Bea Reviews Flatline by Linda Bond

Series: The Investigators #3
Read As A Standalone: Yes
Publisher: Entangled Amara
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 25th, 2020
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

People are dying in Dr. Joshua Salvador’s ER. His medical assistant, only weeks from delivering her baby, hangs on to life by a thread. The symptoms seem horrifyingly familiar, and he begins to suspect the deaths are targeted at him. But, before he can figure things out, top TV investigator Rachel Wright is standing in the middle of his ER, convinced an outbreak, an epidemic, or even a botched flu vaccine could be the cause, and she’s going to tell the world.

Each book in the Investigators series is STANDALONE:
* Alive at 5
* Cuba Undercover
* Flatline

My Thoughts:

Bond was a new to me author and one I'll read again. I am a sucker for medical thrillers, and when you combine it with romance, well...Maybe because there's usually a resolution, or even a happy ending? Maybe because I can vicariously live through something awful and be just fine? Well, this book met all that, although it was light on the science, and the real world medical crisis didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book at all.

"Flatline" took former lovers  Rachel and Joshua and reunited them under horrific circumstances - Rachel's friend and producer Jackie dies violently under Joshua's care at the ER. Rachel and Joshua broke up five years ago when Rachel's brother Jim died under Joshua's care at the ER. Rachel blamed Joshua and in her grief used her credentials at the television station to attack Joshua and his boss, which did wonders for her career. Joshua reacted by dumping her. Clearly, neither communication nor empathy were their strengths. They do better by the end of the story; although I did think Joshua could have done a better job of apologizing for dumping her right after her brother's death and blaming her for her emotions. She apologized to him for the harcore TV story she did, and did a good job of apologizing; he could have done better, and should have groveled. He had a bad habit of thinking that his job should take precedence over hers.

The mystery of the unknown illness was not too hard to figure out though Bond did surprise me a few times. For one thing, I thought she was going in one direction with an ex-lover plot and then she surprised me, happily so. The villains, well, I got one right. :D I did think the motive was a little weak, but it had a ring of believability so that was fine. There was a very tense event near the end that I did not see coming, although the outcome was predictable. The story was fast-paced, and, as I mentioned, had some twists.

"Flatline" wasn't deep but it was appealing, the romance was steamy if at times aggravating (Joshua could be such an arrogant jerk and Rachel was too quick to doubt herself), and parts of the story were predictable. And yet, it was compelling; I didn't want to put it down and I cared what happened. I'm still not 100% convinced that Rachel and Joshua should be together but I'm happy they got past their issues and they saved the day. If you want a quick, light, moderately angsty read with romance and mystery, this is for you.

Come back on Wednesday for an excerpt from the book!