Offshore Ambush by Sherri Wilson Johnson Blog Tour Book Review

About the Book

Book: Offshore Ambush

Author: Sherri Wilson Johnson

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense (contemporary)

Release Date: January 9, 2024

Sometimes people aren’t who you think they are.

Gretchen Overton’s world is shattered when someone murders her brother on a remote offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. As medicolegal death investigator for Baldwin County, Alabama, she vows to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice. But little does she know, her path to finding answers requires the help of Everett Forrester, the rig’s Drilling Foreman and her ex-boyfriend.

While tensions rise and the body count increases, danger lurks around every corner…and it becomes clear that someone is determined to eliminate Gretchen and Everett before they uncover the truth.

Can they untangle the web of deception and expose the killer before everything rips them apart again?

Click here to get your copy!

My Review

I like the unusual setting of an offshore platform, making the murder a sort of locked room situation. A potential storm heightens the suspense. The characters were interesting. There is a history to the relationship between Gretchen and Everett and I thought perhaps I had missed a previous book featuring them. There is enough back story to make sense of their actions, however. Gretchen did seem to be a bit over reactive to me as I do prefer a strong female as a heroine.

The plot is also interesting with lots of twists, people not being who they seem. It all works out in the end but lots needed to be revealed in the denouement. Wilson's writing style is not complex so the novel is easy to read. This is a good romantic suspense with a subtle faith message.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author

Sherri Wilson Johnson is a Christian romantic suspense author and lover of all things book related. She’s always been a sucker for a good love story—whether it’s in real life or fiction (both historical and contemporary). Completing her first novel at the age of eighteen, and later burning the only copy in the fireplace, she continued learning the craft of writing and now writes Contemporary Romantic Suspense and Historical Romance with a splash of suspense and/or mystery. When not writing, she’s usually assisting other publishing professionals or helping authors realize their dreams of becoming published. Sherri and her husband are empty-nesters and live in Georgia with their two dogs. She loves spending time with family, vacationing at the beach, curling up with a good book or working on her current work-in-progress. She dreams of a second home on some beach somewhere someday, where she can plot and write romantically suspenseful novels.

More from Sherri

The idea for Offshore Ambush came from my annual visits to the Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan, Alabama area. Just like how the idea for Desolate Escape (book one in my Jeopardized Reunions series) came about while sitting on the deserted beach at the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge where I imagined someone discovering a dead body on the beach, discovering the oil and gas platforms out in the Gulf but not knowing what they were sparked my creative juices. So I began researching what these were while eating dinner on the screened-in porch that viewed Mobile Bay where we were staying (across the street from the beach). When I discovered that they were drilling platforms, my husband and I started brainstorming. Yes, Dan is one of my biggest brainstorming resources, for lack of a better word. He always titles my books for me, always listens daily as I fill him in on what I’ve written, and never fails to cheer me on when I’m dreaming up the next book or series idea.

I had planned to end the series (for now) with one final book that reached beyond what I’d written before. Since this series has been set on Mobile Bay and the beaches surrounding the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge plus some of the rivers that flow into the bay, I felt like it would only be fitting to venture out into the ocean. So the first half is set on the Lapis Lazuli oil platform, then the rest is set in Gulf Shores.

Now for an interesting story about how I named the Lapis Lazuli…

I’ve been reading the Bible all the way through this year, this time in chronological order. Because I’m a slow reader, I use a Bible app and let the British narrator read it to me. I follow along in my Bible and make notes or underline verses that touch me. Well, in at least two handfuls of places in the Old Testament the stone lapis lazuli is mentioned, and every time the British narrator pronounced it, it made me smile. I don’t know why, but it did. So when I did a search on what it was and found out that it was this gorgeous deep blue (which happens to be one of my favorite colors), I suddenly felt compelled to name the oil platform the Lapis Lazuli.

Exodus 24 talks about Moses and Aaron and the elders going up the mountain where they saw the God of Israel. Verse 10 says: “Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.” Can’t you just see it?!

It’s mentioned that the priestly garments had lapis lazuli in the breastpiece. And in Song of Songs chapter five, the woman describes her beloved as this:

His arms are rods of gold
set with topaz.
His body is like polished ivory
decorated with lapis lazuli.

Okay, so now I’m in the mood for a good love story. How about you? 😉

Offshore Ambush is another one of my second chance romantic suspense stories that reminds me of how God is the God of second chances, forgiveness, and unconditional love. I hope you will find this story to be as inspiring to read—and yet thrilling due to all the danger our hero and heroine find themselves in—as I did while writing it.

Blog Stops

Locks, Hooks and Books, March 22

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 23

Gina Holder, Author and Blogger, March 24 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 24

Texas Book-aholic, March 25

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 26

Fiction Book Lover, March 27 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, March 28

Betti Mace, March 29

Back Porch Reads, March 30 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 31

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, April 1

Blossoms and Blessings, April 2 (Author Interview)

An Author’s Take, April 2

For Him and My Family, April 3

Life on Chickadee Lane, April 4

 

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(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.)