Deadlock (FBI: Houston #3) by DiAnn Mills Review

Two murders have rocked the city of Houston. Are they the work of a serial killer, or is a copycat trying to get away with murder?

That is the question facing Special Agent Bethany Sanchez, who is eager for her new assignment in violent crimes but anxious about meeting her new partner. Special Agent Thatcher Graves once arrested her brother, and he has a reputation for being a maverick. Plus, their investigative styles couldn’t be more opposite: he operates on instinct, while she goes by the book.

When hot leads soon fizzle out, their differences threaten to leave them deadlocked. But an attempt on their lives turns up the heat and brings them closer together, and a third victim might yield the clue that will help them zero in on a killer. This could be the case of their careers . . . if they can survive long enough to solve it.

416 pages
Published October 1st 2015
Current GoodReads Rating: 4.16 Stars

My Review:
I really enjoyed this fast-paced, action-packed story! Special Agent Bethany Sanchez has a tough first day ahead of her. Not only is she joining the violent crime unit of the FBI and meeting her new partner, who once arrested her brother, but she also butts heads with him over their different styles of investigation. He operates more on hunches and his gut while Bethany is all about protocol and rules. They have two murders to solve and Special Agent Thatcher Graves believes they're looking at a serial killer while Bethany thinks it's a copycat. While they follow the leads in the investigation, Bethany is being harassed by texts from her criminal brother.

Thatcher and Bethany actually have a lot in common. Bethany has a complicated relationship with her family, with a brother who suffers from a traumatic brain injury and a father who refused to put him on medication as a child. She's watched for years as he makes bad choices and commits crimes while her parents and sister make excuses for him and give him whatever he wants. When she's tried to intervene and won't help him by giving him money, they turn on her and she's practically estranged from them. Thatcher also had a strained relationship with his father, who's now deceased. They're both Christians, with Thatcher only a few weeks old and trying to turn over a new leaf. He was a bit of a ladies' man. Bethany has been a Christian longer, but she's struggling with why God doesn't stop all of the evil in the world. They're also both attracted to each other, but know getting involved would not be a good idea.
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