Burned Too Hot

Val Ryker #2

by Ann Voss Peterson

A SERIAL ARSONISTSomeone is setting fire to the town of Lake Loyal, Wisconsin, one building at a time. And Police Chief Valerie Ryker, and her former love, Assistant Fire Chief David Lund, have a hunch who's behind it.A SPECTER FROM THE PASTSerial Killer Dixon Hess almost destroyed Val's life, along with everyone close to her. He's vowed revenge. But how can his influence of evil still be spreading when he's safely locked up in the county jail?AN INNOCENT CHILDThe link is a kidnapped toddler. Hess's son. And some people will stop at nothing to see father and child reunited.Even if that means burning everything to the ground.From nationally bestselling romantic suspense author Ann Voss Peterson comes the second novel in the Val Ryker thriller series, following her hit Pushed Too Far.BURNED TOO HOT by Ann Voss PetersonDon't play with fire...

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks, Thriller, Thriller Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2014

About the author

Ann Voss Peterson is the author of over thirty novels and has millions of books in print all over the globe. Winner of the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award and a Rita finalist, Ann is known for her adrenaline-fueled thrillers and romantic suspense novels, including the Codename: Chandler spy thrillers she writes with J.A. Konrath and her own thriller series featuring small town Wisconsin police chief Val Ryker.

A creative writing major in college, Ann worked all manner of jobs after graduation, ranging from grooming show horses to washing windows, and now she draws on her wide variety of life experiences to fill her fictional worlds with compelling energy and undeniable emotion.

She lives near Madison, Wisconsin with her family and their border collie.

Reviews

[P.A. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Val Ryker series. A small town detective is hiding a big secret – MS. She is facing a firebug, a serial killer, and a search for a missing child. All the while she’s trying to deny her feelings for David Lund and her current symptoms.

Now she has to find a missing child, and protect her niece from the man who claims to be her father. At the same time, the firebug keeps burning buildings, each one more deadly than the last.

The series is definitely a thrilling read. The characters are all a little damaged, but relatable. My only regret is that next book is only coming soon.

If you like a thriller set in an isolated town in winter, you’ll love this one.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good and interesting, and the plot was quite complex, but it didn't seem forced. It did keep the reader interested and anxious to see what was going to come. It kept the reader guessing. There was some inconsistency in speaking of "Emily's" "boss", in that the "boss" was sometimes referred to as "he" and sometimes "she". I expect that that was intended to keep the reader guessing, but I think it would've been better to use different verbiage. I do wish that we had an unsexed pronoun, but that's not the author's fault! I appreciate that the plural "they" was not used!!
The incorporation of Val's problems due to MS was interesting, but I have no idea how realistic it was. I have MS, and I am aware of that different people's experiences can be totally different! It was fun to see one interpretation of the possible experience represented.
My one complaint was that the ending seemed very abrupt. When I first read the ending, my thought was "What just happened? Is it over?" I had to go back and reread the last three chapters, putting myself in a different frame so that I could put the right inferences and attitude on what was happening. When I did so, it didn't seem quite as wrong, but it was still quite abrupt.
Overall, it was a great and satisfying book! I truly enjoyed reading it, and I really liked the plot twists!

[Donald L McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FIVE STAR T H R I L L ER!!!

WOW..this is a super sit on the edge of your chair THRILLER..action never stops, so get your drinks, snacks, comfortable chair, and get ready for non stop action, page after page...Love this series...

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again -excellent, and I didn't guess the perp! I do think, though, that Chief Valerie should have been a bit more suspicious of her ex claiming to be her niece's father ...

Dixon Hess continues to be a monster ...

Just starting book 3 ...

[Tulay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anti-climatic end.

Likable characters filled with doubts, insecurities. Unsatisfying end, arson, murders and evil that should be killed long ago controlling small town.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Book Two.

3.5 stars. You need to read book 1 before this one. Also beware that this one does not really have an ending. You will need the next book, #3, to see what happens next.

There is a good storyline and likable characters with a decent back story on each if you read book 1 first.

This is supposed to be a small, quiet town but there is a lot of death over the course of two books. I think I would be packing to leave. As a resident of a small town, losing this many people would be devastating.

There was never an explanation given regarding an adoption that was done locally instead of given the anonymity it should have had. Also there are some editing issues.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

AVP. Had penned the second novel of our favorite Police Chief in the frozen north. Someone or more than one are roaming around the area burning down unoccupied buildings and there is no evidence that points to any person living or dead. After many turns the police discover that the first four points to a serial killer incarcerated. The mystery begins to mount, but at the same time evidence is being discovered. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS

[Debra Furlong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love! Love! Love! ...

... the Val Ryker series. Just finished books 1 & 2 and am going to go look for more. Ann Voss Peterson is now a beloved author. Amazing characters that have you loving or hating them - not a lot of in between. The storyline in this series is continuous, so MUST be read in order. They're great stand-alones, but trust me, you'll be happier starting with book one and the first delicious word that Peterson writes. WELL DONE!!

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining fast paced thriller with plenty of surprise twists and action to keep me reading! As in the first book in the series, this one had a lot of southern Wisconsin references which I appreciated as well. Not too many books I know of mention Baraboo and Sauk City! I was a waiting for a Culver's reference...but that may be in the next book.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving this series. Interesting characters. Plenty of mystery, drama and a romance in a thriller. I like the envolment of all the citizens of this small town to help solve the events thst occur in each book. Will be starting book 3 tonight to see how they get the killer.

[Monty Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Exciting Book

She'll keep you on your toes with this exciting adventure. The police chief and her sometimes boyfriend, Fire Chief, are bound to make you root for them to catch the bad guys that plot against the good guys!

[Carole D Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally fantastic job

This story was awesome and suspense throughout. The author covers many things that happen and it was totally remarkable. If you want a great thriller this is the author to follow.

