Just as this book seems to be gearing up for its last act situation of violence, peril, and rescue, it stops short and ends on a cliffhanger that, obscurely, hearkens back to "The Mermaid Murders" and the vague threat of Jeremy Kyser. This abrupt, unsatisfying ending and the continued, boring relationship problems between Sam and Jason add up to a disappointing placeholder of a story, all the more annoying because there are no clues when Lanyon will get around to the sequel. ( )

undercover, FBI, local-law-enforcement, security-staff, secrets, threats, thriller, cliff-hanger, university, Los Angeles, murder, murder-investigation, mystery, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, film-industry, m/m romance, m/m mystery, film-history, historical-research*****

This book can stand alone, but it made me want to go back to earlier in series anyway.
Special Agents Jason West and Sam Kennedy work on opposite coasts with West is on the art crimes task force currently investigating the possibility of a homicide in the film arts preservation while Kennedy is in Washington DC on the trail of a serial killer. West is more or less undercover (as a substitute professor) and is also on the lookout for a murderous stalker that he has on his trail.
A very intense bit of sleuthing complicated by personal danger and complications with their relationship. Excellent and riveting.
Voice actor Kale Williams has a great voice quality and really knows how to use it to the listener's advantage. ( )

I sincerely hope not...but I think Josh may be having a bit of difficulty in her life. This book has been 3 long years in coming and her Secrets and Scrabble series is missing books being released in paperback format, and they also have been way past the advertised release dates. I was really glad to get this one as I had almost forgotten what Sam and Jason had been up to...so I went back and read up to this one. The last book left us wondering and slightly on edge about their very fragile relationship. Sam was more than furious with Jason about his work on the last case, and it doesn't help at all that they often find themselves on opposite sides of the country from one another. Good thing that Jason is the more patient of the two and Sam is finally beginning to acknowledge his feelings for Jason. Now we have Jason posing as a professor of art and film at UCLA to investigate the possible murder of an ex-senator's granddaughter, while Sam is again on the opposite side of the country investigating a serial killer case that he thought had been closed. Dr Jeremy Kyser, the killer that has been stalking Jason and giving him sleepless nights is still on the loose. I believe, (hope...fingers crossed), that there has to be another book somewhere in the future. Josh can't be so cruel as to leave us with Jason and Sam still not having worked out some solution to their relationship, not to mention that both men are still in the killers' plans. Please, please, don't make us wait another 3 years, Josh. ( )