Book Review: Dead Silence by Robin Caroll

Political games can be deadly…
 
Elise Carmichael is a court sign language interpreter who reads lips all the time. As a widow with a young son who is deaf, lip reading is simply second nature, until the day she reads the lips of someone on the phone discussing an attempt to be made on a senator’s life—a senator who just happens to be her mother-in-law. Before she can decide what she needs to do, she receives the information that her son is rushed to the ER and she must leave. Then she later sees the news report that her mother-in-law has been shot and killed. But when she comes forward, her life, as well as her son’s life, may now be in the crosshairs of the assassin.

I love political suspense, especially when it falls in the Christian fiction genre. Dead Silence features a widow, a young son who is deaf, a mother-in-law who is a senator, and a murder that entangles them all. I really enjoyed reading a suspense that included a family with special needs because of a disability. I thought that was well done and accelerated the tension and drama.

I admit, I stumbled with the FBI involvement. As the book progressed, the agency comes off as inept, and one agent in particular, I had trouble believing they would even be employed by the FBI. The heroine of course tires of the incompetency and does things her way, more than once. I understand the need for conflict, but the FBI seems to never know what’s going on, and let’s a civilian run around and figure it out for them. I found that troubling.

But the drama, conflict, and tension are there, as well as likeable characters. The one I really enjoyed was the senator’s husband, a retired investigative reporter. He really shined.

Although this isn’t a perfect read, it’s a very good one. I do recommend it.

I received this book through NetGalley.