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Pretenses
One by one, government officials are being picked off and the FBI have no leads—who's killing them and, more importantly, why?An affluent Supreme Court nominee and her husband are murdered by a skillful hand several days before her confirmation hearing. The next day, another high-ranking member of Washington D.C.'s elite circle is murdered. On top of these murders, a serial rapist has terrorized the city, with sixty-seven male victims and counting. FBI Special Agent Phoenix Perry is working the rapist case when she’s hand-picked by the President to solve the mystery and to stop the blood thirsty killer. Little does she know that the cases are related, and the assassin seems to know her every move. As the mystery unravels, Perry learns more than she cared to know about the case—and herself.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2004
2 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 12, 2017
Whew!
CoCo was as dangerous as they come...This was an exciting take turning suspenseful story & Phoenix Perry was the female for the job. Great read!
CoCo was as dangerous as they come...This was an exciting take turning suspenseful story & Phoenix Perry was the female for the job. Great read!
March 9, 2014
Another great story by a great author!
January 8, 2017
Intriguing and Suspenseful
September 22, 2017
pros
strong plot
fast paced and entertaining
narrator good performance
cons
characters not developed enough. maybe there's a previous book
narrator's voice was so soothing that I often was lulled into a relax state and would miss portions of the story and has to relisten
random
1) if coco is on the train and then in the park, then how was she supposed to be Keith? for Phoenix to think that made no sense as she knew where coco was.
2) at no point did Phoenix mourn her personal loss. it was nothing more than a cursory glance. however, she bemoaned the loss of an assassin. this was odd to me.
strong plot
fast paced and entertaining
narrator good performance
cons
characters not developed enough. maybe there's a previous book
narrator's voice was so soothing that I often was lulled into a relax state and would miss portions of the story and has to relisten
random
1) if coco is on the train and then in the park, then how was she supposed to be Keith? for Phoenix to think that made no sense as she knew where coco was.
2) at no point did Phoenix mourn her personal loss. it was nothing more than a cursory glance. however, she bemoaned the loss of an assassin. this was odd to me.
January 5, 2009
Two Sides of the Same Coin
I only opened Pretenses to pass time. We were all set to read Little Black Girl lost, but someone was reading something else so while waiting and agonizing over a visit to the dentist I grabbed Pretenses and decided to see what Tee was talking about. Yes I read her review and got interested.....
There is a serial rapist in DC. Men are the victims and because they have refused to alert the authorities it's a little more than 2 years before anyone knows about The Rapist. So we meet Special Agent Phoenix. Phoenix is an FBI agent, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, and a grandmaster. As this case gets swept under the rug to a high profile case we meet....
Coco Nimburu, a deadly assassin, who fluently speaks a multitude of languages, and is also a master of Kung Fu. She also brings a new definition to being "a freak in the bed!" Coco has women asking unnecessary questions, where as the men always settle for the promise of deadly pleasure. Isn't that just like a man to be satisfied by the little head? BUT as Coco begins her journey she and special agent Phoenix cross paths. Is this destined or what?
So as all of the characters are in their perspective roles we learn that politics, money, and crime really do pay! I mean is there anyone who can't be bribed these days? As Special Agent Perry looses so much she begins to fear that maybe she's not the great master that she trained to be!
This is such a gripping, and intriguing story of betrayal. Keith does an excellent job not only telling a story but developing characters. I felt all of Phoenix emotions and could even relate to Coco at times and I truly liked her profession and all! At least she was dubbed as NOTORIOUS not to mention she was helpful in more than one way!
I was warned to read Sugar & Spice first, and of course I didn't listen, but the team and I are going to read Little Black Girl Lost. Keith I get the title and I like that it wasn't sitting right out in the open for me. Mystery is back on track....
I only opened Pretenses to pass time. We were all set to read Little Black Girl lost, but someone was reading something else so while waiting and agonizing over a visit to the dentist I grabbed Pretenses and decided to see what Tee was talking about. Yes I read her review and got interested.....
There is a serial rapist in DC. Men are the victims and because they have refused to alert the authorities it's a little more than 2 years before anyone knows about The Rapist. So we meet Special Agent Phoenix. Phoenix is an FBI agent, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, and a grandmaster. As this case gets swept under the rug to a high profile case we meet....
