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Cold Justice #8
Cold Malice
Twenty years ago, she was a cult leader's innocent daughter and he was an undercover agent who broke her heart and destroyed her life. Now he's back...
ASAC Steve (Mac) McKenzie is leading a task force investigating a series of malicious crimes in the heart of Washington, DC. His undercover work in an antigovernment compound twenty years earlier is related—as is the sweet, innocent girl he befriended back then. Now that girl is a beautiful woman, and she has something to hide.
Tess Fallon spent a lifetime trying to outrun her family's bigotry, but someone is using the anniversary of her father's death to carry out evil crimes and she's terrified her younger brother is involved. She sets out to uncover the truth and comes face-to-face with a man she once idolized, a man she thought long dead. As the crimes escalate, it becomes obvious the killer has an agenda, and Tess and Mac are running out of time to stop him.
Will the perpetrator use a decades-old dream of revolution to attack the federal government? And will the fact that Tess and Mac have fallen hard for one another give a stone-cold killer the power to destroy them?
Finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence for Single Title Romantic Suspense.
This edition features a brand-new cover.
ASAC Steve (Mac) McKenzie is leading a task force investigating a series of malicious crimes in the heart of Washington, DC. His undercover work in an antigovernment compound twenty years earlier is related—as is the sweet, innocent girl he befriended back then. Now that girl is a beautiful woman, and she has something to hide.
Tess Fallon spent a lifetime trying to outrun her family's bigotry, but someone is using the anniversary of her father's death to carry out evil crimes and she's terrified her younger brother is involved. She sets out to uncover the truth and comes face-to-face with a man she once idolized, a man she thought long dead. As the crimes escalate, it becomes obvious the killer has an agenda, and Tess and Mac are running out of time to stop him.
Will the perpetrator use a decades-old dream of revolution to attack the federal government? And will the fact that Tess and Mac have fallen hard for one another give a stone-cold killer the power to destroy them?
Finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence for Single Title Romantic Suspense.
This edition features a brand-new cover.
450 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2017
About the author
Toni Anderson
49 books3,059 followersToni Anderson writes gritty, sexy, FBI Romantic Thrillers, and is a New York Times and a USA Today bestselling author. Her books have won the Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in Mystery/Suspense, the Readers' Choice, Aspen Gold, Book Buyers' Best, Golden Quill, and National Excellence in Romance Fiction awards. She’s been a finalist in The Vivian Contest and the RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America, and also in the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers.
Her books have been downloaded more than three million times.
Best known for her Cold Justice® books perhaps it’s not surprising to discover Toni lives in one of the most extreme climates on earth--Manitoba, Canada. Formerly a Marine Biologist, she still misses the ocean.
In January 2016, she visited FBI Headquarters in Washington DC, including a tour of the Strategic Information and Operations Center. She hopes not to get arrested for her Google searches.
For more information about Toni:
Website: https://www.toniandersonauthor.com
Store: https://toniandersonshop.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonianderson...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@toniannanderson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toni_anders...
Newsletter: https://www.toniandersonauthor.com/ne...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Start reading Toni's award-winning, bestselling Cold Justice® series with A COLD DARK PLACE.
If you want to know when Toni's next book will be out, visit her website (https://www.toniandersonauthor.com/co...) or sign up for her newsletter.
Next Release: COLD FURY
Put it on your "To Read" shelf.
BUY LINKS:
Put it on your "To Read" shelf.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Her books have been downloaded more than three million times.
Best known for her Cold Justice® books perhaps it’s not surprising to discover Toni lives in one of the most extreme climates on earth--Manitoba, Canada. Formerly a Marine Biologist, she still misses the ocean.
In January 2016, she visited FBI Headquarters in Washington DC, including a tour of the Strategic Information and Operations Center. She hopes not to get arrested for her Google searches.
For more information about Toni:
Website: https://www.toniandersonauthor.com
Store: https://toniandersonshop.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonianderson...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@toniannanderson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toni_anders...
Newsletter: https://www.toniandersonauthor.com/ne...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Start reading Toni's award-winning, bestselling Cold Justice® series with A COLD DARK PLACE.
If you want to know when Toni's next book will be out, visit her website (https://www.toniandersonauthor.com/co...) or sign up for her newsletter.
Next Release: COLD FURY
Put it on your "To Read" shelf.
BUY LINKS:
Put it on your "To Read" shelf.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 286 reviews
May 31, 2018
I struggle to find good romantic suspense novels. This one was decent and held my interest. Tess is the daughter of the leaders of a white supremacist cult (The Pioneers) that was raided 20 years ago. Tess was adopted, changed her name, and created a life far from the hatred that her childhood centered around. Now someone is using her father’s manifesto to commit a series of murders in an attempt spark a revolution.
Mac was fresh out of the police academy when he went undercover to help take down The Pioneers. He's worked his way through the FBI and landed the job of ASAC, leading the task force created to find the people behind the string of murders. He reconnects with Tess and together they try to figure out who’s behind these current murders. Along the way they fall for each other which adds to the angst since some think Tess may have followed in her father's footsteps.
Mac was fresh out of the police academy when he went undercover to help take down The Pioneers. He's worked his way through the FBI and landed the job of ASAC, leading the task force created to find the people behind the string of murders. He reconnects with Tess and together they try to figure out who’s behind these current murders. Along the way they fall for each other which adds to the angst since some think Tess may have followed in her father's footsteps.
September 16, 2017
What begins as seemingly unrelated, cold-blooded murders appears to be an act of white supremacist leanings and at the heart of it would be a woman whose father was the leader of such a group, who also, twenty years ago, had been freed of that life when Steve McKenzie worked undercover at their complex. But 2 decades isn’t long enough apparently, for some ghosts to stay buried and this time, Mac’s reentry into Tess Fallon’s life is anything but coincidence when the resurrection of the dogmas of white nationalists begins with a rising body count of specifically targeted individuals.
I’m going to say from the start that ‘Cold Malice’ is a jaw-dropping, romantic-suspense-at-its-finest type of read. With multifaceted, fully fleshed out protagonists at its helm, the conflict around which the plot is centred has such chilling relevance for the times we live in, lending the whole story a believability that makes Anderson’s brand of fiction as large as reality. In fact, it’s so intricately plotted, so heart-poundingly intense and just so well done that I couldn’t put the book down, even when sleep was calling.
And where do I even begin with Toni Anderson’s characters? Tess Fallon in this case, had wholly won me over. She’s everything I love in a heroine: brave, loyal, protective and so strong as she fights a parentage anyone would be ashamed of. I couldn’t blame her at all for not fully trusting Mac for simply showing up 20 years with a different identity then demanding her cooperation; coupled with the fact that she had to pay for her family’s sins and run from a past that wasn’t even quite her own—compounded by the FBI who vilified her—felt like a massively unfair position she’d been put in. That she’d dealt with it the only way she knew how to—by protecting her brother, by keeping some walls up—was not only understandable, but justified.
On the other hand, it was harder to like Mac, whose own conflict about his job and Tess’s involvement in the case left him indecisive about her. Using their connection to further his investigations merely served to confirm how much of an arse he could be and there were numerous instances when I thought Tess deserved better for the crap she’d been dealt from all sides.
My only complaint (which probably seems like a petty one given how excellent everything else is) is that as a romance, the speedy conclusion seems to do a disservice to Tess, where Mac’s major grovelling session which I absolutely needed to see never really happened at all. I didn’t think he’d redeemed himself enough to earn back her affection when all he’d done was to put his job above her, with his doubts blindingly overshadowing what he really felt for her. With a fairly quick resolution, I felt that this important bit where broken parts of a relationship are repaired had been glossed over, leaving me with a pairing that seemed to have done their making up and talking behind closed doors.
Then again, it isn’t as if this should throw any shade on Anderson’s fantastic writing. ‘Cold Malice’ is yet another masterpiece of hers and I’m actually convinced that this author does RS so well that she’s actually suited to writing for the big screen. Needless to say, I’m already asking, when’s the next full novel coming?
