Today we are continuing with Shelley Coriell’s romantic suspense series The Apostles. The second book, The Buried, FBI Agent Theodore “Hatch” Hatcher and his state prosecutor ex-wife, Grace Courtemanche race to find a serial killer who buries victims alive.
As a member of The Apostles, Hatch Hatcher specializes in crisis negotiations. His office is a sailboat where he retreats between jobs, ready to respond to a call on his satellite phone at a moments notice. When the call comes to tell him he has a son he didn’t know about, things start to tumble out of control. Running into his ex-wife who is chasing a serial killer further complicates matters. Can the two of them put their personal feelings aside long enough to catch the killer?
Because each book in The Apostles series features a different set of characters, they could be read as stand alone titles or in any order. In The Buried the romance side is less steamy and more of a slow burn than in book one. Once again, the suspense side is dark, complicated, and the author throws in a whopper of a plot twist at the end.
As with The Broken, the setting helps add to the atmosphere of the book. The Buried is set in Cypress Grove, a town in the Florida panhandle. The background oozes swamps and alligators, adding to the suspense.
At the workshop I attended, Shelley disclosed that she actually put off working on this novel for two years. It wasn’t until she added a teenage character did she find the right mix to move the plot forward. I would say the teenager was a brilliant touch because he adds backstory and conflict in a way that ignites Hatch as a character. She also revealed it was difficult to write about the killer, who has a complicated and painful/sad backstory. She talks more about writing the book on GoodReads.
This title won’t remain “buried” in your TBR pile. The Buried is a compelling story that will keep you hooked to the very end.
Related: Review of The Broken by Shelley Coriell
Series: The Apostles (Book 2)
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Forever (October 28, 2014)
ISBN-10: 145552851X
ISBN-13: 978-1455528516
(Public domain photo via Visual hunt)
This review is based on my personal copy of the book.
