Book Title: Compelled
Genre: Crime Thriller/Supernatural Suspense
Pages: 325
Author: Inge-Lise Goss
Date Published: 1 November 2016
Synopsis:
New York Detective Sidney Langston is rushed to the hospital with excruciating chest pains the same night a woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to her is murdered in San Diego. Tests reveal Sidney is perfectly healthy, yet the crippling pain persists until the dead woman reaches out from beyond the grave for Sidney’s help to vindicate her wrongfully imprisoned husband and to find her murderer.
Desperate to remain pain free, Sidney embarks on a mission to exonerate an innocent man. With a ruthless killer at large, she soon discovers the crime is more than a simple whodunit when dangerous scenarios unfold. The dead woman’s spirit relentlessly pushes Detective Langston to solve the crime and correct an injustice – or forever be tormented by an invisible bullet wound.
New York Detective Sidney Langston is rushed to the hospital with excruciating chest pains the same night a woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to her is murdered in San Diego. Tests reveal Sidney is perfectly healthy, yet the crippling pain persists until the dead woman reaches out from beyond the grave for Sidney’s help to vindicate her wrongfully imprisoned husband and to find her murderer.
Desperate to remain pain free, Sidney embarks on a mission to exonerate an innocent man. With a ruthless killer at large, she soon discovers the crime is more than a simple whodunit when dangerous scenarios unfold. The dead woman’s spirit relentlessly pushes Detective Langston to solve the crime and correct an injustice – or forever be tormented by an invisible bullet wound.
Review:
Compelled by Inge-Lise GossMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a fantastic police procedural with a supernatural twist. I loved it!
Sidney Langston is a wonderful character. I liked her a lot. She is a New York Police Detective and is used to solving murders. She is a very determined woman who has her strengths and weaknesses. When a woman in San Diego is murdered, Sidney is beset with terrible chest pains and the doctors cannot find anything physically wrong with her. But when she begins to investigate the murder, things begin to get a little more complicated.
Having previously read other books by this author, I was eager to get my hands on this one. I started to read it and was instantly hooked. This story is extremely compelling (see what I did there?) reading and I read this in one sitting. This story is told through mainly Sidney's point of view, but other characters have their say too.
I really enjoyed getting to know Sidney better. However, she is not what I would call a by-the-book type policewoman. She is an instinctive and intuitive person and tends to follow her gut more often than not, even if it means breaking a few of those by-the-book rules. This made the story intriguing but in real life, it would make getting a conviction thrown out in a court of law. Nevertheless, I found myself holding my breath at times whilst she investigated. I also enjoyed meeting the other characters in the book. There are several that make an appearance: Chas Langston, Sidney's husband and New York District Attorney, Bernice, a spirit medium, and Sam Jordan, a private investigator for Mara's husband's lawyer amongst others.
I must admit that I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted that it was more of a police procedural than ghost story. Although there is a supernatural twist, it doesn't overshadow the story. The author used the supernatural angle to great effect in my opinion. However, I was a little disappointed at the explanation for the connection between the murder victim and Sidney. I think I may have jumped the gun and made my own assumption (wrongly) about their connection, but when it was revealed, the actual one didn't feel right to me. Other readers may not have the same reaction, so will leave it up to you (the reader) to decide for yourself. There is a lot of suspense, thrilling chases and danger to keep me on the edge of my seat. Though, there are some lighter moments too that had me smiling if not giggling. I love the undercover scenes involving Sidney, especially the bar one with Sam. His reaction was priceless. There are several twists I didn't see coming, though when the actual murderer was revealed I had partly guessed who it was. Having said that, I was completely thrown by the machinations of a couple of the characters and was caught off guard when their actions were revealed. I reached the end of the book with mixed feelings; sad that the story ended but happy at the outcome. There is no cliffhanger, just in case you were wondering.
Inge-Lise Goss has written an intriguing crime thriller/supernatural suspense full of danger, mystery and suspense. This is the fifth story I have read by this author, I love her fast paced writing style and the flow of the story is wonderful. I am now looking forward to reading more of her books in the future.
Due to some violence, although not too graphic, I do not recommend this book to younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love thrillers full of mystery, suspense, danger, action, adventure and romance. This book can be read as a stand-alone. - Lynn Worton
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Inge-Lise Goss loves the journeys where her characters take her, and she hopes her readers do too. She was born in Denmark, raised in Utah and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah. She is a Certified Public Accountant and worked in that field for over twenty years. She now lives in the foothills of Red Rock Canyon with her husband and their dog, Bran, where she spends most of her time in her den writing stories. There, with her muse by her side, imagination has no boundaries and dreams come alive. When she’s not pounding away on the keyboard she can be found reading, rowing, or trying to perfect her golf game, which she fears is a lost cause.
