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San Francisco Judge Ramsey Hunt, longtime friend to FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, is presiding over the trial of Clive and Cindy Cahill – accused in a string of murders – when the proceedings take a radical turn. Federal prosecutor Mickey O'Rourke, known for his relentless style, becomes suddenly tentative in his opening statement, leading Hunt to suspect he’s been threatened – suspicions that are all but confirmed when Hunt is shot in the back.
Savich and Sherlock receive news of the attack as an ominous note is delivered to Savich at the Hoover Building: YOU DESERVE THIS FOR WHAT YOU DID. Security tapes fail to reveal who delivered the tapes. Who is behind the shooting of Judge Ramsey Hunt? Who sent the note to Savich? And what does it all mean? Savich and Sherlock race to San Francisco to find out…watching their backs all the while.
When San Francisco Judge Ramsey Hunt was murdered, FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich lost a friend, but more urgently, their own lives are now in danger and vicious killers are still running free. Catherine Coulter's sixteenth FBI thriller demonstrates anew that her combination of action sequences, suspense, super bad villains, and quirky characters work like alchemy. Editor's recommendation.
Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take, TailSpin, KnockOut, Whiplash, and Split Second. She lives in northern California.
In 1988, Coulter tried her hand at contemporary romance with a twisty little page-turner called False Pretenses. Her fans ate it up and begged for more. Since then, she has interspersed historicals with contemporary romantic thrillers (like the novels in her bestselling FBI series) in one of the most successful change-ups in the history of romance publishing.
TOP TEN SLEUTHS:
Hercule Poirot
Jane Marple
Columbo
Inspector Morse
Jack Ryan
Indiana Jones
Pink Panther
Sherlock Holmes
Sid Halley
TOP TEN HEROS:
Harry Potter (Every Single Book)
Colin Firth as Darcy
S.C. Taylor from Beyond Eden
Lucas Davenport
Dillon Savich
James Bond (Sean Connery)
Jack Bauer
John McClain (All Die Hard)
Shrek (l & 2)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
1
Sea Cliff, San Francisco
Late Thursday night One week before Thanksgiving
Judge Ramsey Hunt listened to the lapping water break against the rocks below, a sound that always brought him back into himself and centered him. He stood at this exact spot every night and listened to the waves, as unending and as infinite as he knew he wasn’t. Only the sound of the waves, he thought. Otherwise, it was dead silent, not even a distant foghorn blast from the huge cargo ship that was nearing the Golden Gate through a veil of low-lying fog.
A light breeze ruffled the tree leaves and put a light chop on the ocean below. It was chilly tonight. He was glad Molly had tossed him his leather jacket on his way out. A week before Thanksgiving, he thought, a week before he would preside over the turkey carving and feel so blessed he’d want to sing, which, thankfully, he wouldn’t.
Ramsey looked up at the low-hanging half-moon that seemed cold and alien tonight. His ever-curious son, Cal, had asked him if he could sink his fingers into the pitted surface. Would it be hard, like his wooden Ford truck, he wondered, or soft like ice cream?
At least his day had ended well. In the late afternoon, he’d met Molly and the twins at Davies Hall to hear Emma rehearse Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the San Francisco Symphony, smiling and nodding as they listened. Ramsey had long thought of her as his own daughter, and here she was, a prodigy, of all things. He had to be careful or he’d burst with pride, Molly always said. Remarkably, Cal and Gage hadn’t raised too much of a fuss at having to sit still during the rehearsal. Well, Cal did yell out once, “Emmy, I want you to play ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’!” which had brought warm laughter from the violin section.
They’d enjoyed enchiladas and tacos an hour later at La Barca, the family’s favorite Mexican restaurant on Lombard, always an adventure when the three-year-old twins were anywhere near chips and guacamole.
Ramsey rested his elbows on the solid stone fence built when his boys had reached the age of exploration a year and a half ago. Better than nightmares about them tumbling off the sixty-foot cliff into the mess of rocks and water below.
