No One Heard Her Scream

Jordan Dane hits a solid homerun with her debut novel, NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM. The book is marked as romantic suspense, but the accent is on suspense, with clearly defined characters, a taut plot, and forensic and police terminology that will satisfy the armchair crime scene investigators looking for a new buzz. The novel's pacing is frantic, the prose pared down and swift, the love scenes torrid, and the bad guys as creepy and evil as anyone would ever want. I had a good time blazing through this book. It offers a lot of excitement and twists, as well as the San Antonio background that I'd recently visited. The scenes along the historic riverwalk really jumped out at me. I liked Detective Rebecca "Becca" Montgomery right out of the blocks. She's cut from the same larger-than-life cloth that a lot of action/suspense heroes are cut from, but she wears it well. I liked the fact that she was tough, independent, and good in a fight, though that isn't what most romance heroines are noted for. However, more and more young women in our world are getting that way - including familiarity with the martial arts - and I think Becca presents a good role model in several respects. Dane grabs our attention immediately in the beginning with the short action piece, then segues smoothly into Becca's story. Still reeling with the guilt and pain from her younger sister's disappearance months ago, Becca is pulled off Dani's investigation and placed on a cold case assignment. Along the way she's hauled into an investigation involving the body of a young woman that was bricked up in a recently burned-down movie theater. While at the theater crime scene, Becca crosses paths with Diego Galvan, who quickly proves he's more than he seems. Diego is a strong lead that easily holds his own with Becca, and he's a man hiding a lot of secrets. Real life has to be squashed almost into sound bytes in a novel to keep the pacing up, and Dane masters that art easily. Her strength lies in the plotting, which has enough twists and turns to keep most readers guessing or second-guessing which path she's going to take. With the meteoric pacing of Becca's investigation, the budding relationship with Diego sometimes gets overshadowed, but I found myself accepting the fact that the author would handle it. My main attention focused on Becca's pursuit of the bad guys and who everyone really was. The headlong storyline made it almost impossible to let the relationship breathe, but I think it'll be satisfying to romance fans. However, the suspense, action, and detailed police knowledge should have fans of Tami Hoag and Lisa Jackson picking up Dane's books as well. Dane scored a great deal with her publisher. Over the next three months, three of her novels will be released. NO ONE LEFT TO TELL comes out next, followed by NO ONE LIVES FOREVER. Although they sound like a series, all of them feature different heroines and heroes. Pick up Jordan Dane's novels even if you don

I'm so very used to starting with a series and finding that the author is still learning their trade and still has some room to grow. With Ms. Dane's, debut, I am wondering what the heck else she can pull out of her sleeve and what the future will hold. As a long time mystery reader, I found the characters complex and compelling in a field that often has shallow characters with obvious motivations. All the loose threads were dealt with in a rather full and interesting plot. Yes, it involves a mysterious murder investigated by a character with their own agenda, but that's where the standard mystery plot ends and goes off in unexpected directions. I can hardly wait to see what the rest of the series will reveal for all of us!

Five months ago, San Antonio Police Detective Rebecca "Becca" Montgomery's younger sister, Dani, vanished without a trace. Distraught, Becca keeps "shadowing" the case led by dedicated professional Detective Paul Murphy who wants her to stay out of his investigation. To somewhat occupy her mind and to get her away from fighting her peer, Becca's boss Lieutenant Arturo Santiago assigns her to look into the humans ashes found at a burned down theater. Becca knows why her boss assigned her this case, but plans to conduct a professional inquiry. At the inferno sight, Becca glances at the crowd of curious on-lookers, but only one person seems out of place. The human remains are that of a female skeleton with only an expensive locket nearby; the victim was walled inside a "prison" during the last renovation with evidence she was interred while she still lived. Becca learns the out of place stranger is Diego Galvan, who works for allegedly corrupt businessman Hunter Cavanaugh. Diego informs Becca to be careful with her investigation as her case touches Cavanaugh and his nasty Matt Brogan This is a superb police procedural with enough of a romance between Becca and Diego to enhance the investigation. Becca is a strong protagonist who knows she is over the edge over her sister, but cannot stop herself from wanting to break Murphy's nose. Ironically readers know Diego's intentions while Becca wonders whose side is he on. Fans will enjoy the exciting first "No One" tale as the lead pair each has hidden agendas that come before any feelings they might have for one another. Harriet Klausner

