Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: The Grave Between Us: M|M Romantic Suspense

SERIES: A Noah & Cole Thriller Book 2

AUTHOR: Tal Bauer

PUBLISHER: Self

LENGTH: 376 Pages

RELEASE DATE: June 06, 2021

BLURB:

It was just one moment.
It was just one mistake.

For years, men have been disappearing. A father in North Carolina. A boater in California. A hiker in Arkansas. And more, scattered across the United States. The FBI knows who’s responsible: a serial killer they caught, a man they sent young profiler Cole Kennedy to interrogate. But then the killer escaped, leaving the FBI in chaos and Cole’s psyche in tatters.

Eight years later, Cole’s life has changed. He’s found the man of his dreams, and he’s moved to Iowa to be with Special Agent Noah Downing, leaving the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the murderers behind.

Or so he thought.

An attack on the backroads of Iowa shatters the FBI, and in the aftermath, they uncover the signature of the last man they expect: the killer who got away. Now he’s hunting Noah, and the BAU descends on Des Moines, sending Cole back on the psychological chase.

To catch the only man who has ever beaten him, Cole will have to delve inside the killer’s mind. It’s a place he barely survived before, and the deeper he goes, the more horrors await. And though Noah is ordered to back off the investigation, he won’t leave Cole to face this darkness alone.

If Cole has any hope of saving the man he loves, he must unravel the killer’s twisted profile and follow his trail of death… even when it leads him into the marrow of his worst nightmares.

REVIEW:

To not put to fine a point on it, this book is brilliant, creepy, but brilliant.  I know I say that about all of Tal’s books, but this one is off the charts brilliant.  He takes his stories to another level, so much so, it leaves you shaken to your core after reading it.  That being said, let us get the formalities out of the way. This book is not a standalone.  You must read the first book in this series – The Murder Between Us. I must also stress, this book deals with serial killers and necrophilia – you have been warned.

People ask me frequently what I love so much about Tal’s books.  It is his ability to create a world so believable, create characters that are so memorable and maintain the intrigue all rolled into one well-crafted package.  This story brings us a new set of intrigues for Cole and Noah to survive. As rosy as their life appears to be, Cole carries some heavy secrets, that have decided, this is the time to rear their ugly heads.  The problem arises when Noah, becomes the new target. A serial killer who got away and has been missing for eight years, has come to Iowa. By chance?  The problem is, Cole was the profiler on the original investigation and blames himself for the killer’s escape.  I love how he uses the rural backdrop of Iowa, to give the illusion of an innocent, hometown life – where nothing ever happens to anyone.  Then he mixes in a good portion of angst to rock the foundations of that hometown feel lifestyle. The main characters in this story become even more developed and you root for them even harder to beat the odds and survive. Side characters are also not skimped on.  Jacob is Noah’s sidekick at the FBI, and we get to see more of his life outside of the office in this book.   But then in the middle of all this he drops in a serial killer.  The depravity of this character is beyond measure.   He takes you into the killer’s mind and gives you a front row 3D seat to all the gruesome thoughts and deeds of the killer.  If this is not enough intrigue to get you interested, he then adds another layer of crazy with the necrophilia.

This book will require several boxes of Kleenex and a palate cleanser read after you finish this intense, brilliant book.  The big question remains.  Will Cole and Noah get their happy ending? Buy this book and find out, because I am not going to tell you. 😊

RATING:

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