*ARC by the author
I’m going to say from the start that ‘Cold Malice’ is a jaw-dropping, romantic-suspense-at-its-finest type of read. With multifaceted, fully fleshed out protagonists at its helm, the conflict around which the plot is centred has such chilling relevance for the times we live in, lending the whole story a believability that makes Anderson’s brand of fiction as large as reality. In fact, it’s so intricately plotted, so heart-poundingly intense and just so well done that I couldn’t put the book down, even when sleep was calling.
And where do I even begin with Toni Anderson’s characters? Tess Fallon in this case, had wholly won me over. She’s everything I love in a heroine: brave, loyal, protective and so strong as she fights a parentage anyone would be ashamed of. I couldn’t blame her at all for not fully trusting Mac for simply showing up 20 years with a different identity then demanding her cooperation; coupled with the fact that she had to pay for her family’s sins and run from a past that wasn’t even quite her own—compounded by the FBI who vilified her—felt like a massively unfair position she’d been put in. That she’d dealt with it the only way she knew how to—by protecting her brother, by keeping some walls up—was not only understandable, but justified.
On the other hand, it was harder to like Mac, whose own conflict about his job and Tess’s involvement in the case left him indecisive about her. Using their connection to further his investigations merely served to confirm how much of an arse he could be and there were numerous instances when I thought Tess deserved better for the crap she’d been dealt from all sides.
My only complaint (which probably seems like a petty one given how excellent everything else is) is that as a romance, the speedy conclusion seems to do a disservice to Tess, where Mac’s major grovelling session which I absolutely needed to see never really happened at all. I didn’t think he’d redeemed himself enough to earn back her affection when all he’d done was to put his job above her, with his doubts blindingly overshadowing what he really felt for her. With a fairly quick resolution, I felt that this important bit where broken parts of a relationship are repaired had been glossed over, leaving me with a pairing that seemed to have done their making up and talking behind closed doors.
Then again, it isn’t as if this should throw any shade on Anderson’s fantastic writing. ‘Cold Malice’ is yet another masterpiece of hers and I’m actually convinced that this author does RS so well that she’s actually suited to writing for the big screen. Needless to say, I’m already asking, when’s the next full novel coming?
*ARC by the author
March 15, 2020
Cold Malice by Toni Anderson is book 8 in the Cold Justice series and I may of said it before but I'm changing my mind but this one is my favourite so far 😆
This one is about a white supremacist group old and new, it fast, thrilling, exciting and full of ' oh my flipping god ' moments.
It's non stop from the first page and doesn't let up for one minute.
This series continues with its special ingredients of making it a enjoyable read such being fast and full of action, with HOT FBI agents , steamy romance and a HEA we all been waiting for 😉.
It's definitely worth reading 📖
This one is about a white supremacist group old and new, it fast, thrilling, exciting and full of ' oh my flipping god ' moments.
It's non stop from the first page and doesn't let up for one minute.
This series continues with its special ingredients of making it a enjoyable read such being fast and full of action, with HOT FBI agents , steamy romance and a HEA we all been waiting for 😉.
It's definitely worth reading 📖
September 13, 2017
ARC Review
Originally posted at Scandalicious Book Review
In another life, I had the experience of working with survivors of one of the most heinous hate crimes in the twentieth century, the Holocaust, one day and a former Neo-Nazi skinhead the next. I learned a lot about what it meant to live as a target of hate, and received insight into the mind of a hater. From the extremist, I studied the strategies used by hate groups to recruit. I was familiar with the signs and symbols used by extremists. The survivor taught me about fear, but also about fortitude, compassion, and forgiveness. I had a world-class education on the topic. I give you this background because it is the context of Toni Anderson’s latest Cold Justice book, COLD MALICE.
Tess Fallon escapes her extremist upbringing on her father’s Pioneers compound. David Hines is the leader of an anti-government, white nationalist group. Tess is exposed daily to diatribes about the illegitimate government. She is taught that they are out to “steal her daddy’s hard-earned money, tax their land and take away their guns.” She is also taught that non-whites will kill her without compunction if she tries to leave the territory. Fortunately for Tess, she is more likely to ask questions and think on her own, rather than be indoctrinated by the cult.
During the organization’s last days, they are joined by a new member, Kenny Travers. Kenny Travers is an undercover officer on one of his first assignments. Seeing how the men in the compound treat and abuse the girls, Kenny tries to protect Tess from her brother’s sexual advances. He tries also to give Tess a heads up when law enforcement comes in for the arrest. Then Kenny Travers disappears.
Kenny Travers reappears in the story years later as ASAC (Assistant Special Agent in Charge) Steve (Mac) McKenzie. He is starting a new position at FBI Headquarters when there is a series of hate crimes against prominent members of society including a black judge, a transgender radio personality, and a gay politician. The murders seem to follow the manifesto written by David Hines years earlier. During the course of the investigation, Mac has to reconnect with Tess to see if she is any way involved with the murders.
After a bloody shootout at the Pioneer compound, Tess and her brother are put into foster care. Since that day, Tess is running from her past. She changes her name and tries to remain as anonymous as she can. She is terrified that if anyone finds out about her family, they will judge her based on her family’s beliefs. As it turns out, her fears are realized when Agent McKenzie enters back into her world.
Toni Anderson delivers a taut suspense thriller with multiple storylines. In addition to the crimes, she brings into the narrative a relationship between Tess and her brother, Cole, and Mac’s ex-wife, Heather. The parts and pieces are expertly woven together, merging into a very exciting climax. I also find Ms. Anderson’s research impeccable. She nails it. She includes little details that give us a peek into the mindset of the extremists. For example, she refers to the number fourteen when speaking about a tattoo given to Tess as a child. The number fourteen refers to the fourteen words of a popular a white supremacist slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” She emphasizes the anti-government nature of these extremist groups. They not only hate. They want to overthrow, what they perceive, an illegitimate government.
Whereas the mystery and suspense are spot on, the relationship between the two main characters feels less so. There is an uneven power dynamic at play. Even though Tess is ruled out as a suspect in the murders (still, bias from law enforcement against her past continues to question her innocence), she could potentially still be a witness. The more Mac involves Tess in the investigation, the more she is under scrutiny. Her continued involvement puts her well-ordered life at risk and he holds all the cards to her future. Furthermore, Mac is characterized as an ambitious agent. His mantra is to be a SAC in charge of a field office by forty. His ambition and attraction make him reckless with her reputation and life. And yet, Mac may be the most “real” of all of Ms. Anderson’s heroes. His relationship with his ex-wife is contentious. He is still angry about her having an affair. This is probably more true-to-life than not. However, if we put his selfishness, reckless ambition, and continuing anger together, it is difficult to imagine why Tess would want to risk a relationship. I admit I tend to heroify the main characters in romantic suspense books, and I want Mac to be more vulnerable. What I really want from Mac is a good grovel on bended knee.
Lack of grovel aside, this is a first-rate mystery suspense that will keep readers turning the pages and stuffing their mouths with popcorn (or maybe that is just my stress-eating).
Originally posted at Scandalicious Book Review
In another life, I had the experience of working with survivors of one of the most heinous hate crimes in the twentieth century, the Holocaust, one day and a former Neo-Nazi skinhead the next. I learned a lot about what it meant to live as a target of hate, and received insight into the mind of a hater. From the extremist, I studied the strategies used by hate groups to recruit. I was familiar with the signs and symbols used by extremists. The survivor taught me about fear, but also about fortitude, compassion, and forgiveness. I had a world-class education on the topic. I give you this background because it is the context of Toni Anderson’s latest Cold Justice book, COLD MALICE.
Tess Fallon escapes her extremist upbringing on her father’s Pioneers compound. David Hines is the leader of an anti-government, white nationalist group. Tess is exposed daily to diatribes about the illegitimate government. She is taught that they are out to “steal her daddy’s hard-earned money, tax their land and take away their guns.” She is also taught that non-whites will kill her without compunction if she tries to leave the territory. Fortunately for Tess, she is more likely to ask questions and think on her own, rather than be indoctrinated by the cult.