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this series. It is an entertaining, fast paced thriller with plenty of drama. The police chief, Valerie Ryker is investigating a lot of fires being set around town while waiting for seriel killer Dixon Hess to be sentenced.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept me guessing

Happy to recommend this book, looking forward to reading the next one. Strong plot and enough twists to keep you involved to the very end

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I’d paid for this download, I’d also be burned too hot. It is one installment of a story - not a complete story. It ends unresolved.

[Lisa Moschkau]

I wish I had read them in order. It spoiled some of the fun

[Josh Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An arsonist is running around setting fire to different places throughout the town of Lake Loyal, Wisconsin. While Val and Lund are attempting to restore order, Val receives a cryptic threat from Dixon Hess who is behind bars. All this culminates into a police thriller where Lund and Val work entirely too hard and should probably take a vacation.

So yeah, I didn't find this one too suspenseful or thrilling. I could see the elements there and I was blitzing through pages at certain points but it all just felt off. I began this series due to the crossover between Peterson and Konrath and I may have been expecting a more gruesome and grotesque body of work. This was similar to the Jack Daniels series except the relationship between Val and Lund played a more important role to the crime and violence. I can't fault Peterson for writing something that doesn't connect with me but I can say that this work is a bit of a disconnect from what made Konrath's books great.

With the pros, I would say the writing was good. It was easy to follow and you could truly feel what this fictitious town is like. The evil in Hess was palpable and the push and pull between Lund and Val was done well. The twist and turns were sometimes predictable but there were also some that caught me by surprise. The flip flopping between viewpoints was done well. Oftentimes writers mess it up by trying to get too complex with the switches. It was a good book that has left me anxious to read the final part of the series.

The cons...hmmmm.......The names and roles of the side characters became a bit confusing at times. I found myself x-raying more than once to remember who the person was that hadn't made an appearance in 100 pages. That's all I can really think of.

The book is worth a shot. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. You can't say that the writing is terrible though. The book is well-put together and is definitely an interesting read.

[David Blaylock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time to move on to book 3 to see what happens next.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spine-tingling, on the edge of my seat, leaves me breathless. However, while it is all these and more, I should have realized that it is really a trilogy or more. The antagonist continues on and on. Somehow, this super psychopath manages to make women fall for him so he can then torture and kill them. They risk their lives to serve him in what ever way they can. He does not disabuse them, until it is too late. Then, Police chief Val Ryker has problems of her own...medical, family, and love life all serve as distractions that get embedded in the struggle for justice. This story suddenly ends with the bad guy out of jail (and on the run?)and Val trying to protect all she loves. If I had known it was a Saturday matinee-type book, I probably would not have started it. I quit reading Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels, because of that mastermind criminal storyline which always has the protagonist fighting for life.

[Dorothy Gagnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raging Fires

Lake Loyal Police Department hired their first female police Chief of Wisconsin, Valerie Ryker who finally succeeded in the capture of a horrific killer, Dixon Hess.

Grace her young but very intelligent niece, worked with her on his record, and came across information that led to his convictions of murder and maybe rape.

An interesting mystery that has several twists including Val and the Assistant Fire Chief have a romance that can't continue, the main problem to solve of someone is setting fires, and no leads to the suspect who it might be the firebug.

[Sieglinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Ryker/Lund series. Dixon Hess, who has been found guilty of the murders from the first book, is in the local jail awaiting sentencing. At the same time someone has been setting fires in the town, one of which proved fatal. A two-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl have gone missing, someone from Ryker's past has shown up unexpectedly, and her niece Grace has been the subject of a chilling promise sent to Hess by an unidentified fan. How many will die before those responsible for this wave of trouble are finally caught?

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was good and the characters seemed pretty real, but far too many people died, and that was really quite disturbing. Some of the "bad" people were also not credible. The book doesn't even hint at how devastated the small Wisconsin town at the center of the story will be by the wholesale slaughter of so many of its townspeople. In the real world, death of even a few friends or neighbors is shocking. So many deaths, mostly murders or collateral deaths would be overwhelming.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh! Why do they even bother publishing these worthless books that don't have a conclusion? It was a passable story, but not one that gave you any reason to pick it up once you put it down based on the 12 days it took for me to read. Then it ends with the villian getting away. Sick of reading books that are just setup to force you to buy next book in series.

[James Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice continuation from the first book. The only weird thing was how the author kept changing POV. Just seemed unnecessary and very different from the first book. Still, good read. Would certainly recommend.

[Joshua Booher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the type of book I strongly dislike.

1) There was not ending. It is just another bit of the story that doesn't end.
2) The bad guy is too perfect.

I got this book was free and might have gotten my money's worth. I did finish it, but I will not read any other books in this series.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Full of action and suspense, it's like a silence of the lambs on steroids. The characters are wonderful and every page you read, leaves you wanting more. I can't wait to read the next in this series.

[Suze · Rating 4 out of 5]

BURNED TOO HOT

Very good story, but I don't think this book would read well as a stand alone. Val, Grace and Lund are great characters and there is the bonus character of Harry from the Jack Daniels books.

[Edith English · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Even though I read the series out of sequence, and I knew what was in the third book, it didn't detract from my enjoyment whatsoever. I thoroughly enjoy this author. She knows how to captivate the reader's interest throughout. I can't wait to read more of her work.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm continuing to enjoy this series. In this second installment, we get some insight into Val's past. But her present is more dangerous to both her and her loved ones. She finally manages to make a big revelation which makes me curious and anxious to read book #3 to see what happens as a result.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firebug is on a rampage and with each more deadly, in this small town.
Val is the detective, and has a growing interest in David. Good plot with enough twists, and a love interest to keep one interested to the end.