Secrets of the Kill

Chloe Mather Thrillers #1

by Lawrence Kelter

Two governments—one objective, stop the spread of terrorism by any means possible. America and Israel, lifelong allies in an age-old war. To win this battle they will have to sell their souls. A mutilated body has been discovered; a body not meant to be found, but now that it has, Pandora’s box is open and secrets never to be learned have been revealed. An Israeli woman living in New York has been murdered. She has been raped and butchered; an outrage that ignites a fuse that burns all the way back to Tel Aviv. Enter FBI Agent Chloe Mather, a hard-charging ex-Marine who has no sympathy for the kind of maggot who could commit such a violent atrocity. A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, she was one of the first woman Marines to be deployed into an active combat area. She struggles with PTSD and the consequences of a fatherless childhood, yet this is a woman who accepts no pity and operates according to a moral code that is second to none. She’ll stop at nothing to find the psychopath responsible for this unspeakable crime. In Secrets of the Kill, Mather and this code will face the ultimate test. What begins as a challenging homicide becomes more, much more, and Mather is pulled into an investigation that involves the mob, Israeli intelligence, and a radical terrorist faction. They say that blood is thicker than water but is it thicker than the bonds of patriotism? Mather will ponder this question and many others as she fights to bring an innocent woman’s murderer to justice, and prevent a geopolitical atrocity from taking place on American shores.

Genres: Thriller

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2014

About the author

Lawrence Kelter is the bestselling author of the Stephanie Chalice Mystery Series. A resident New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn and residing on Long Island. He often uses Manhattan and Long Island as backdrops for his stories. He is the author of three novels featuring street savvy NYPD detective, Stephanie Chalice: Don't Close Your Eyes, Ransom Beach, and most recently, The Brain Vault. Early in his career, he received direction from bestselling novelist Nelson DeMille, who put pencil to paper to assist in the editing of his first book. He was also a member of a private writing workshop led by the late soap opera legend and AFTRA president, Ann Loring. His novels are quickly paced and routinely have a twist ending.

Reviews

[Tulay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solomon's law.

Israel's agents, Russian and Italian gangs, FBI agent Mather. All of them will make you guessing. If you think maybe in the next chapter you'll catch your breath, you'll be wrong. Better start reading when you have uninterrupted five hours. Fast moving thriller.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally read this type of thriller, but I really enjoyed this one. At first I was a little confused and wasn't sure what was happening, but I quickly caught on. Government/terrorism themes are more difficult in general for me to follow, so I tend to shy away but I'm trying to get even more out of my comfort zone by reading more books like this one.

My interest is always piqued when I read about something like a dead person whose body was found and (pretty gross) also mutilated. The boy ends up being a huge mistake by the person who killed and "hid" the body where he put it. For reasons I won't say, this particular murder really hit a nerve in an organization that no one would want to make angry.

Then we meet FBI Agent Chloe Mather, an ex-marine (love it), a veteran in the Afghanistan war, and she lives with PTSD; however, she is one bad-ass woman! Mather is bound and determined to find the brutal murderer, and as she digs deeper and deeper finds herself looking inside the mob, Israeli intelligence, and terrorism.

I love how fearsome Mather is and just how deeply into the various criminal behaviors she finds. And I love some surprises and this one did have some surprise elements/twists.

[BookLoversLife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder, terrorism, and an FBI agent with PTSD

Popular New York author Lawrence Kelter has lived in the Metro New York area most of his life and relies primarily on locales in Manhattan and Long Island for his novels' settings. He has published over forty mystery thrillers that always manage to find their way to the top of readers’ favorites. The Chloe Mather novels are among his best selling mysteries.

Lawrence begins this series of thrillers by introducing FBI Agent Chloe Mather, an ex-Marine, veteran of the war in Afghanistan and now suffering from PTSD sets afire an investigation of a brutal murder and rape of an Israeli woman. Charging forward Chloe’s story includes uncovering of mob violence, terrorism, Israeli intelligence, all of which Chloe responds to with her focused moral code. Related with a keen sense of tongue in cheek humor at times and a descriptive naughty language where appropriate, Kelter weaves a tale that captures attention from page one (where Chloe’s firecracker personality is on display!) to the end.

Exceptional attention to detail – much like a painter or sculptor creating art – Kelter makes this fast-paced story real as the crimes past and present of New York City. Fine story telling by a fine writer.

[Lucinda Clarke · Rating 1 out of 5]

SECRETS OF THE KILL Lawrence Kelter 2
UNBELIEVABLE
I only finished this book because I wanted to know how it ended, but there were so many characters, I wasn’t sure who was doing what, where and why. New names are mentioned almost at the end of the book as the puppet masters suddenly materialised out of nowhere. If the heroine was Chloe Mather – although we don’t discover her name until well into the book and then I was confused as to her gender – I did not connect with her. I don’t go for people who kill animals for sport, and all the way through the book, the dialogue is quite bizarre. Words do not fit the characters and the sexual inuendoes became really boring. I will not be buying any more books by this author.

[LaVina Altebaumer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sophomoric at best

The dialogue was painful to read most of the time. A 20 year veteran pilot trying to help another pilot land a disabled jet would NEVER utter the phrase "cool beans". Beyond the dialogue, however, the story took off in too many different directions, introduced too many characters that didn't need to be introduced, and ultimately left me wondering exactly which story line I was supposed to care about.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secrets of the Kill (Chloe Mather book. 1)

Smelter at his best, SA Chloe Mather, in secrets of the Kill, takes you through each twist and turn of the action. Complete with characters you're not going to want to meet in a dark alley and others who are just what the world needs to keep us safe and secure. Great reading and writing. On to rules on the Kill.

[Randee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was not overly impressed by the first two chapters of the book - felt the intros were a bit too over-the-top. I think if they'd removed the first chapter (or two - can't quite remember), the characters would have more naturally emerged. I stuck with it (I was traveling) and ended up enjoying the book. I'll try another and see if it's a series I want to continue with.

[Sing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lite easy read. I think too much effort went into the character development causing the main characters to be 'over the top' hence less believable. I did skip over numerous sections of the book but oddly I still gave it a four. Weird.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

FBI, terrorists, rival mafia dons, spies...this book has it all.

[Jennie Ersari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing

The storyline was very intriguing and the characters outstanding. I really loved reading this book. I want to read more from Lawrence Kelter!

[Lynn Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynnie

A very good book. Enjoyed it very much, hard to put down. It had your intrigue and humor in places. Two partners who could kid and watch each other.