During the organization’s last days, they are joined by a new member, Kenny Travers. Kenny Travers is an undercover officer on one of his first assignments. Seeing how the men in the compound treat and abuse the girls, Kenny tries to protect Tess from her brother’s sexual advances. He tries also to give Tess a heads up when law enforcement comes in for the arrest. Then Kenny Travers disappears.
Kenny Travers reappears in the story years later as ASAC (Assistant Special Agent in Charge) Steve (Mac) McKenzie. He is starting a new position at FBI Headquarters when there is a series of hate crimes against prominent members of society including a black judge, a transgender radio personality, and a gay politician. The murders seem to follow the manifesto written by David Hines years earlier. During the course of the investigation, Mac has to reconnect with Tess to see if she is any way involved with the murders.
After a bloody shootout at the Pioneer compound, Tess and her brother are put into foster care. Since that day, Tess is running from her past. She changes her name and tries to remain as anonymous as she can. She is terrified that if anyone finds out about her family, they will judge her based on her family’s beliefs. As it turns out, her fears are realized when Agent McKenzie enters back into her world.
Toni Anderson delivers a taut suspense thriller with multiple storylines. In addition to the crimes, she brings into the narrative a relationship between Tess and her brother, Cole, and Mac’s ex-wife, Heather. The parts and pieces are expertly woven together, merging into a very exciting climax. I also find Ms. Anderson’s research impeccable. She nails it. She includes little details that give us a peek into the mindset of the extremists. For example, she refers to the number fourteen when speaking about a tattoo given to Tess as a child. The number fourteen refers to the fourteen words of a popular a white supremacist slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” She emphasizes the anti-government nature of these extremist groups. They not only hate. They want to overthrow, what they perceive, an illegitimate government.
Whereas the mystery and suspense are spot on, the relationship between the two main characters feels less so. There is an uneven power dynamic at play. Even though Tess is ruled out as a suspect in the murders (still, bias from law enforcement against her past continues to question her innocence), she could potentially still be a witness. The more Mac involves Tess in the investigation, the more she is under scrutiny. Her continued involvement puts her well-ordered life at risk and he holds all the cards to her future. Furthermore, Mac is characterized as an ambitious agent. His mantra is to be a SAC in charge of a field office by forty. His ambition and attraction make him reckless with her reputation and life. And yet, Mac may be the most “real” of all of Ms. Anderson’s heroes. His relationship with his ex-wife is contentious. He is still angry about her having an affair. This is probably more true-to-life than not. However, if we put his selfishness, reckless ambition, and continuing anger together, it is difficult to imagine why Tess would want to risk a relationship. I admit I tend to heroify the main characters in romantic suspense books, and I want Mac to be more vulnerable. What I really want from Mac is a good grovel on bended knee.
Lack of grovel aside, this is a first-rate mystery suspense that will keep readers turning the pages and stuffing their mouths with popcorn (or maybe that is just my stress-eating).
December 14, 2019
I really enjoy reading this series.
If you are looking for some romance suspense books this series is it.
Eight books in and I can't get enough.
Perfect read for Criminal Minds fans.
If you are looking for some romance suspense books this series is it.
Eight books in and I can't get enough.
Perfect read for Criminal Minds fans.
September 20, 2017
I guess even in a favorite series there is bound to be a stumbling block read, and this was it for me. The book was well written as always; however, I simply did not like the storyline...at all. I kept reading and finish reading for the mentions here and there of characters from previous books; but I just didn't particularly like this story, Mac (he was an unprofessional jerk most of the book), or the subject matter of the plotline.
Still looking forward to the next book in the series. Love this series and author.
Still looking forward to the next book in the series. Love this series and author.
January 22, 2018
Book 8 was every bit as good as the first 7 books were.
This one was all about poor Tess, who had had it rough her whole life, always trying to hide who she was. And her brother, Cole, was left in the dark as to who he really was. The two were the children of a family of crazy white supremacists who had all been killed or arrested by the FBI 20 years before. And our hero, Mac, came calling when murders started happening in Washington D.C. that would lead to the 20 year old extremists.
Mac had been an undercover agent who helped take the family down and Tess had been a 10 year old who was in love with that agent. BUT she was told he’d been killed so imagine her surprise when he showed up at her house 20 years older and far from dead.
It was a great book with lots of twists and turns and was exciting from beginning to the end.
There was explicit sex that went on and on and it really wasn’t that necessary. They did it against the door, then the dining room table, then there was a couple of pages with the killer watching them and a call to her cohort, and then back to the sex on the floor. Way too much sex for a murder/mystery. AND nothing that led up to all that sex. Oh, and one time in the motel room where he got her off with his fingers. Nothing led up to that either.
The F-bomb was used 79 times.
As to the narrator: Wonderful job by Eric G. Dove. Great voices and great emotions.
This one was all about poor Tess, who had had it rough her whole life, always trying to hide who she was. And her brother, Cole, was left in the dark as to who he really was. The two were the children of a family of crazy white supremacists who had all been killed or arrested by the FBI 20 years before. And our hero, Mac, came calling when murders started happening in Washington D.C. that would lead to the 20 year old extremists.
Mac had been an undercover agent who helped take the family down and Tess had been a 10 year old who was in love with that agent. BUT she was told he’d been killed so imagine her surprise when he showed up at her house 20 years older and far from dead.
It was a great book with lots of twists and turns and was exciting from beginning to the end.
There was explicit sex that went on and on and it really wasn’t that necessary. They did it against the door, then the dining room table, then there was a couple of pages with the killer watching them and a call to her cohort, and then back to the sex on the floor. Way too much sex for a murder/mystery. AND nothing that led up to all that sex. Oh, and one time in the motel room where he got her off with his fingers. Nothing led up to that either.
The F-bomb was used 79 times.
As to the narrator: Wonderful job by Eric G. Dove. Great voices and great emotions.
December 26, 2019
3 Stars
Overall Opinion: This is a tough one to rate because I was definitely distracted while reading it with the holidays and all sorts of other stuff going on. I liked the suspenseful and mysterious elements to the story, but I did feel like the romance was lacking. I felt like the H didn't do nearly enough groveling and I never really got a good feel on or connection with him throughout the book. He seemed to do a complete 180 and was in love at the end and I was a little confused and frustrated by this. I also felt like the overall ending was too abrupt where it was all solved in the very end and tied up with a pretty little bow but it didn't really fit. I wanted more with the romance and ending, but I enjoyed it otherwise...so a solid 3 stars for me.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Tessa and Mac's story. Tessa grew up in a white supremacists compound and she meets Mac as one of her father's followers when she was 10. Mac tells her something cryptic that ends up saving her and her baby brother's life. Fast forward 20 years when FBI agent Mac is helping in a case that is eerily familiar to the extreme plans of the compound that he worked undercover at 20 years prior and thought he had help shut down. Mac seeks out Tessa when things become too familiar. Neither of them are trusting of the other, but they cannot ignore the pull they feel. There are some suspenseful moments, some sexy times, and some family/ex drama...and they get a HFN ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Tessa, Mac, and other side characters in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. It took me a long time to read, but I had a lot of other stuff going on, so I don't necessarily think the time it took me to read it was due to the actual pacing of the book.
Instalove: Kind of. They went from caring for each other in the past, to working together, to lust to (what felt like to me) all of a sudden love (for the H). It did take a while to develop though.
H (Hero) rating: 3 stars. Mac. I felt like we didn't get a full gauge on who he was. Maybe it was to have a sense of mystery, but I didn't connect with him that much because of it.
h (heroine) rating: 4 stars. Tessa. I liked her. I appreciated her strength and how she was a survivor through all the stuff she went through.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes, but mild
Sex scene with OW or OM:Not with the mcs
Cheating: Not between mcs
Separation: Not really
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ended abruptly and with what I would call a HFN ending , but I felt like there were a ton of unanswered questions left in the end.
