White Hot

White Hot (2017) Ilona Andrews

Guess what?

I DESPISE THIS COVER TOO.

It’s TERRIBLE. I tells you nothing about the story except that there is boinking.

BLETCH.

OK, enough. How about the story?

The story is good! Things are even more complex, and not just between Nevada and Rogan. The cabal that attempted to destroy Houston in the previous book have not been caught, and now Nevada is again caught up in their plots.

Cornelius Harrison has come to Nevada for help in finding who murdered his wife and three of her co-workers. The company for which they worked claims it wasn’t work related and a private issue between the four, but no one who saw the bodies would believe that.

Nevada doesn’t want to talk to job, but she owes Montgomery a favor (he helped her get in to interview a man who raped and murdered children, so the last child he abducted could be saved) and once she talks to Cornelius, she can’t turn him down.

“This is above our pay grade,” my mother said.

“I know,” I told her.

“Why would you take this?”

Because he’d sat in my office and cried, and I’d felt awful for him. “Because she’s dead and nobody cares. And he’s paying us very well.”

“When we talk about the deceased, we usually mention whom they left behind,” I explained. “We say, ‘She was a wife and a mother’ or ‘He leaves behind two children and three grandchildren.’ It’s almost as if the dead have no value unless we know that someone they are related to is still alive and mourning them. I feel terrible for Cornelius and Matilda. But I feel even worse for Nari.”

This is the kind of stuff I love about their stories. The people bits. That the secondary characters (like Cornelius and Bug) are just as–if not more–fascinating than the main characters.

Plus, I absolutely adore Nevada’s grandmother.

My grandma wore her “talk to the hand” face. She also carried a can of spray paint in her hand.

“What is it, Hanh?” Rogan asked.

“She marked all of the ATVs with her initials!” Hanh declared.

“Because they’re mine,” Grandma Frida growled.

“She doesn’t get all the ATVs.” Rogan’s face took on a very patient look.

“Yes, I do. I tagged them, they’re mine.”

“Just because you tagged them doesn’t mean they’re yours. I can walk into this motor pool and start tagging things left and right. That doesn’t make them mine.”

“Aha.” My grandma picked up a huge wrench and casually leaned it on her shoulder. “How are you going to tag things with broken arms?”

I absolutely and utterly adore that.

I also love Nevada’s siblings and cousins.

“Are we going to school today?” Leon asked.

“No,” my mother said.

“Great.” Leon smiled. “Then I’m going to go outside and see if I can get a gun. Since my own family won’t let me have one, I’ll have to beg strangers.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Catalina asked.

“Do you think guns are just lying around outside?” Arabella asked. “Or did someone plant a gun tree in our parking lot?”

There was one other thing I absolutely adored–Nevada has to go to a fancy ball after almost being killed by one of the bad guys. While there, this happens.

The man bent his head slightly toward me. His voice was deep and quiet. “Do you need help?”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Do you need help?” he repeated quietly. “One word, and I’ll take you out of here and none of them can stop me. I’ll make sure you have access to a doctor, a safe place to stay, and a therapist to talk to. Someone who understands what it’s like and will help. ”

The pieces clicked in my head. The bruise. Of course. “Thank you, but I’m okay.”

“You don’t know me. It’s difficult to trust me because I’m a man and a stranger. The woman speaking with Augustine is my aunt. The woman across the floor in the white-and-purple gown is my sister. Either of them will vouch for me. Let me help you.”

“Thank you,” I told him. “On behalf of every woman here. But I’m a private investigator. I’m not a victim of domestic abuse. This is a work-related injury and the man who put his hands on me is dead.”

The man studied me for a long moment and slid a card into my hand. “If you decide that the injury isn’t work related, call me.”

I really really love that they put that scene in there, and that even among the elite people would care about abused women.

But that cover? UGH.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Avon

• Browse the archives:
  
• On the Edge » »
• « « Burn for Me