He looked out across the entrance to the bay at the Marin Headlands, as stark and barren as the half-moon above them. Soon the winter rains would begin to green things up, as green as Ireland in some years, his second favorite place on earth after San Francisco. It was a blessing that this incredible stretch was all a national recreational area so he would never have to look at some guy sipping a nice fruity Chardonnay across from him on a condo balcony. He noticed a Zodiac sitting anchored below him, nearly as still as a small island in the ocean. There were no other boats around it that he could see. Who would be out so late, anchored in open water? He saw no one aboard, and for a moment, he felt alarmed. Had someone fallen overboard? No, whoever motored over in the Zodiac could easily have swum or waded to the narrow beach. But why? Not to get a suntan, that’s for sure. He wondered if he should call 911 when he heard Molly open the family room door behind him. “Goodness, it’s cold out here. I’m glad you’re wearing your jacket. Is your favorite sea lion talking to you again?”
Ramsey smiled. Old Carl, that was the name he’d given this giant of a sea lion that liked to laze about in the water below. He hadn’t seen Old Carl in several days now. He called back, “He’s probably at Pier Thirty-nine, stretched out on the barges with his cousins. What’s up?”
“Gage had a nightmare. Can you come and tell him the spinach monster isn’t lurking in his closet? He doesn’t believe me.”
He turned to her, grinning. “Be right there—”
Molly heard a shot, cold and sharp as the moon, and saw her husband slammed violently forward by a bullet. Molly’s scream pierced the night.
Suspenseful from beginning to end!
Wow! What a book! The action is jam packed and the book has more twists and turns than that famous street in San Francisco.
Judge Ramsey Hunt is shot at home shortly after halting a murder trial he has been presiding over. The Federal Prosecutor is missing and the defendants are sitting pretty. U.S. Federal Marshall Eve Barbieri is one of the dozens of law enforcement people called in when Judge Hunt is attacked. The FBI, SFPD, and even the CIA make an appearance. Eve has a close relationship with Judge Hunt and his entire family which makes this case all the more important to her.
Around the same time, FBI Agent Dillon Savich gets a cryptic note that might be a threat. When he and his wife, fellow FBI Agent Sherlock hear about Hunt, they head off to be part of the team working on the case. They bring their five year old son, Sean along with them as Sherlock's parents live in San Francisco, and the whole family knows the Hunt family well.
Harry Christoff is the FBI Agent assigned to liaison with Eve and the sparks fly from the first moment they meet. However, the romance aspect of this book takes a back seat to the Hunt case. The presumed attacker is a busy guy or maybe gal and everyone involved is in danger throughout the entire book. The sender of the note to Savich makes an appearance and adds more excitement to the mix.
One of the things I love about this series is the continuity of the characters. Several of the ones we have met before in earlier books make an appearance and it is never gratuitous. The new characters blend in seamlessly and you learn enough about them to care fairly quickly. Of course, Sherlock and Savich are the linchpin of the story and they have some scary times in this book but their relationship is a strong as ever. I remember Ramsey, Molly and twelve year old Emma from The Target, book Three in the series, and I also remembered how much I enjoyed that book. Emma is the center of a delightful subplot involving her being a piano prodigy that adds a nice light touch to offset the tenseness of the story. Sean’s crush on her and future plans to marry the “older woman” someday is just too cute.
This series just keeps getting better and better which each book. My only complaint is that there is way too long between books!
19 out of 21 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.lindar172
Posted Fri Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2012
My daughter introduced me to these books and I have loved following the cast from one book to another, adding more as they go. I can't wait for the next one to be out.
10 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Jul 12 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.
6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Jul 23 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Should i read it?
4 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Jul 21 00:00:00 EDT 2012
OMG I really enjoyed reading this book. Great read and fast.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Apr 13 00:00:00 EDT 2012
the book is not out yet. but u can be sure its a 5 star
4 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Jul 29 00:00:00 EDT 2012
This book is aptly described as a thriller! The characters were, for the most part, familiar from Coulter's previous books. The story was very well developed, with enough twists and turns to keep the reader on edge. I've never had a book give me nightmares, but this one did! If this had been a movie, I'd have had my hands over my eyes, afraid to look, there at the end. Great book!