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
Overall Opinion: This is a tough one to rate because I was definitely distracted while reading it with the holidays and all sorts of other stuff going on. I liked the suspenseful and mysterious elements to the story, but I did feel like the romance was lacking. I felt like the H didn't do nearly enough groveling and I never really got a good feel on or connection with him throughout the book. He seemed to do a complete 180 and was in love at the end and I was a little confused and frustrated by this. I also felt like the overall ending was too abrupt where it was all solved in the very end and tied up with a pretty little bow but it didn't really fit. I wanted more with the romance and ending, but I enjoyed it otherwise...so a solid 3 stars for me.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Tessa and Mac's story. Tessa grew up in a white supremacists compound and she meets Mac as one of her father's followers when she was 10. Mac tells her something cryptic that ends up saving her and her baby brother's life. Fast forward 20 years when FBI agent Mac is helping in a case that is eerily familiar to the extreme plans of the compound that he worked undercover at 20 years prior and thought he had help shut down. Mac seeks out Tessa when things become too familiar. Neither of them are trusting of the other, but they cannot ignore the pull they feel. There are some suspenseful moments, some sexy times, and some family/ex drama...and they get a HFN ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Tessa, Mac, and other side characters in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. It took me a long time to read, but I had a lot of other stuff going on, so I don't necessarily think the time it took me to read it was due to the actual pacing of the book.
Instalove: Kind of. They went from caring for each other in the past, to working together, to lust to (what felt like to me) all of a sudden love (for the H). It did take a while to develop though.
H (Hero) rating: 3 stars. Mac. I felt like we didn't get a full gauge on who he was. Maybe it was to have a sense of mystery, but I didn't connect with him that much because of it.
h (heroine) rating: 4 stars. Tessa. I liked her. I appreciated her strength and how she was a survivor through all the stuff she went through.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes, but mild
Sex scene with OW or OM:Not with the mcs
Cheating: Not between mcs
Separation: Not really
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ended abruptly and with what I would call a HFN ending , but I felt like there were a ton of unanswered questions left in the end.
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
June 5, 2018
Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.
Toni Anderson has written a gritty, taunt thriller this time around. Her hero is ambitious and her heroine has a family that casts a long shadow over her. These two are one of her most wonderful couples.
Theresa Jane Hines was 10 years old when the Pioneers compound was raided. She and her baby brother, Bobby, survived because she did exactly what Kenny Travers, a kind, cowboy, undercover recruit to her father's cause, told her to do. David Hines and his wife, Francis, the leaders of the white nationalist group, died that night, but their evil hate filled doctrine lives on.
20 years later Tess Fallon is now an accountant. Her brother, Cole, is a college student. They have changed their names and Tess has done everything possible to bury their past with the Pioneers. Unfortunately, some secrets just won't stay where you put them.
FBI ASAC Steve (Mac) McKenzie is on his way up the career ladder. His goal is to be a Special Agent in Charge (SAC) by the time he hits the big 4-0. The way his career is going, he just might do it. His new assignment is to the FBI HQ in Washington, D.C., a rung up that ladder after his success on a high profile case. He has come a long ways from his rookie undercover days as Kenny Travers with the antigovernment group which started his rise in law enforcement.
When high profile murders start taking place around Washington, D.C., Mac has the eerie feeling that this has a connection to David Hine's manifesto. He tracks down Theresa Jane, now Tess, and finds a beautiful young woman with nothing to hide, or is she? Mac is career focused, but Tess is awakening feelings in him. Feelings that, given who she really is, could destroy his career. Tess fears her brother, Cole is involved, but she needs to trust Mac or this new group could destroy them both.
Toni Anderson has written a gritty, taunt thriller this time around. Her hero is ambitious and her heroine has a family that casts a long shadow over her. These two are one of her most wonderful couples.
Theresa Jane Hines was 10 years old when the Pioneers compound was raided. She and her baby brother, Bobby, survived because she did exactly what Kenny Travers, a kind, cowboy, undercover recruit to her father's cause, told her to do. David Hines and his wife, Francis, the leaders of the white nationalist group, died that night, but their evil hate filled doctrine lives on.
20 years later Tess Fallon is now an accountant. Her brother, Cole, is a college student. They have changed their names and Tess has done everything possible to bury their past with the Pioneers. Unfortunately, some secrets just won't stay where you put them.
FBI ASAC Steve (Mac) McKenzie is on his way up the career ladder. His goal is to be a Special Agent in Charge (SAC) by the time he hits the big 4-0. The way his career is going, he just might do it. His new assignment is to the FBI HQ in Washington, D.C., a rung up that ladder after his success on a high profile case. He has come a long ways from his rookie undercover days as Kenny Travers with the antigovernment group which started his rise in law enforcement.
When high profile murders start taking place around Washington, D.C., Mac has the eerie feeling that this has a connection to David Hine's manifesto. He tracks down Theresa Jane, now Tess, and finds a beautiful young woman with nothing to hide, or is she? Mac is career focused, but Tess is awakening feelings in him. Feelings that, given who she really is, could destroy his career. Tess fears her brother, Cole is involved, but she needs to trust Mac or this new group could destroy them both.
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December 21, 2018Last day! COLD MALICE is only 99c (Ends Dec 22nd, 2018. US, UK, CA, AU, IN only).
Twenty years ago, an undercover FBI agent stole her heart then destroyed her family. Now he’s back and she’s his main suspect.
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Finalist in the 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award For Excellence In Mystery/Romantic Suspense.
Twenty years ago, an undercover FBI agent stole her heart then destroyed her family. Now he’s back and she’s his main suspect.
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Finalist in the 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award For Excellence In Mystery/Romantic Suspense.
September 14, 2017
The Cold Justice series is well into its 8th book, with Toni Anderson hitting the mark with each single installment in the series. That is what I call well researched books that keeps the pages turning and the readers coming back for more. And I have definitely been coming back for more.
Cold Malice, just like every other book in this series, takes on a prominent issue in current society. The rise of white supremacist movements in countries like the United States, putting into peril years of painstaking work into building more inclusive societies. Toni’s insight and the way she handles sensitive issues of this nature continues to amaze me in every single one of her books and Cold Malice was no exception.
Theresa Jane (Tess) is the one surviving daughter of the infamous Hines family, notorious for its extremist right wing philosophies that had turned deadly. With her younger brother Cole, Tess had found refuge in the kind woman that had adopted them, and had grown up trying to run from a past that seems to be catching up with her in a way that leaves her cold on the inside.
When Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steve McKenzie (Mac) comes back into Tess’s life, it is as if a ghost from her past has come calling, a ghost that she had clearly thought and believed to be dead in the events that had taken place that fateful night when the lives of the Hines family had met its ultimate deadly conclusion. A string of hate crimes is what brings Mac to the scene, an FBI agent who had slowly risen through the ranks to prove himself capable and beyond the trashy background from which he had emerged. For Mac, his career comes first and foremost, and if Tess still reminds him of that little girl he had failed to protect all those years ago, he would just have to deal with it.
With Mac in charge of the investigating team, it is one harrowing experience after another that pits Tess and Mac together, each having to rely on the other to get through. Trust comes hard for both of them, especially Tess who has always had to isolate herself from the rest of the world lest the truth of her background emerge and harm her prospects for a life of normalcy that she strives so hard for. For Mac, even though he is 99% certain that Tess has not one prejudiced bone in her body, it is that 1% that makes it hard for him to trust her on a level that he should, given the way he reacts to her at every molecular level of his being.
A killer with an agenda that targets the awakening of the slumbering beast, Mac finds himself running a race against time in trying to put everything together. In the midst of it all lies the searing passion that he shares with a woman he may never have forgotten, a woman who stirs his very soul and makes him think of a future other than that of one filled with ambition to further his career.
I loved Cold Malice, just like I have loved reading every other book Toni has written. Toni’s books come bearing interesting tidbits of information about what law enforcement itself is like at its heart, how painstaking it is to go through tons of evidence, especially in light of the world of information exchange that we inhabit today. Furthermore, the concept of “ghost skins” that I came across in this book was one that fascinated me. Extremist movements such as the white supremacists, going through the ranks of government service, embedding themselves deep within the system, until the time comes for them to rise and act on their twisted agendas. It is a concept that makes shivers run up and down my spine, the kind of meticulous and painstaking planning and patience that it would take for a group of people filled with so much hatred for anything that they do not agree with.
The tidbit on child marriages still being allowed in most parts of the US, more so than most people think also gave me a pause. We are all quick to judge when the lesser developed countries have archaic laws that allows these marriages to take place, that violates a girl in so many ways that it does not even bear thinking. Yet, the country that sits at the position of the leader of the free world itself has festering within, the kind of policies and laws that should have been done away with a long time ago, to protect the rights of every child. Perhaps it is a significant fact that even though the US ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995, it failed to implement the terms of CRC at home, owing to contentious politics within.
I loved both Mac and Tess. As a hero, Mac is a specimen worth salivating over. There is a vulnerability to him that he hides, and he hides it well. A failed marriage that has left its mark, a childhood that drives him to be the person he is. Labeled a sex god by Tess, he is very well worthy of the term as he takes the straitlaced Tess and teaches her how fun, and oh so good sex with the right person can be. Tess is a mass of contradictions unto herself. Yearning for the kind of closeness and love that she believes are possible only in Disney fairy tales, she never thinks for a moment that the man from her past that she had fallen in love as a child would be the person who would change it all. I felt every single scar on Tess’s soul deep within. It is amazing how Toni can craft characters that are deep and multifaceted as Tess. I loved her
Cold Malice is a novel done well, delivering a story that would stay with the reader for a long while. The subject matter alone is reason enough.
Recommended!
Rating = 4/5
For more reviews and quotes, please visit www.maldivianbookreviewer.com
Cold Malice, just like every other book in this series, takes on a prominent issue in current society. The rise of white supremacist movements in countries like the United States, putting into peril years of painstaking work into building more inclusive societies. Toni’s insight and the way she handles sensitive issues of this nature continues to amaze me in every single one of her books and Cold Malice was no exception.
Theresa Jane (Tess) is the one surviving daughter of the infamous Hines family, notorious for its extremist right wing philosophies that had turned deadly. With her younger brother Cole, Tess had found refuge in the kind woman that had adopted them, and had grown up trying to run from a past that seems to be catching up with her in a way that leaves her cold on the inside.
When Assistant Special Agent in Charge Steve McKenzie (Mac) comes back into Tess’s life, it is as if a ghost from her past has come calling, a ghost that she had clearly thought and believed to be dead in the events that had taken place that fateful night when the lives of the Hines family had met its ultimate deadly conclusion. A string of hate crimes is what brings Mac to the scene, an FBI agent who had slowly risen through the ranks to prove himself capable and beyond the trashy background from which he had emerged. For Mac, his career comes first and foremost, and if Tess still reminds him of that little girl he had failed to protect all those years ago, he would just have to deal with it.
With Mac in charge of the investigating team, it is one harrowing experience after another that pits Tess and Mac together, each having to rely on the other to get through. Trust comes hard for both of them, especially Tess who has always had to isolate herself from the rest of the world lest the truth of her background emerge and harm her prospects for a life of normalcy that she strives so hard for. For Mac, even though he is 99% certain that Tess has not one prejudiced bone in her body, it is that 1% that makes it hard for him to trust her on a level that he should, given the way he reacts to her at every molecular level of his being.
A killer with an agenda that targets the awakening of the slumbering beast, Mac finds himself running a race against time in trying to put everything together. In the midst of it all lies the searing passion that he shares with a woman he may never have forgotten, a woman who stirs his very soul and makes him think of a future other than that of one filled with ambition to further his career.
I loved Cold Malice, just like I have loved reading every other book Toni has written. Toni’s books come bearing interesting tidbits of information about what law enforcement itself is like at its heart, how painstaking it is to go through tons of evidence, especially in light of the world of information exchange that we inhabit today. Furthermore, the concept of “ghost skins” that I came across in this book was one that fascinated me. Extremist movements such as the white supremacists, going through the ranks of government service, embedding themselves deep within the system, until the time comes for them to rise and act on their twisted agendas. It is a concept that makes shivers run up and down my spine, the kind of meticulous and painstaking planning and patience that it would take for a group of people filled with so much hatred for anything that they do not agree with.
The tidbit on child marriages still being allowed in most parts of the US, more so than most people think also gave me a pause. We are all quick to judge when the lesser developed countries have archaic laws that allows these marriages to take place, that violates a girl in so many ways that it does not even bear thinking. Yet, the country that sits at the position of the leader of the free world itself has festering within, the kind of policies and laws that should have been done away with a long time ago, to protect the rights of every child. Perhaps it is a significant fact that even though the US ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995, it failed to implement the terms of CRC at home, owing to contentious politics within.
I loved both Mac and Tess. As a hero, Mac is a specimen worth salivating over. There is a vulnerability to him that he hides, and he hides it well. A failed marriage that has left its mark, a childhood that drives him to be the person he is. Labeled a sex god by Tess, he is very well worthy of the term as he takes the straitlaced Tess and teaches her how fun, and oh so good sex with the right person can be. Tess is a mass of contradictions unto herself. Yearning for the kind of closeness and love that she believes are possible only in Disney fairy tales, she never thinks for a moment that the man from her past that she had fallen in love as a child would be the person who would change it all. I felt every single scar on Tess’s soul deep within. It is amazing how Toni can craft characters that are deep and multifaceted as Tess. I loved her
Cold Malice is a novel done well, delivering a story that would stay with the reader for a long while. The subject matter alone is reason enough.
Recommended!
Rating = 4/5
For more reviews and quotes, please visit www.maldivianbookreviewer.com
September 1, 2017
FBI Agent Steve (Mac) McKenzie has always had one goal in mind.. Getting his own team. Even back when he was just a newly police officer undercover with a white supremacist group he didn't let his affections for an innocent 10 year old girl get in the way of taking down the group which lead to many being gunned down.
Now 20 years later signs are pointing to someone trying to resurrect the cause of that group when series of murders start occurring against the types that group would target.
Tess Fallon and her baby brother barely escaped that night 20 years ago with their lives. Her only goal was to keep her infant brother with her and to help raise him to become a good man – unlike the sick white supremacist family they were both born from. She thought she had accomplished that – new names – raised and adopted by a great woman, got her degree as a CPA, and now trying to get her brother to finish college. But when the first murder occurs and she finds a evidence in her brother's home office she begins to question did the apple not fall far from the tree and her brother become something she had tried to protect him from ever knowing about – their family history.
Mac reminded me a bit of Lincoln Frazier – closed off emotions and only thinking of the job. Which means he was a bit of a dick at times.. More than a few times I wanted to slap him upside his head with how he treated Tess more like a suspect instead of a victim.. But they did have some sizzling chemistry..
We are lead on a winding road getting to the truth on who is behind the killings and wanting to restart the cause. Sad thing is, I know there are really people out there that think like these people – just turn on your TV and you'll see them.. Great story that kept you engaged from beginning to end. Can't wait for the next book which will finally give us Alex and Mallory's wedding – these two started this series off 8 books ago..
Now 20 years later signs are pointing to someone trying to resurrect the cause of that group when series of murders start occurring against the types that group would target.
Tess Fallon and her baby brother barely escaped that night 20 years ago with their lives. Her only goal was to keep her infant brother with her and to help raise him to become a good man – unlike the sick white supremacist family they were both born from. She thought she had accomplished that – new names – raised and adopted by a great woman, got her degree as a CPA, and now trying to get her brother to finish college. But when the first murder occurs and she finds a evidence in her brother's home office she begins to question did the apple not fall far from the tree and her brother become something she had tried to protect him from ever knowing about – their family history.