Plenty of reviews will tell you what the book is about, but I want to talk about how this book made me feel. NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM is in that category of book that you don't want to put down, yet should fate or the vagaries of life require you to, you can't stop thinking about it while you're doing other things. Not only will it interrupt your sleep -- in that delicious way thrillers do -- but it will distract you as you do the dishes, drive to work, walk the dog. (Or, if you're me, you'll read and walk the dog at the same time!) NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM is fast-paced, with compelling characters and genuinely creepy villains. It grabs you by the throat from the first page and doesn't let go. Becca commands your attention through the wends and winds of her investigation of the death of a young woman found sealed up in a theatre wall even as the mysterious Diego commands hers. Through it all, this disappearance of her sister haunts and drives her. The multiple plots twist and weave, draw you in and hang on tight. My recommendation? Start it when you know you've got enough time to finish it. And then, lucky you (and lucky me), Jordan Dane's next book is only a month away.

Detective Rebecca "Becca" Montgomery has been in a state of emotional limbo since her younger sister, Dani, disappeared five months prior. To get Becca off the case's head investigator, Lieutenant Arturo Santiago (her boss and friend) sends her to investigate the body found in the ashes of a recently burned down theater. Upon arriving at the fire scene Becca scans the by-standers for anything odd. (One man stood out from everyone else and she makes a mental note to have someone check out the handsome guy and his car tags.) The body found has already been reduced to a skeleton. There is no clothing, but an expensive locket is found at the feet. The body had been bricked into the theater wall, near the stage, during the last reconstruction. Sam Hastings, the team leader for the crime-scene technicians could tell the person had been a young female. The scratch marks within the brick tomb clearly shows that the lady had been buried alive. Becca's duty will be more difficult than normal since the clues prove that someone has been missing a daughter or sister, just like her, with no idea if the girl were alive. It is not long before mystery man's identity is known. Diego Galvan is one of the top men working for Hunter Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh is a high profile business man. He is as dirty as they come, but no one can ever prove anything. If Diego is working for Cavanaugh, he can't be good and this makes Becca wonder why he was at a fire scene. Diego makes contact with Becca, claiming that he was only giving her warning about Cavanaugh. Yet the man never comes right out and tells how he is connected to Cavanaugh. Diego neither admits his boss is in any way connected to the body, nor that his boss is not. One thing is for sure, anytime Diego is near Becca, her knees go weak and she yearns for things out of her reach. Diego Galvan hates Cavanaugh. But there is one person he hates even more and this is Matt Brogan, Cavanaugh's muscle man. Diego has to be very careful due to the fact that Brogan keeps an extremely close eye on him. Yet Diego cannot stop himself from warning the lovely detective about his boss. Once he meets Becca face-to-face, Diego is fascinated and unable to stay away. Feeding Becca information could easily get him killed; or worse, get her killed. One way or another, Diego is determined to bring Cavanaugh to justice. But is the price too high? ***** I am unable to tell more in the synopsis without totally giving away some vital clues and information. I can say that Cavanaugh has more than one shady business going on. Brogan knows most, if not all, of Cavanaugh's business dealings (legal and illegal). Yet Brogan is not very intelligent. He can't get his mind off of killing Diego someday. The body's identified early on and Becca must contact family, anyone last with the deceased...the normal stuff. But again, I can't go into more detail than that. Author Jordan Dane has set a very strong foundation for the "NO ONE" trilogy. Rest assure