnerable people who don’t shy away way from any of their issues and rely on each other to work through them.

I don’t want to minimize the importance of Stella’s case as it was grim and evil. It was always in the background when it wasn’t the main focus of the moment and what was done to the victims was cruel and insensitive. One more unexpected surprise was the adjustments made by the narrator who abandoned those ridiculous male voices she created in the two earlier books. No distractions at all this time and I actually enjoyed her performance! I’m glad I stuck with the audiobook version because she helped keep the story exciting with great pacing. This was a wonderful end to the series and I’m glad to begin its spinoff, Morgan Dane, set up nicely here.

Posted on Blue Mood Café ...more

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Sep 19, 2020 Anita rated it really liked it

Shelves: romantic-supense, kindle-own

As the final book in the Scarlet Falls Trilogy, "Seconds to Live" is a great wrap to the trilogy. I especially like the honest relationship between the hero and heroine. It was great that two character recognized their attraction and didn't play games with each other. I also liked that the baddie was not reveled until close to the end. This was a solid romantic-suspense.

Mac Barrett is the youngest child in the Barrett and bore the burden of growing up with a disabled dad and a sick mother. He es ...more

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Jan 21, 2018 Eve added it

Series: Scarlet Falls, book 3

I was not so engrossed in SECONDS TO LIVE as with previous books in this series. The more I read it, the more I wanted to finish it and move on to something else. The problem was that I could not "get into" the main characters heads. Storyline was constantly switching between different characters and it felt like non of the characters could held writer's attention for long. It soon became quite annoying that just when I start to warm up to Mac or Stella, there comes ...more

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Sep 16, 2020 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: tortured-hero, romantic-suspense, scholarly-hero, serial-killers, female-detectives

Second to Live
4 Stars

Returning home from Brazil to see his father one last time, wildlife biologist Mac Barrett crashes his jeep to avoid the body of a woman in the road on a dark and rainy night. When he comes to, the body is missing , but police detective Stella Dane is convinced it matches the description of a missing woman. Can Mac and Stella stop a vicious madman before he takes his next victim?

The final installment in the Scarlet Falls series is gripping from the first page. Mac epitomizes ...more

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Jul 23, 2022 Paraphrodite rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listened, 2022

3 stars.

Again, we have a very psychotic villain but our hero Mac came through with flying *fingers* even though (view spoiler)

Overall, if I was the mayor of Scarlet ...more

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