Mac reminded me a bit of Lincoln Frazier – closed off emotions and only thinking of the job. Which means he was a bit of a dick at times.. More than a few times I wanted to slap him upside his head with how he treated Tess more like a suspect instead of a victim.. But they did have some sizzling chemistry..
We are lead on a winding road getting to the truth on who is behind the killings and wanting to restart the cause. Sad thing is, I know there are really people out there that think like these people – just turn on your TV and you'll see them.. Great story that kept you engaged from beginning to end. Can't wait for the next book which will finally give us Alex and Mallory's wedding – these two started this series off 8 books ago..
November 4, 2021
Another excellent Cold Justice instalment, this series continues with more thrilling suspense & intrigue and significant hot sexy moments.
I loved this particular story & setting, under cover cop turned FBI agent Steve McKenzie is all about his career, married once and that ended in disaster. A young girl, born into a White Supremacist cult is forced to take her & her baby brother's lives into her own hands, it was a gripping & intense read. Twenty years later Steve & Tess Fallon's lives cross paths again and Steve's not quite sure whether the sweet, innocent 10yr old has turned out just like her bigoted parents.
The heroine was a strong survivor, I loved her tenacity & resilience. The hero was career driven and a bit of a douche until he realised what he could have was too good to give up. You see characters from the previous books get involved, which I absolutely love. This is outright one of my most favourite series ever!
I loved this particular story & setting, under cover cop turned FBI agent Steve McKenzie is all about his career, married once and that ended in disaster. A young girl, born into a White Supremacist cult is forced to take her & her baby brother's lives into her own hands, it was a gripping & intense read. Twenty years later Steve & Tess Fallon's lives cross paths again and Steve's not quite sure whether the sweet, innocent 10yr old has turned out just like her bigoted parents.
The heroine was a strong survivor, I loved her tenacity & resilience. The hero was career driven and a bit of a douche until he realised what he could have was too good to give up. You see characters from the previous books get involved, which I absolutely love. This is outright one of my most favourite series ever!
October 1, 2017
The eighth book in the Cold Justice series by Toni Anderson. Theresa Jane aka Tess Fallon was just a child when the Pioneers' compound, headed by her white supremacist parents, was raided by the FBI. She hid in a closet with her baby brother and survived. Now twenty years later, people are being killed and evidence seems to point to the Pioneers'. But most of the members are either dead or in jail. ASAC Steve McKenzie (Mac) is on the job investigating. Twenty years ago, "Mac" was a young policeman undercover in the compound and it was his intel that brought in the FBI.
Another excellent addition to the series!
Another excellent addition to the series!
March 16, 2018
Interesting take on white supremacies, scary but interesting! Amazing how long a grudge will last.
This book centers around an FBI agent and the daughter of a known white authoritarian. The FBI agent had worked undercover and had infiltrated the compound and witnessed the inner workings - this was actually before he became an agent, kind of a test ground for him as a young man. The daughter was only 10 when that world came tumbling down - at least for that time.
Not a bad read, it got a bit too wordy with some repetition - the story line was interesting and typical of the Cold Justice series.
3.5 stars and a thumbs up
This book centers around an FBI agent and the daughter of a known white authoritarian. The FBI agent had worked undercover and had infiltrated the compound and witnessed the inner workings - this was actually before he became an agent, kind of a test ground for him as a young man. The daughter was only 10 when that world came tumbling down - at least for that time.
Not a bad read, it got a bit too wordy with some repetition - the story line was interesting and typical of the Cold Justice series.
3.5 stars and a thumbs up
June 10, 2019
Excellent. Pretty scary since the topic of this murder/mystery is becoming an increasing problem in our current events. Really glad I found this series as I am enjoying it thoroughly! Onto the next one! ;)
August 2, 2020
3.5 Stars
September 10, 2017
*4.5*
Toni Anderson's Cold Malice was originally pitched to me as a Criminal Minds type novel, and if you read my reviews regularly, you'll know how much of a Criminal Minds fangirl I am. So basically right there I was already 100% sold, saying gimme the book!
One word that describes Cold Malice? ADDICTIVE! I raced this book easily in one sitting, flipping the pages as fast I could on my iPad. Even as the night turned darker and the wind picked up, I was still enthralled, no matter how amped up the creepiness and suspense got because I needed to know what happened. Was Tess's baby brother the culprit, a cold blooded killer inspired by their deceased, no good father? Was Tess's older brother pulling all the strings from prison, watching Tess's every move? Was Tess holding back important information? There was so many questions, and often more twists and turns than answers coming my way.
One of the aspects I enjoyed the most about Cold Malice was the mystery. I'm always intrigued by cult survivor stories so that alone brought a lot of interest out of me. Tess's childhood fascinated and disturbed me. It sickened me to know how much pain and suffering she had gone through, especially at the hands of the people who should've loved and protected her the most. However, I will say Toni Anderson did a great job of establishing that part of the mystery and plot. I especially loved how she made me question how far out Tess's dad's reach went out and influenced others even twenty years later. It got to the point where I was questioning everyone's intentions that Tess and Mac came in contact with. I also enjoyed the fact that I never quite knew where the book was going to go. Sometimes I thought Tess's younger brother was the murderer and then two chapters later I was convinced he wasn't the murderer and back and forth I continued to go...never quite knowing until those final three chapters who-dun-it. It especially added suspense given the POVs of those involved in the crimes were involved in the book - it was creepy to be in their respective heads but it brought a great amount of suspense and intrigue!
In addition to mystery, Cold Malice gives a good helping of steamy romance.
I don't know about you all but I love a good former childhood friends to lovers type of romance, and that's exactly what we got between Tess and Mac. In her childhood, Tess saw Mac as her protector, the guy who kept her creepy big brother away from her, no matter the consequences, while Mac say Tess as a spirited little girl who's spirit and desire life he couldn't let die. Years later, Tess still sees Mac as her protector and Mac sees Tess as a strong, determined woman rather than the little girl he once knew. I truly enjoyed seeing their friendship and eventual romance develop over the course of the story.
Additionally, I liked both Tess and Mac as characters. Tess was strong willed. I found it incredibly impressive that she didn't let her family's history get the best of her. Instead, she barreled forward, starting a whole new life with a whole new identity with her baby brother. It was admirable and it spoke words for the kind of person she was. Mac was the typical hot-headed, acts-before-thinking male, but I still found him to be one hundred precent desirable. I found it interesting to see how he went about solving cases, and I especially enjoyed seeing him challenge Tess, forcing her to face certain parts of her past she's left deeply buried. Brought up the tension and eventually the steam.
In all, Cold Malice is an enthralling read, perfect for fans of romantic suspense! This may be my first book by Toni Anderson, but it certainly won't be my last!
Grade: A-
Toni Anderson's Cold Malice was originally pitched to me as a Criminal Minds type novel, and if you read my reviews regularly, you'll know how much of a Criminal Minds fangirl I am. So basically right there I was already 100% sold, saying gimme the book!
One word that describes Cold Malice? ADDICTIVE! I raced this book easily in one sitting, flipping the pages as fast I could on my iPad. Even as the night turned darker and the wind picked up, I was still enthralled, no matter how amped up the creepiness and suspense got because I needed to know what happened. Was Tess's baby brother the culprit, a cold blooded killer inspired by their deceased, no good father? Was Tess's older brother pulling all the strings from prison, watching Tess's every move? Was Tess holding back important information? There was so many questions, and often more twists and turns than answers coming my way.
One of the aspects I enjoyed the most about Cold Malice was the mystery. I'm always intrigued by cult survivor stories so that alone brought a lot of interest out of me. Tess's childhood fascinated and disturbed me. It sickened me to know how much pain and suffering she had gone through, especially at the hands of the people who should've loved and protected her the most. However, I will say Toni Anderson did a great job of establishing that part of the mystery and plot. I especially loved how she made me question how far out Tess's dad's reach went out and influenced others even twenty years later. It got to the point where I was questioning everyone's intentions that Tess and Mac came in contact with. I also enjoyed the fact that I never quite knew where the book was going to go. Sometimes I thought Tess's younger brother was the murderer and then two chapters later I was convinced he wasn't the murderer and back and forth I continued to go...never quite knowing until those final three chapters who-dun-it. It especially added suspense given the POVs of those involved in the crimes were involved in the book - it was creepy to be in their respective heads but it brought a great amount of suspense and intrigue!