Coco Nimburu, a deadly assassin, who fluently speaks a multitude of languages, and is also a master of Kung Fu. She also brings a new definition to being "a freak in the bed!" Coco has women asking unnecessary questions, where as the men always settle for the promise of deadly pleasure. Isn't that just like a man to be satisfied by the little head? BUT as Coco begins her journey she and special agent Phoenix cross paths. Is this destined or what?
So as all of the characters are in their perspective roles we learn that politics, money, and crime really do pay! I mean is there anyone who can't be bribed these days? As Special Agent Perry looses so much she begins to fear that maybe she's not the great master that she trained to be!
This is such a gripping, and intriguing story of betrayal. Keith does an excellent job not only telling a story but developing characters. I felt all of Phoenix emotions and could even relate to Coco at times and I truly liked her profession and all! At least she was dubbed as NOTORIOUS not to mention she was helpful in more than one way!
I was warned to read Sugar & Spice first, and of course I didn't listen, but the team and I are going to read Little Black Girl Lost. Keith I get the title and I like that it wasn't sitting right out in the open for me. Mystery is back on track....
July 6, 2012
Nobody's Innocent
The city of D.C. is being terrorized and preyed upon by its latest predator - the Rapist. This serial rapist is like no other - he's raping men. Most of his victims are too ashamed to report their rapes, making an already hard job harder for Special Agent Phoenix Perry as she attempts to track him down.
The murders of a prominent judge and her husband take precedence as Phoenix is reassigned to the case along with her best friend and fellow agent Kelly McPherson. As more victims die, its apparent that they are dealing with one killer. A skilled, crafty, and very dangerous killer like no other. A killer that will stop at nothing to get what she wants. A highly intelligent multilingual killer trained in the martial arts of the Orient. Has Special Agent Perry met her match? Will she be able to stop this ruthless mad woman before it's too late. It's kill or be killed.
All hail the new king of suspense/thriller!! Mr. Johnson did the thing in this prequel to 'Sugar and Spice.' His work is suspenseful and cutting edge. All though not intentional, I think releasing 'Sugar and Spice' first was marketing genius. After reading about a certain someone in that book, I just knew I had to read 'Pretenses' to see how it all began and went down. Job well done.
The city of D.C. is being terrorized and preyed upon by its latest predator - the Rapist. This serial rapist is like no other - he's raping men. Most of his victims are too ashamed to report their rapes, making an already hard job harder for Special Agent Phoenix Perry as she attempts to track him down.
The murders of a prominent judge and her husband take precedence as Phoenix is reassigned to the case along with her best friend and fellow agent Kelly McPherson. As more victims die, its apparent that they are dealing with one killer. A skilled, crafty, and very dangerous killer like no other. A killer that will stop at nothing to get what she wants. A highly intelligent multilingual killer trained in the martial arts of the Orient. Has Special Agent Perry met her match? Will she be able to stop this ruthless mad woman before it's too late. It's kill or be killed.
All hail the new king of suspense/thriller!! Mr. Johnson did the thing in this prequel to 'Sugar and Spice.' His work is suspenseful and cutting edge. All though not intentional, I think releasing 'Sugar and Spice' first was marketing genius. After reading about a certain someone in that book, I just knew I had to read 'Pretenses' to see how it all began and went down. Job well done.
September 13, 2012
Wow, this book takes me back! I read it so many years ago and it was one of my favorite of the year it was released. It had suspense, romance, and intrigue, mixed in just the right way.
This book started out in an explosive way and only got better as I delved into it more. It's a shame I've fallen off reading Keith's books, but I look forward to resuming soon.
This book started out in an explosive way and only got better as I delved into it more. It's a shame I've fallen off reading Keith's books, but I look forward to resuming soon.
January 7, 2008
I read one of his other books and really liked how he writes. He has many different characters and keeps them all interesting and the story is suspenseful.
April 20, 2008
Great book filled with alot of action-packed suspense! Would make a good movie!
September 18, 2008
It's not what you think it is. Not half bad as a murder-mystery. Good read for a plane ride back to California from the east coast.
April 10, 2011
This was truly a page turner. I could not put it down. Only wish I had read Pretenses before I read Sugar& Spice. Pretenses clear up a lot of unanswer questions from Sugar&Spice.
September 26, 2012
This story had me hooked by page 5. This book was non-stop excitement and had just enough twists and turns to make me shout a few times in surprise. This was a great story!
May 17, 2013
The story was ok. It took a long time to get to the point. The dual story lines didn't come together well. Much of the plot didn't make sense.
June 17, 2015
Never try to be anyone but yourself. Great book with a lesson to is all. No one is above the law.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews