Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Zenith

SERIES:  The Lake Prophet Mysteries

AUTHORS:  Eli Easton & RJ Scott

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  264 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 19, 2024

BLURB: 

A killer haunts Prophet, and this time it’s personal

The discovery of a body at the Thompson Cabins sets off a chain of events that hits too close to home for Sheriff Gabriel Thompson. When his brother Sam becomes a prime suspect in the murder investigation, Gabriel is forced to keep secrets from Tiber and call in outside help as he fights to prove Sam’s innocence. It’s a nightmare that becomes all consuming.

Tiber Russo, animal whisperer, is dealing with problems of his own. A stalker threatens him and his entire menagerie of pets. With Gabriel wrapped up in the new case, Tiber tries to solve the mystery on his own. Who in the sleepy town of Prophet wants to do him harm? But when the threats turn lethal, Tiber finds himself in over his head.

Tiber and Gabriel have solved two murders together and started a deep relationship. But this time the forces ranged against them are personal and the target is on them and on the backs of everyone they love. With each of them isolated trying to protect the other, their strength is diminished. Even with the love they share, can they make it out of this alive?

REVIEW: 

Note:  This is the third book in this series.  It is recommended to read them in order to understand the dynamic and history of the main characters in particular but also of the setting of these stories.  Doesn’t particularly work as a standalone.

Tiber and Gabriel are together now.  It’s been almost a year since Gabriel has been back in his hometown of Prophet as Sherriff. In that time there have been two murders in his jurisdiction and Tiber has helped him with both of them.  But now a third murder has occurred.  The body is found on Gabe’s brother Sam’s property – Gabe’s former home.  Seriously???

Gabe knows his brother didn’t murder the guy.  But there is a connection and there is a lot of circumstantial evidence.  Because of the potential conflict of interest though, he has to call in help from another jurisdiction to oversee the investigation.  Things go from bad to worse though when Gabe finds out the Sam has been hiding things from him.

In the meantime, strange things are happening with Tiber also.  He doesn’t want to burden Gabe with his issues when Gabe is fighting for Sam’s innocence though.  So he figures he can deal with his own problems.  He’s hurt that Gabe isn’t confiding in him, but he understands.

When Tiber and Gabe’s niece and nephew are in harms way and someone steals one of his pack, things just get more weird.  Are the two connected?  At first nobody is sure.  Tiber is running his own investigation to try to determine who is stalking his property and trying to harm his animals.  Of course that leads to trouble and he finally confides in Gabe that so many strange things have been happening and a pattern becomes clear.  And it’s not about Sam at all.

Whew!  This was a real rollercoaster ride from the very first page.  Gabe and Tiber are in love and building a solid relationship.  Sam’s pulled into what could be the most important case he’s had – to prove his brother’s innocence.  He’s go sooo much guilt!  Tiber doesn’t want to appear needy and he knows Gabe is really wound tight.  So he tries to handle things on his own – but he’s over his head because he doesn’t realize what is really behind all the bizarre happenings.  Gabe finally confides in Tiber what has happened in this past that causes his nightmares and the heavy clouds around him.  He’s suffering tremendous guilt – even though he did the right thing.  At the end of the day though, Tiber still loves him and they are there to support each other.

I will say I had an inkling of who was behind all the bad stuff happening, but I didn’t foresee everything that happened.  That said, I still really enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery and the reveal of all that had happened in Gabe’s past in LA.  A solid mystery and a really great story of relationship growth for two men who are healing and moving on from their pasts.  And I really loved that Tiber’s pack played another important role in this story 😉  A really great epilogue and fine finish to this series.  Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

Amazon