In addition to mystery, Cold Malice gives a good helping of steamy romance.
I don't know about you all but I love a good former childhood friends to lovers type of romance, and that's exactly what we got between Tess and Mac. In her childhood, Tess saw Mac as her protector, the guy who kept her creepy big brother away from her, no matter the consequences, while Mac say Tess as a spirited little girl who's spirit and desire life he couldn't let die. Years later, Tess still sees Mac as her protector and Mac sees Tess as a strong, determined woman rather than the little girl he once knew. I truly enjoyed seeing their friendship and eventual romance develop over the course of the story.
Additionally, I liked both Tess and Mac as characters. Tess was strong willed. I found it incredibly impressive that she didn't let her family's history get the best of her. Instead, she barreled forward, starting a whole new life with a whole new identity with her baby brother. It was admirable and it spoke words for the kind of person she was. Mac was the typical hot-headed, acts-before-thinking male, but I still found him to be one hundred precent desirable. I found it interesting to see how he went about solving cases, and I especially enjoyed seeing him challenge Tess, forcing her to face certain parts of her past she's left deeply buried. Brought up the tension and eventually the steam.
In all, Cold Malice is an enthralling read, perfect for fans of romantic suspense! This may be my first book by Toni Anderson, but it certainly won't be my last!
Grade: A-
Want to read
December 11, 2019🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/11/2019)! 🎁
April 4, 2018
I have read everything by Toni Anderson and this book by far was the most addictive. I couldn't put it down once I started.
The write was exciting, fresh and the banter was perfectly paced not slowing down the story but coming naturally from the characters.
Toni Anderson as an ability to give the readers everything they need with such detail it will send chills down their backs. Each characters feels are express to the point readers will feel Tess pain and heartache. Readers will cry when she cries and celebrate when she celebrates. The story came to an abrupt end and I wasn't ready to say good bye to this story. I wanted and almost needed more of Mac and Tess and the white supremacist who were hiding away ready to strike!
This by far is one of the best in the Cold Justice series and if you have read any than you know that is a feat. The Cold Justice series only get better and better with each book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Toni Anderson for a chance to review this well written story that will keep readers on their toes dying for more.
The write was exciting, fresh and the banter was perfectly paced not slowing down the story but coming naturally from the characters.
Toni Anderson as an ability to give the readers everything they need with such detail it will send chills down their backs. Each characters feels are express to the point readers will feel Tess pain and heartache. Readers will cry when she cries and celebrate when she celebrates. The story came to an abrupt end and I wasn't ready to say good bye to this story. I wanted and almost needed more of Mac and Tess and the white supremacist who were hiding away ready to strike!
This by far is one of the best in the Cold Justice series and if you have read any than you know that is a feat. The Cold Justice series only get better and better with each book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Toni Anderson for a chance to review this well written story that will keep readers on their toes dying for more.
September 1, 2017
This is the eighth book in the Cold Justice series. I thought the first seven were great, but this one blew my socks off! The suspense had me thinking the one person was guilty, then a different one. I could not make up my mind, but I like that in a book. The sex scenes were so well written, you could feel the love between the characters and not just lust. The characters felt real, the dialog flowed with ease. The entire book was riveting. I could not put it down. I hope Ms. Anderson gets awards for this book. I also hope there is another book in the series.
December 11, 2017
Another fantastic story in the Cold Justice series. Excellent narration by Eric Dove. (audible reveiw)
WOW this is one of the best action romance series! I love it!
I really liked Mac and Tess. They were good together. And the story line and plot was really good. As usual the story flowed so well and was easy to follow. Lots of action, bad guys, amazing dialogue and fast paced.
I always look forward to these books.
As for the narration, well need I say more it was Eric Dove! He is amazing! He has such a sexy voice and does the women's voices so well. Love all of his narrations!
WOW this is one of the best action romance series! I love it!
I really liked Mac and Tess. They were good together. And the story line and plot was really good. As usual the story flowed so well and was easy to follow. Lots of action, bad guys, amazing dialogue and fast paced.
I always look forward to these books.
As for the narration, well need I say more it was Eric Dove! He is amazing! He has such a sexy voice and does the women's voices so well. Love all of his narrations!
March 27, 2024
Tons Of Action
Purch Amazon December 16, 2018
4.5 Stars
Filled with action from virtually the first page.
Lots of suspense and action.
Both Tess and Mac frustrated me on occasion. Mostly Mac. His failure to stand up for her on many occasions and put his job first got old. And he put her in danger quite a few times.
One really HOT intimate sex scene and a few other fan myself moments that were well placed.
I enjoyed it and looking forward to the next book in this series.
Purch Amazon December 16, 2018
4.5 Stars
Filled with action from virtually the first page.
Lots of suspense and action.
Both Tess and Mac frustrated me on occasion. Mostly Mac. His failure to stand up for her on many occasions and put his job first got old. And he put her in danger quite a few times.
One really HOT intimate sex scene and a few other fan myself moments that were well placed.
I enjoyed it and looking forward to the next book in this series.
December 22, 2018
I loved the unique vibe of the book. Tess was one of the few survivors of a white supremacist group. She was 10 and her brother was a baby. Now, as an adult, she has done everything to distance herself from her horrible past. Of course, that can't happen! The action of the story was great-very fast paced. What killed it for me was how easily Tess forgave Mac. He was AWFUL to her and she just let it go. It was the most abrupt ending.
September 29, 2017
More like 2.5* -- plot was great as usual, but Mac was such an unlikeable wanker that I had an incredibly negative visceral reaction to him throughout the book (Tess deserves much better!), and there were several editing mistakes that didn't make for the smoothest reading experience.
September 12, 2017
Loved this installment. Anderson made me fall in love with her writing all over again
Full review will be posted
Full review will be posted
September 22, 2017
4.5 Stars
To say I was disturbed by the subject matter of this book is a huge understatement and it's taken me a bit to time to sort out my feelings about this story. Ms. Anderson is without a doubt an amazing writer and every one of her books that I've read shows her dedication to her writing, especially the attention to details and the research that makes her stories so authentic. COLD MALICE is filled with suspense and intrigue, so well written that it blurs the lines between fact and fiction, and will leave you pondering which came first. Personally, this is one book that had me caught between wanting to finish a really well written story and not wanting to dive deeper into the dark subject matter.
In a previous life, Tess Fallon was the daughter of a white supremacist extremist, raised on a steady diet of hate and anti-government sentiments. Luckily for Tess, she was a curious little girl who was resistant to the extreme messaging and coupled with a guardian angel in the form of a new recruit to her father's group, she escaped the battle between the group and the government with little physical harm. However, she grew up determined to hide her past and give her baby brother a chance to grow up untainted by their history, which she did but Tess may have underestimated the fervor of her father's disciples because twenty years later, her father's vile ideology is being brought to life and she finds herself being drawn back into the horror she escaped so long ago.
Enter FBI agent Steve 'Mac' McKenzie. Mac was the long-ago recruit who became Tess's guardian angel and was instrumental to taking down the extremists, and with the new events so closely reflecting that ideology, it would be remiss of him not to check into what Tess has been up to since he last saw her. Only, he does not expect that the ten-year old who was more mature than her age so long ago would grow up to become a woman who could bring him to his knees so easily.
An upwardly mobile senior FBI agent and the daughter of an extremist are not a very good combo (an understatement, I know) if one plans to have a career with the agency, but their shared past and the new feelings are too powerful to ignore. I would have like Mac a little more if he hadn't gotten involved with Tess in the middle of this investigation and I think that using their connection to further his goals was really low for that reason only, especially with her past and using her trust in him so carelessly.
