Bait the Devilis a PI Thriller.
Dot Ybarra and T.J. Roman earned their reputations for playing hard on the battlefield. Their special skills translated well to bounty hunting and private investigating. Those skills will be needed as a simple favor to investigate a fellow veteran who no-showed a court date turns into a wasp’s nest of violent human traffickers. The only way to solve this problem is to bait the devil out of hell.
Bottom line: Bait the Devil is for you if you like fast-paced, physical thrills with a gripping plot that pulls you in and keeps you.
The strength of the story is found in the lead character, Dot Ybarra. She is a physically fit, mentally strong lead who does things her own way. She takes command of this story and drives it to its end. I liked and respected Dot in the hero role.
The supporting cast are good compliments to Dot. T.J. Roman is her equally and could carry a book himself. Yet having two strong characters are partners doesn’t cause a problem—they chose to go the same way. Dot’s lawyer cousin and her ranching family provide the stability and resources Dot needs to get the job done.
The plot was well developed. It’s not giving away spoilers to say the bad guys are human traffickers (it says it on the back cover), because it’s impossible to guess how Dot and T.J. get from a missing veteran to human behavior at its worse. You keep turning the pages, cheering the pair on.
The logic of this one holds up well. For Dot and T.J., it’s a linear story, discovering and then following the trail of breadcrumbs. The bad guys logic holds too. And when their paths cross, worlds truly collide.
Bait the Devil will be a favorite for lovers of hard-core thrillers and gun toting PI detectives. This is the 2nd book in the Bounty of Shadows series—I did not read the first. From what I surmise, Book 1 was an origin story for the partners. References were explained well enough that I felt in the know. Starting with Book 1: RIDE A DARK TRAIL, is a nice-to-have, in my opinion, but not a requirement. You can jump in right here.
MEET Winter Austin
A lifelong Mid-West gal with strong ties to the agriculture world, Winter grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around a table or a campfire. As a published author, she learned her glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller writer. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.
When she’s not slaving away at the computer, you can find Winter supporting her daughter in cattle shows, seeing her three sons off into the wide-wide world, loving on her fur babies, prodding her teacher husband, and nagging at her flock of hens to stay in the coop or the dogs will get them.
TG Wolff 