Review: Dark Justice by Brandilyn Collins

More ‘Seatbelt Suspense’ from Brandilyn Collins

Hannah Shire and her mother, Carol Ballard, are returning from a weekend away when they come across a car accident. The sole victim, Morton, is injured, mentions his daughter and tells the ladies not to tell anyone—but not to tell them what? Later at home, Hannah finds a flash drive in her pocket, and surmises Morton must have put it there. Later that evening, two FBI agents visit and interview her—but are the really from the FBI? Who can they trust? What follows is a suspenseful chase as the two women, assisted by Hannah’s daughter, Emily, try and find the solution to the puzzle while evading the FBI and the police before the deadline Emily discovers encrypted in the flash drive.

Dark Justice flips back and forth between the action in February 2013 (told in the first person by Hannah) and a subsequent Select Committee Investigation into the events of February 2013. This both adds and removes suspense. It adds suspense because it shows that Hannah, Carol and Emily have been caught up in a major event, but I did feel it also took away from some of the suspense because of the very fact it was in the future.

The scenario presented in Dark Justice isn’t unique (Firestorm and Digital Winter each had a similar premise), but the approach is different. Hannah is an ordinary person. She’s a widow with an adult daughter, and is the primary caregiver for her mother, who suffers from dementia. On the face of things, there is nothing special about her. But she is hard-working, intelligent and brave, and those qualities come to light as the novel progresses. Carol is a sad and stubborn woman who reminds us of how dementia steals people from us, and Emily is an intelligent and useful addition to the plot.

B&H Publishing have announced their intention to withdraw from the Christian fiction market, which leaves authors like Brandilyn Collins without a publisher. I hope she finds one, because I really enjoy her books. On the other hand, B&H pulling out of the fiction market is good news for Kindle owners, because several of their new and recent releases are on sale for $2.99 or $3.99, so it’s a good opportunity to stock up for your summer reading (or winter reading, for those in the Northern Hemisphere).

Dark Justice is a very good read (although I personally preferred Double Blind), and not recommended for when you are alone in the house or have some pressing deadline that’s going to stop you reading right through to the end.

Thanks to B&H Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Brandilyn Collins at her website.

If you’d like to buy the book or Kindle edition, you can follow the links above to purchase at Amazon. Those Down Under can buy from Koorong (Australia) or Soul Inspirationz (New Zealand). Koorong also sells epub editions.