BEFORE THE DAWN by Cynthia Eden: Review

Before the Dawn by Cynthia Eden
Series: Killer Instinct #2
Published by Harlequin Books
Publication Date: July 25th 2017
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

The Killer Instinct series from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden continues as an FBI profiler tracks a case that resurrects ghosts from his past

Ex-SEAL Tucker Frost knows that the world is full of evil. He saw it in the face of his own brother, Jason Frost, a cold, methodical, sadistic killer. A killer Tucker put down with his own hands in order to save Jason’s final victim–Dawn Alexander, the only girl who got away from the infamous “Iceman.”

It’s Tucker’s up close and personal experience with evil that’s made him perfect for Samantha Dark’s experimental profiling division in the FBI. And when women start turning up murdered with the same MO used by the Iceman, Tucker is sent back to Louisiana to investigate.

Seven years have passed since the night that Tucker faced down his brother…and since he last saw Dawn, his one-time lover. But as Tucker and Dawn grapple with a desire that never died, they must also face the shared shadow from their pasts. Both have the same question–has Jason Frost come back from the dead to hunt again? And this time, will he succeed in killing the victim who got away?

 

Review

Ms. Eden has a method to her writing and darn, it works every time! She combines thrilling suspense with intense emotions and sizzling chemistry into stories that a reader cannot put down or walk away from after the last word. I should know because I just spent this past weekend reading every single book in this series, five in total. BEFORE THE DAWN is dark and twisted but also very engrossing and you can’t help but become invested in the characters and the possibility of a second chance at love for them, something to make up for all the pain and loss.

Tucker Frost is a decorated ex-SEAL and an FBI agent selected for a new profiling division, but it’s his past and his connection to an infamous serial killer that makes him a perfect fit for the experimental unit. With a killer on the loose with striking similarities to a supposedly dead monster, Tucker has to face the possibility that he let a killer walk and that the only woman he’s ever loved may be in danger again, but he is determined to not fail her this time.

Dawn Alexander is the only survivor of the infamous Iceman but her survival cost her the only man she loved. It’s been seven years since that horrific time and she’s more confident and stronger. But the past has come back to haunt her with the investigation of a killer whose methods match those of her attacker and he may be trying to finish what he started seven years ago. Dawn knows that she needs the FBI, but will seeing Tucker again remind her of her attacker, whose face he shares? Or will the love they once shared overcome the bad memories? 

Tucker was a bit (and by a bit I mean a lot) obsessed with Dawn, his feelings for her were overwhelming and for the first time, something about this author’s writing that has been at the back of my mind for some time now came into full view: no matter how good we think we are, anyone can become a killer in the ‘right’ circumstances. He killed for her before and was willing to do it again, if he needed to. Dawn used her past to make herself stronger and she was not willing to giving this new terror an inch or let it rob her of another chance at happiness.

Tucker and Dawn’s past will definitely have you rooting for them to find happiness this time around. The bond between them was so powerful that all it took was being together to snap back into place. 

The villain was quite obvious from the beginning, but there was room for doubt and the twist at the end was definitely unexpected but all in all, this was a solid addition to the series. I do wonder what the toll is on authors as they dive deep into this cesspool to research crime and killers for their stories.

 

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