Extreme Pursuit by Alex Kingwell [Review]

Extreme Pursuit (Chasing Justice #2) by Alex Kingwell
Format: ebook
Source: provided through NetGalley
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: April 13, 2016

Chasing Justice
1. Extreme Exposure
2. Extreme Pursuit - Paperback | Kindle

Alex Kingwell
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

Nicky Bosko barely remembers the mother who abandoned her twenty years ago. But when her mother's long-buried remains are discovered, the authorities suspect murder-and turn to Nicky for help. Putting her trust in the magnetic detective who wants to explore her memories of the past, Nicky is desperate to learn the truth.

Cullen Fraser knows the odds against solving a case as cold as this one. Yet the brutal killing of a woman deserves justice. As he begins to unravel a web of lies, it becomes clear that Nicky is in danger and that his need to protect her goes far beyond duty. But before he can even think of a future with her, he must keep her safe from the betrayals of her past . . .

Thoughts on Extreme Pursuit: I'm a bit of a sucker for the idea that a perceived betrayal could have been so much more sinister. It makes my brain all mushy. I mean, for a child to grow up believing her mother had abandoned her only to find out years later that she'd been dead the entire time... yikes. That's gotta be rough to work your head around.

Nicky has to deal with a whole slew of emotions where her mother is concerned. The sledge-hammer slap of longstanding betrayal becomes grief which becomes the desire for justice. With her somewhat messed up family dynamics, Nicky really doesn't have anyone to lean on, either. Her father is wrapped up in his own grief and her sister is... I don't know. She's just not very supportive.

To say Nicky has some issues with forming lasting relationships and friendships might be understating it. She's wary of Cullen because of her work with at-risk youths and his position as a detective. She's prickly and defensive and it takes time for those walls to come down.

The deeper she and Cullen and she delve into the mystery of her mother's murder the more dangerous it becomes. It doesn't help that Nicky has a tendency to go off half-cocked and take matters into her own hands, either.

A satisfying mystery with a decent romance (I did think the romance side of the story moved a little quickly at parts, but grief can make you weird, man. Weird. So, yeah...), I found myself liking the twists and turns this book took.