Shepherd's Fall by Wanda L Dyson

Nick Shepherd own one third of the family business-Prodigal Recovery Bounty Hunters. In short, when the police need an escaped convict or any person in hiding from the authorities, the Bounty Hunters go in undercover to retrieve them. Nick loves his job, but his love for his job has destroyed his other loves. His personal life is a mess. His ex-wife, teenage daughter, brother, and sister are enough to keep him going crazy. On top of this, he's searching for two different people-a prostitute and a crafty escaped convict. In the process of trying to find the prostitute, he accidentally apprehends her twin, who is also trying to find her because she needs a bone marrow transplant. Nick has been running from God, but his current case could bring him back to grips with Him. When his teenage daughter is kidnapped, Nick becomes desperate in order to reach her before time runs out.

The best thing about this book is that Wanda has returned to her roots with a book with many intertwined plots instead of a simple plot. The bad thing is she does not handle it properly, like she did in Abduction. I'm not sure if Wanda will ever return to her former glory.

Nick is a good, imperfect character with a personality. His troubled past and troubled family life are both his fault. He isn't a victim. The bad part about the characters is that there aren't any other good characters. There are a few other imperfect characters, but Wanda seemed to forget about the other characters. There is good character interaction throughout the book, but there is also unproductive dialogue, and dialogue is required the build characters.

It's refreshing to see a different Wanda L Dyson series after the disappointing end to the Shefford-Johnson series. The bounty hunters idea is a very good idea, Wanda just can't seem to get her ends down. In these types of fragile plots, ends are everything. There is virtually nothing wrong with the body of the book, but a cheesier-than-usual showdown really puts a damper on things. The twins subplot adds an interesting twist, but that too is ended incorrectly. Wanda basically does everything she can to fix every subplot, going against standards she set earlier in her career. Perhaps it is that Abduction was her only good idea and now she writes only because people expect her to.

I've heard people say that her books are very riveting and exciting, but other than Abduction, they are really no different than any other average suspense novel.

2.5 stars

Abduction by Wanda L Dyson

Karen Matthews woke up one morning to find her infant daughter's crib empty. Jessica Matthews was gone without a trace. When the police investigate the situation, they suspect Karen and Ted of foul play. Zoe Shefford has been calling herself a psychic for years because of her strange mental ability to know what kidnappers are doing at certain time. She wants to bring all kidnappers to justice ever since her twin sister was kidnapped and killed when they were both young. Now the police have asked her to help in the baffling case. Josiah "JJ" Johnson objects strongly to the use of a psychic and immediately makes an enemy out of Zoe. But their incessant fights do not help the case since the killer is still on the loose...

Where most authors feel content to write a simple and straightforward suspense plot, Wanda L Dyson has done just the opposite in Abduction. This book is not a straightforward mystery. There are multiple plot elements introduced; half of them ending perfectly, half of them not. This is slightly realistic, but more comforting because Wanda, unlike most suspense authors, seems to actually have a grip on reality.

First of all, the characters are well developed. There are no perfect characters. Many of the characters have personalities, and all of them are imperfect. Character development is a necessity in fiction, and more and more authors are getting a grasp on this concept. The character development makes Abduction a stronger plot than most of its suspense counterparts.

Zoe's gift is a bit off and not well explained. Adding this gift element throws a little spice onto the recipe, but it also serves to slightly clutter up the plot. At least the gift subplot comes to a good end.

The rest of the plot elements are very contradictory.The kidnapper is not an animal and is surprising, but he instigates a cheesy showdown, and Zoe knew him from her past.

Basically, the biggest asset this book provides is good characters, and the biggest drawback is the cheesy showdown that ends predictably. We must always reward good characters, but we must never reward predictable showdowns.

Wanda's biggest strength is plot element diversity. She is able to create multiple realistic situations at once and not end them all predictably. I expect more good things from her in the future.

