2008: #10 – Dead Aim (Iris Johansen)

Book #10 was Dead Aim by Iris Johansen.  The back of the book reads:

She witnesses death through the eye of her camera. Now a relentless killer is focused on her. A celebrated photojournalist, Alex Graham has seen it all–but her latest assignment has forced her across a dangerous line. What happens when a reporter does more than just report? She has recorded some of the most tragic and heartbreaking of catastrophes, everything from natural disasters to infamous acts of terror. Her experiences have left her forever marked with the human side of tragedy. So when a dam breaks in Arapahoe Junction, Colorado, Alex is once more at the site doing more than just snapping pictures–she is in the mud with a shovel digging for survivors.

What happens when the reporter becomes the story? Alex finds more than she bargained for. In one terrible instant, she is witness to a conspiracy that will stun a nation. The official story is just a cover-up for a truth so frightening, so unthinkable, anyone who threatens to reveal it must be silenced. Forever. And now that someone is Alex Graham.

The first attempt on her life is swift and brutal. Only barely escaping, she finds an ally in an improbable source. Billionaire financier John Logan has his own reasons for protecting Alex, and these reasons alone are likely to get her killed. Using his vast connections and influences, Logan assigns a bodyguard to protect her. Judd Morgan is the best covert commando in the business, and if anyone can keep Alex safe, it’s this quietly dangerous man. The problem is, Alex doesn’t want to be kept safe by Judd, whose checkered past has made him the target of an unseen assassin who dogs his every step.

While not technically part of a series, this book contains some characters that are parts of Johansen’s other series/books: John Logan, Sarah and Monty, and President Andreas. I think a few of the others are also recurring characters, but since this is only the 3rd Johansen book I’ve read, I don’t know for sure.

Anyway, this was just okay for me. I found Alex to be laughably naive for a world-traveling news photographer, and her naiveté is heavily acknowledged in the book, but it’s just not believable. And the conspiracy was wrapped up a little too neatly at the end. I would have liked the book to be a little more about Morgan than about Alex, and for there to be a little less character name-dropping (how many times does Elena’s pregnancy have to be brought up? She’s never even a direct character in the book!)

Page count: 352 | Approximate word count: 92,203

2007: Maisie Dobbs (Jacqueline Winspear)
2006: K is for Killer (Sue Grafton)
2005: Immortal in Death (J.D. Robb)