All The Captive Girls by Linda Hurtado Bond Book Review

About the Book:

Tampa Bay crime reporter Mari Alvarez thought the worst was behind her. She thought she could return to work, her sister, her friends, and her still-undefined relationship with Detective Tony Garcia. To find something almost normal…until a killer everyone thought was dead contacts her.

Because he wants to play a game—a twisted dance of revenge, where Mari must play by the rules…or lose everyone and everything she loves.

Now Tampa Bay’s lively Gasparilla pirate festival has turned into an event filled with terror and horror, and Mari is the unwitting star. Every move she makes is being watched by social media, even as the killer twists the truth and manipulates her with lies, deepfakes, and misinformation.

He can take her job. He can take her reputation. He can take everyone who loves her.

And unless she can stop him, he’ll hold her captive in the one cage she won’t be able to escape: her own fear.

My Review:

I liked this romantic suspense. The setting of Tampa during celebrations is great. Bond really does well in setting the reader into the very culture of the celebrations. Her descriptions of the parades and other aspects of the activities are very good. Mari is a good heroine too. Bond has developed her character well, especially her struggle to be strong while hunting the villain. And he was quite a villain, always a step ahead of Mari and law enforcement. I like that Mari is also a soft character in her love for her sister and her pursuit of romance.

The part of the novel that fascinated me the most was the advanced technologies described. The use of AI to create fake videos was chilling. I appreciate Bond giving us some insights into how it is done.

This is an entertaining romantic suspense with well crafted characters, a complex but enjoyable plot, and some really chilling information about what can be done with advanced use of AI. There are many references to the first book in this series and it should be read to fully appreciate this one.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Linda Hurtado Bond is an award-winning journalist for Tampa's Fox 13 by day and author of romantic thrillers by night. She has won 13 Emmy awards, numerous Society of Professional Journalist and Associated Press awards, as well as a Florida Bar and an Edward R. Murrow award. A breast cancer survivor, she’s also active in the Tampa community with The American Cancer Society, Hooked on Hope, and The Shoot for a Cure, raising money and awareness any chance she gets. She’s the mother of five, four athletes and an adopted son from Cuba. She has passion for world travel, classic movies and solving a good mystery.

Entangled Publishing, 329 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)