Lethal Intent

 Title: Lethal Intent

Author: Cara Putman

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishing

Series: Hidden Justice #4

Publication date: January 12, 2021

 

Synopsis from Goodreads:  

Caroline Bragg’s life has never been better. She and Brandon Lancaster are taking their relationship to the next level, and she has a new dream job as legal counsel for Praecursoria—a research lab that is making waves with its cutting-edge genetic therapies. The company’s leukemia treatments even promise to save desperately sick kids—kids like eleven-year-old Bethany, a critically ill foster child at Brandon’s foster home. 

When Caroline’s enthusiastic boss wants to enroll Bethany in experimental trials prematurely, Caroline objects, putting her at odds with her colleagues. They claim the only goal at Praecursoria is to save lives. But does someone have another agenda? 

Brandon faces his own crisis. As laws governing foster homes shift, he’s on the brink of losing the group home he’s worked so hard to build. When Caroline learns he’s a Praecursoria investor, it becomes legally impossible to confide in him. Will the secrets she keeps become a wedge that separates them forever? And can she save Bethany from the very treatments designed to heal her? 

This latest romantic legal thriller by bestseller Cara Putman shines a light on the shadowy world of scientific secrets and corporate vendettas—and the ethical dilemmas that plague the place where science and commerce meet.

My review:

Lethal Intent, by Cara Putman is book #4 in the Hidden Justice series. This book can be read as either a stand-alone or part of the series. I would recommend reading the first three books before reading this one as Caroline’s friends make multiple appearances, as does Brandon’s, all of whom we have learned more about in the first three books.

Having read the first three books of the series I had high hopes for this book. It does not disappoint, although I felt that it started a little slower than the previous books. The book starts out with Caroline and Brandon going on a date, making the point that they were ready to take their friendship to something more. The friendship begins in the first book, again, making it a more solid read if you start with the first book. Throughout the book they slowly build their relationship, having some bumps and communication issues that they need to work out.

Caroline’s new job is high-intensity and not all is as it seems to be. She finds herself facing opposition at every turn, which is completely unexpected since Praecursoria hired her to be their legal counsel. When things start to go south it is hard for Caroline to determine who is friend or foe, since she has had so much opposition from the beginning of her job.

Brandon is struggling himself, as he waits to find out what the new regulations will be, he is looking at having to revamp his group home. While this is incredibly stressful, he finds himself struggling in his relationship with Caroline when she realizes that he is an investor in her new job, putting added stress on both of them. Especially since one of Brandon’s foster children is in the trial phase that Caroline is working on.

Both Caroline and Brandon have things from their past that they are dealing with, which adds another level of stress to their story. This story has murder, mystery, a light romance, and engaging characters. The story, once it gets moving, is hard to put down. I am not very knowledgeable of legalese, but this book does a great job of describing what needs to be known, without bogging the reader down in extra details.  While it is classified as a “Christian” fiction book, little is mentioned of God or religion. Fans of legal thrillers, mystery and suspense books will enjoy this clean thriller. Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to give a positive review, but was happy to do so. All opinions are entirely my own.