Friendly Fire: a Seth and Ava Mystery

by Claudia Hall Christian

Friendly Fire begins with a phone call in the middle of the night. Seth’s father figure and personal Lucifer is acting crazy. A day later, Seth learns that his mother wants him to find something that his biological father left at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital.


Standing in the lobby of the place that had restored him after two tours through the blood and muck of tunnels of Vietnam, Seth is drawn into a mystery that will take him through the meltdown of Reactor Four at Chernobyl to meet Russian Olympic marksmen and discover that a familiar demon is covering its tracks.


In the end, Seth learns the most important kind of friendly fire from a man who had suffered horrific trauma and a woman who’d lived through the worst life can dish out.


If you like Seth O’Malley, Friendly Fire is the book for you.


Friendly Fire is filled with memorable characters, romance, and intrigue readers have come to expect from Claudia Hall Christian. Friendly Fire is the third in the Seth and Ava Mystery series.

205 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 14, 2016

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in this series however the characters weaves into the Denver Cereal Series by Claudia. I love all the books Claudia writes. It all starts with a late night call from Schmidty, Seth’s agent and son-in-law. Schmidty’s father is at it agiain. Then things get interesting. Seth tells Schmidty he will talk to his father. But, before he can he is told that they found journal pages from his mother in the walls while remodeling. This starts a series of events that no one could have seen coming. There is danger, mystery, and so much more. Pasts that are tightly woven are about to be unwoven. Many lives have been affected in ways no one even knew. Seth has lots of puzzles pieces and he may be they only one to be able to put them together. Old crimes will be revisited and solved along with some new ones. Seth, Ava, and their friends all think outside the box and with a little help from Delphie (an Oracle) are taken on a complex journey that spans several generations and families. This was one hell of a book. As always I greatly enjoyed Seth and Ava. I can’t say enough about these characters or this book. Claudia is able to create an entire world that sucks you in and makes you wish that you could be friends with the characters. Claudia is a fantastic author. I highly recommend this book and all her books.
I was given this book in return for an honest review.

[Rebecca Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Seth and Ava mystery that I have read and therefore I was quite lost with all the different characters. Had I have read more books in the series my review could be different.

Seth O'Malley used to be a Detective in the Denver Police Dept but was also a child prodigy on the piano.

When he goes with Delphie, an Oracle, on a tour of the Anschutz Medical Campus to find a gift from his dad he instead witnesses the death of his tour guide Tanya. When he discovers the link between that and another case it is his life that could be on the line.

Can Seth, his wife Ava, and a multitude of other family members find out why they are in danger before it is too late?

I thought the story was ok but it was also due to the fact that I had no idea the base story behind the characters and there were so many of them. The author tried to explain who each were but I found I was so confused at parts that it didn't seem to sink in.

Seth seemed like a good guy and his marriage to Ava seems relatively new and I'm guessing she is much younger than her as certain people made reference to that.

I'm still not 100% sure why everyone killed was a risk other than their link to another country.

If you are planning to read the story start at the first book and go from there as it will make much more sense with all the different characters.

[Fiction Vixens Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in the (Seth and Ava Mysteries) by Claudia Hall Christian ,and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this great story. Ms Christian has given us a story that will suck us in and keeps us there from start to finish,and then will leave you wanting more from this author. Everything starts with a call from Schmidty ,who's Seth's agent and son-in-law Sehmidty father is at it again . But things are getting interesting,when Seth tells Schmidty that he would talk to his father. Just before he did he's told that a journal was found, that were from his mother there were in the walls ,well remodeling . And this starts a series of events that no one saw coming. There's danger, mystery, and so much more. There's been alot of lives effected in so more ways ,no even realized .There's puzzle pieces that Seth has that he maybe the only one that might be able to put them together. There's some old crimes that need to be reopened ,and solved along with some other ones. Can Seth solve everything that needs done? Seth,Ava and friends start thinking outside the box. This is one really great story and we are given was amazing characters that make this one great story. I could tell you more about this story but that would spoil it for you.I highly recommend that you read this amazing story, you won't be disappointed.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Seth is not only a retired police detective and war veteran, he is also independently wealthy from his illustrious career as a musical prodigy/composer. Ava, his beautiful wife, is not a major character in this story. You can read the brief blurb to get an idea of the plot, but it is a long, complicated plot involving his biological father, his mentor, his agent/son-in-law, assassins, Russians, his daughters, his housekeeper (who is the head of the house) and various other people. There seem to be a lot of people in his life who don't know who their parents are/were.

I didn't find the plot hard to follow because Ms. Christian does a great job writing about it all. I think I would have enjoyed it a little more if I had first read the other stories with Seth O'Malley just because the characters are 3-dimensional and I didn't know them as well as I would have liked. That said, the book is definitely able to stand alone and time is not wasted catching up on previous books as it is not needed.

If you enjoy action-adventure/spy and mystery/cop stories then you will love this book. I am going to go find the other stories about Seth and Ava. Enjoy!

[Linda]

Just finished this one. I love to see the little camos of the other characters from the other series in this book. It truly makes it as if the author is telling one big story while sharing their personal lives.

[Barbara Hawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Claudia Hall Christian has kept me enthralled from page one. Family, love, mystery and a great ride! Seth has some surprises and revelations. Wow! As always I will wait patiently for the next one!

[Pat Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Seth and Ava mystery! CHC is an amazing writer, pulling you into the story for an exciting roller coaster ride!