Tess got a bad deal all around and it's a testament to her character that she she was the person she grew up to become: strong, loyal and protective in spite of a history that would make her a pariah if it became public.
The author touched on some real stuff. Is redemption real? Do the sins of the father haunt the child forever? Can a person really rise above their past? COLD MALICE was a thrilling read and only leaves me excited for more from Ms. Anderson. My only complaints are that the romance between Mac and Tess wasn't as well-developed as the suspense part of the story and that Mac didn't get to grovel as much as he should have.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
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To say I was disturbed by the subject matter of this book is a huge understatement and it's taken me a bit to time to sort out my feelings about this story. Ms. Anderson is without a doubt an amazing writer and every one of her books that I've read shows her dedication to her writing, especially the attention to details and the research that makes her stories so authentic. COLD MALICE is filled with suspense and intrigue, so well written that it blurs the lines between fact and fiction, and will leave you pondering which came first. Personally, this is one book that had me caught between wanting to finish a really well written story and not wanting to dive deeper into the dark subject matter.
In a previous life, Tess Fallon was the daughter of a white supremacist extremist, raised on a steady diet of hate and anti-government sentiments. Luckily for Tess, she was a curious little girl who was resistant to the extreme messaging and coupled with a guardian angel in the form of a new recruit to her father's group, she escaped the battle between the group and the government with little physical harm. However, she grew up determined to hide her past and give her baby brother a chance to grow up untainted by their history, which she did but Tess may have underestimated the fervor of her father's disciples because twenty years later, her father's vile ideology is being brought to life and she finds herself being drawn back into the horror she escaped so long ago.
Enter FBI agent Steve 'Mac' McKenzie. Mac was the long-ago recruit who became Tess's guardian angel and was instrumental to taking down the extremists, and with the new events so closely reflecting that ideology, it would be remiss of him not to check into what Tess has been up to since he last saw her. Only, he does not expect that the ten-year old who was more mature than her age so long ago would grow up to become a woman who could bring him to his knees so easily.
An upwardly mobile senior FBI agent and the daughter of an extremist are not a very good combo (an understatement, I know) if one plans to have a career with the agency, but their shared past and the new feelings are too powerful to ignore. I would have like Mac a little more if he hadn't gotten involved with Tess in the middle of this investigation and I think that using their connection to further his goals was really low for that reason only, especially with her past and using her trust in him so carelessly.
Tess got a bad deal all around and it's a testament to her character that she she was the person she grew up to become: strong, loyal and protective in spite of a history that would make her a pariah if it became public.
The author touched on some real stuff. Is redemption real? Do the sins of the father haunt the child forever? Can a person really rise above their past? COLD MALICE was a thrilling read and only leaves me excited for more from Ms. Anderson. My only complaints are that the romance between Mac and Tess wasn't as well-developed as the suspense part of the story and that Mac didn't get to grovel as much as he should have.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
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September 11, 2017
4.5 Stars. Although Cold Malice is the 8th book in the Cold Justice series you could read it as a stand alone but why would you when the previous books are just so darn good! Cold Malice is another page turning, edge of your seat romantic suspense with a great mix of action, danger, and intrigue that has you guessing who the villains are and who the MCs can really trust.
Once I started this book I was hooked from the cult scene that introduces both of our characters in the past to the beginning of a series of hate crimes that seem to involve someone from that past. Tess was a strong heroine who grew up in a white supremacist group until they were raided by the FBI. Mac was a young police officer under cover with the group and he tried his best to protect Tess while he was there but ultimately feels guilty for the way some it played out. Tess always saw Mac as her protector and she had a big crush on him when she was a girl. Mac saw Tess as a spirited little girl who didn't let the family/life she lived smother the spark of life and sweetness. Tess is all grown up and she's tried to put the past behind her. She is a successful accountant and has done her best to raise her baby brother to be a good man but when people start dying that seem to be connected to her family and she finds information about one of the victims in her brother's office she starts to worry that he's somehow involved.
Mac is now an FBI agent and he's leading the task force on the new series of hate crimes. He doesn't want to believe Tess is involved but he's been lied to before and he doesn't have a lot of trust. Mac has a road map for his career and he doesn't want anything or anyone to get in the way of that so he has not time or room for a romance especially with a woman with ties to a white supremacist group. However, the more time he spends with Tess the more he sees the spirit of that little girl although he's also very attracted to the woman she is now.
This book had a lot of twists and turns and I was never sure who was involved in the terrorist plot. There were times when I was sure Tess' brother was innocent and other times when I couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was involved. There were a few red herrings along the way and a lot of suspects. I loved the intrigue and mystery of this book and I still wasn't sure who the bad guys were until the very end! I enjoyed the fact that we got into the mind of the villains and I couldn't believe I still couldn't figure out who it was.
I liked Mac and Tess together but there were times when I really wanted to smack Mac. He just couldn't decide whether to treat her as a suspect or friend/lover. I do wish that the two would have had a bit more time together without conflict to establish their relationship and I also thought Tess was awfully quick to forgive some of Mac's behavior. I would have loved to have seen some of the scenes from the end of the conflict before we jumped a month into the future for the epilogue.
Overall a 5 star suspense/mystery and a 4 star romance but I'm rounding up to 5 stars because once I started this I couldn't put it down!
A copy of this book was provided to me by the author with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and my comments here are my honest opinion.
Once I started this book I was hooked from the cult scene that introduces both of our characters in the past to the beginning of a series of hate crimes that seem to involve someone from that past. Tess was a strong heroine who grew up in a white supremacist group until they were raided by the FBI. Mac was a young police officer under cover with the group and he tried his best to protect Tess while he was there but ultimately feels guilty for the way some it played out. Tess always saw Mac as her protector and she had a big crush on him when she was a girl. Mac saw Tess as a spirited little girl who didn't let the family/life she lived smother the spark of life and sweetness. Tess is all grown up and she's tried to put the past behind her. She is a successful accountant and has done her best to raise her baby brother to be a good man but when people start dying that seem to be connected to her family and she finds information about one of the victims in her brother's office she starts to worry that he's somehow involved.
Mac is now an FBI agent and he's leading the task force on the new series of hate crimes. He doesn't want to believe Tess is involved but he's been lied to before and he doesn't have a lot of trust. Mac has a road map for his career and he doesn't want anything or anyone to get in the way of that so he has not time or room for a romance especially with a woman with ties to a white supremacist group. However, the more time he spends with Tess the more he sees the spirit of that little girl although he's also very attracted to the woman she is now.
This book had a lot of twists and turns and I was never sure who was involved in the terrorist plot. There were times when I was sure Tess' brother was innocent and other times when I couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was involved. There were a few red herrings along the way and a lot of suspects. I loved the intrigue and mystery of this book and I still wasn't sure who the bad guys were until the very end! I enjoyed the fact that we got into the mind of the villains and I couldn't believe I still couldn't figure out who it was.
I liked Mac and Tess together but there were times when I really wanted to smack Mac. He just couldn't decide whether to treat her as a suspect or friend/lover. I do wish that the two would have had a bit more time together without conflict to establish their relationship and I also thought Tess was awfully quick to forgive some of Mac's behavior. I would have loved to have seen some of the scenes from the end of the conflict before we jumped a month into the future for the epilogue.
Overall a 5 star suspense/mystery and a 4 star romance but I'm rounding up to 5 stars because once I started this I couldn't put it down!
A copy of this book was provided to me by the author with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and my comments here are my honest opinion.
February 3, 2019
I just want to say a few quick thoughts. This deals with very difficult subject matter. A lot of people who die in this book are marginalized, or are targeted because of their race, religion, or sexuality. It is a very difficult read, but it is also very good. I felt like the author really handled this subject matter with a lot of care and consideration.
This was an excellent part of the series.
This was an excellent part of the series.
September 1, 2021
A super addition to this series! I enjoyed the characters and depth of plot line. While I figured out the villain midway, it in no way diminishes the intensity of this story. Looking forward to continuing this fantastic series!
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