My Review - Cold Shot

5 out of 5 stars

COLD SHOT by Dani Pettrey has laid the foundation for a new and amazing series.

When Gettysburg park ranger, Griffin McCray, finds a body at the famous site, he calls in forensic anthropologist, Finley Scott. Knowing the remains are not from the Civil War, Finley, Griff, and his childhood friend, FBI agent Declan Grey, set out to identify the victim and her murderer.

McCray is a quiet—keep to himself—kind of guy, but he’s having a hard time ignoring the attraction he feels for Finley. When Finley brings in Parker Mitchell, a crime scene analyst, Griff is forced to face demons from his past. Unbeknownst to Finley; Griff, Declan, and Parker were all childhood friends. The three of them, along with Luke Gallagher were a band of brothers, inseparable, until a tragedy fractured their friendship.

Finley Scott is determined to find out how a woman’s body ended up in Gettysburg. She knows Griff, mainly because of her previous work at the Gettysburg site, but his stand-offish personality kept her at arms-length. Parker, a crime scene analyst is a colleague of hers, who also is a friend of Griff’s. But the relationship is heavily laden with underlying tension. With Declan also working the case, Finley is amazed to find out the three men grew up together, but now are obviously estranged. So, Finley has three mysteries to solve. Who is the woman, who killed her, and what tragedy befell the three men working with her and destroyed the friendship they once shared.

Immediately, I felt the connection between Griff and Finley, and also sensed the tension when Parker showed up at the scene. Just like Finley, the reader wants to know what came between these childhood friends—and believe me, the reader will not be disappointed. A lot of history bonds these men together. Failure, guilt, and the lack of forgiveness ruined their friendship. But, when given a chance to mend fences, they must decide if what they once shared is strong enough to overcome the hurt that destroyed them.

Though it sounds like the book is centered around the men, the relationship between Griff and Finley is also front and center. Knowing the danger Finley has exposed herself to, Griff assigns himself as her bodyguard. With his background, he has the skills to keep her safe, but the more time Griff spends with Finley, the more the attraction between them intensifies.

I enjoyed COLD SHOT and can’t wait for the rest of the series. With the mystery surrounding Luke and Jenna (I’m not going to spoil it and say who she is), there is definitely a lot more story for Pettrey to unpack. Out of the four friends, it was clear COLD SHOT was centered around Griff, but Declan and Parker were vital to the story. I hope the next installments are the same, with all three friends making large contributions to the story instead of relegating any one of them to the background with only a few mentions from time to time.

I waited anxiously for a new series from Pettrey because I absolutely loved her Alaskan Courage series. Maybe, because of that anticipation, I was only slightly disappointed that COLD SHOT wasn’t as amazing as I wanted it to be.  It was a good book, as you can see from my review and my rating, it just didn’t quite fulfill my anticipation. I think, because of the underlying tension, the men came off as a bit cold at times. But, I have great faith in Dani Pettrey, that with each installment, I will feel for these characters what I felt for the McKenna clan.