4 stars

Obsession by Wanda L Dyson

Josiah "JJ" Johnson has once again been thrown into a kidnapping case with Zoe Shefford, much to his dismay. Female college students are disappearing, and one of them is the niece of Zoe's closest friend. But Zoe has resolved to never use her psychic gift again now that she is a Christian, leaving the police in the lurch about who the killer is. JJ continues to argue with Zoe about her blind faith in God without accepting it. The police have apprehended a suspect, but he is not saying anything. As time keeps ticking and the killer keeps killing, the police are running out of options...and hope.

Another kidnapping case was not conducive to the progress of this potentially good series. Wanda should have deviated and tried a different case topic, because kidnapping cases are very limited. Abduction is only as good as it is because Wanda created many original plot elements outside of the case. However, she did not do so in Obsession.

The biggest asset to this book is that Wanda retained the characters' personalities very well. In the transition from one book to another in a series, the characters' previous personalities tend to get lost in the shuffle. This is not the case with Obsession. Zoe and JJ continue to be good, imperfect characters. However, Donnie Bevere is quickly transforming in a perfect mentor character.

There are only a handful of realistic things about this case-one of them being dead ends, and the other being one slight key character death. But convenient connections, the completion of a potential romance, and the villains make for a mediocre read. I'm getting tired of serial killers or kidnappers turning out to be police officers or FBI agents. This plot device was interesting the first time it was used, not the numerous other times it was used. It is only slightly realistic to have this fact be true, but the corrupt police officer stereotype is cheesy.

At the beginning of the book, it seemed like JJ and Zoe were never going to fall in love. I liked this because those who fight do not necessarily fall in love eventually. Unfortunately, at the end, Wanda scrambled around and caused the two to literally kiss and make up at the last minute. She would have done better not to fall into this common fiction trap.

In short, Obsession is not as good as it could be, but it is not as bad as it could be. There are good things about it, making me sure that Wanda L Dyson has a lot of potential.

3 stars

Intimidation by Wanda L Dyson

In an act of retaliation, someone has kidnapped FBI agent Donnie Bevere's wife Lisbeth in order to exact a valuable piece of evidence from his possession. Once this happens, Donnie becomes a very desperate man who will do anything to get the love of his life back. When he word reaches him that his wife has been buried alive in a coffin, he becomes frantic. But there is nothing he or the police can do about it. Zoe Shefford and Josiah "JJ" Johnson feel for their mutual friend, but there is nothing they can do about it. The two of them are struggling with their own problems as it is. They know they both love each other, but JJ has been resisting God all his life. Since Zoe has recently accepted Him, she has discovered that a believer should not be unequally yoked to an unbeliever. At this, she has no idea what she is to do but pray.

Wanda would have bettered herself by ending the Shefford-Johnson series with Obsession. But of course, she could not resist yet another kidnapping case when Zoe and JJ are so close to marriage. She needed to leave well enough alone, but she refrained from logic and spun a ridiculous tale that tarnishes her image as an author.

The characters' personalities are all but gone near the middle of the book, and they are all gone by the end of the book. Wanda reverts back to old standby stereotypes for her characters-Donnie as a perfect victim who never commits a sin even in the face of adversity, Zoe as a young Christian in a hazardous relationship, and JJ as the struggling atheist who inevitably gives in at the end of the book. The best thing Wanda could have done was deepen her characters' personalities, not destroy them.

Once again Wanda refrains from complex plot elements and borrows the standard, stereotypical kidnapping plot that was written ages ago. The best thing she did was kill off an expendable character. Otherwise, Wanda proceeds to fix everything possible, including extracurricular activities such as saving three children from a bomb explosion.

Wanda also throws in an endorsement for a non-profit organization that has no bearing on the plot at large.

Since it was inevitable that the Shefford-Johnson series would reach the point of embarrassment, Wanda could have saved herself by avoiding the third book altogether and ending on a good note. Intimidation is by far her worst book, and one that she should never repeat.

1.5 stars