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Jul 14 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Another fantastic Catherine Coulter FBI series book! I would have read in a day if I didn't have to go to work...took me 2 days and what a delight! Hurry up and write another....
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Aug 05 00:00:00 EDT 2012
My rating: 3.5
I've been with this series since the very beginning and as it's progressed it's morphed from suspence/thriller with romance (and some smexy scenes) thrown in to pretty much just suspense/thriller. There's always still a couple that hook up, but those smexy scenes we love so much have dwindled down so now they're just alluded too and we have to use our imaginations to picture what's happening. That's ok...I don't have to have sex in every book I read, but the series has evolved over time and sometimes I miss those earlier times.
It's the characters I really love in this series, in fact, there's a point in Backfire where I almost started screaming at my Nook because I was so scared about the fate of one of the characters. Sherlock and Savich are back as the main characters and we we also get to spend time with Judge Ramsey Hunt and his family-we were introduced to them in The Target (book 3 of the series).
I felt the humor was a little forced in this installment, maybe it's just me but I just didn't find the quips as funny as I have in previous books. There are several plot lines going on at once and, for me, few scenes just felt like they were in the wrong the place...they could have been placed just a chapter or two earlier and the story would have flowed a bit smoother.
I'm so attached to the characters in the series that I will happily wait for the next one...I just have to see what happen next.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Jul 26 00:00:00 EDT 2012
BACKFIRE -- Stunning and shocking!
Wow what a thrilling, suspenseful, fast paced page turner. It is filled with many twist and turns from beginning to end. When I finished the book I felt like I just stepped off a Roller Coaster windblown, frazzled and weak in the knees. What a ride!
Catherine Coulter has written another spellbinding Savich and Sherlock FBI series thriller. It was filled with so many surprise twist and turns that I never seen coming. Nothing was as it seemed. The plot was clever and cleverly written. Well done Ms. Coulter.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Catherine Coulter's books are worth reading. If you like a little romance and a lot of suspense this book is for you.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Jul 29 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I have always enjoyed her books and was very disappointed in this one.
Had to make myself finish it and it never did peak my interest. Very Boring Slow read!
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sat Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I have read all the books in this series and I found this one to be disappointing. Maybe it is just me but I am tired of the wacky dialogue. I can overlook that if the story is strong enough but that was not the case with this book. I don't know if I will read any future books in this series.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Backfire kept me on the edge of my seat and laughing out loud at the same time. Savich and Sherlock at their best. I loved it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012
have not read yet - too much for ebook........
1 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Apr 09 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I can't wait to read it but at this time it is still in production. I don't believe it will be available to be read until July 10, 2012.
1 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Back Fire by Catherine Coulter: Special agent Dillon Savich receives a note and it only says "FOR WHAT YOU DID YOU DESERVE THIS' Is it a threat against him or Agent Lacey Sherlock. Payback for what. They get a call after the note saying that Judge Ramsey Hunt has been shoot in the back, lies near death. Why would anyone shoot the Judge. I enjoyed the book very much. She has done good job again.
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Posted Sat Aug 02 00:00:00 EDT 2014
&phone&star&starf
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Posted Fri Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Always a pleasure to read about the adventures of Sherlock and Savich and, of course, their son Sean!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.kayek1
Posted Sat Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014
This is the 16th FBI thriller, and it certainly is a good one. FBI Agent Dillon Savich is delivered a note "For what you did you deserve this", just as he and his partner Lacey Sherlock are preparing to go to San Francisco to investigate the shooting of the friend Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt.
As usual this series does not disappoint. I love Savich and Sherlock, and the rotating cast of characters that have been in other books, or who are new to this one.
Overview
San Francisco Judge Ramsey Hunt, longtime friend to FBI agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, is presiding over the trial of Clive and Cindy Cahill ? accused in a string of murders ? when the proceedings take a radical turn. Federal prosecutor Mickey O'Rourke, known for his relentless style, becomes suddenly tentative in his opening statement, leading Hunt to suspect he?s been threatened ? suspicions that are all but confirmed when Hunt is shot in the back.
Savich and ...