They can’t keep up with the body count he leaves behind. FBI agents Jade Monroe and J.T. Harper are on the trail of their most recent serial killer, but they know his whereabouts only by the carnage left in his wake. By the time they reach his most recent location, he’s long gone.
Without a clear description of the man, they’re chasing a shadowy figure that people see from a distance—a ghost—that’s killing at an alarming rate.
A stroke of luck brings the agents face-to-face with a survivor. What they learn from the woman’s hospital bed description of her brutal attacker changes everything. The situation has suddenly become more than dangerous—and to Jade, more than personal.
Note: All Jade Monroe books are standalone stories but since characters carry over, they are best read in chronological order.
Series One - Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series #1 Maniacal #2 Captive #3 Fallacy #4 Premonition #5 Exposed
Note: The Jade Monroe FBI Thriller books follow on the heels of the conclusion of Exposed, Book 5 in the Detective Jade Monroe Crime Thriller Series.
Series Two – Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller Series #1 Snapped #2 Justified
C.M. Sutter was born in San Jose, California and split time between the sunny California coast and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a senior in high school, she chose Wisconsin as her permanent address. After many years in the Badger State, she decided on a warmer year-round climate to call home and moved south. Years of progression took her from working in large companies, to twelve years as a massage therapist, and finally, owning a corporation. She has been self-employed for over twenty years. Ms. Sutter has been writing and self-publishing since 2014 with eleven titles published in a different genre. Because of her deep interest in crime and thriller novels, she took up writing in the police procedural/crime thriller genre in 2016.
Jade Monroe along with her partner J.T. Harper are chasing an elusive serial killer that seems to keep slipping out of their reach each time they feel they are closing in. It starts out with what they think are bear attacks out in the woods with campers, but that is far from what it turns out to be as this killer has an unique tool that makes it seem an animal is attacking and killing people.
Jade and J.T. end up with lots of pieces for the puzzle and it takes them awhile to fit them all together realizing that they are indeed hunting for a serial killer that seems to stay ten steps ahead of them.
Who is the killer? What special tool does he use to mask his killings? Does Monroe and Harper collar the killer? No spoilers here as you will need to read the book!
Thoughts:
This was a really good story as it goes back and forth with what is happening with the killer and what Jade Monroe and her partner are doing to track down the killer. The book literally takes off in the first few chapters as something happens right away and then there it quite bit of mystery with what the killer will do next.
Though it seemed to drag in spots but picked up in other spots and it picked up more after the 40% mark of the story. Lots of police procedural involved with this story and this is my second or third book by this author.
Though I think I read this book out of order but it is stand alone so it doesn't really matter. I was thinking it was part of the Jade Monroe detective series which I read the first book in that series but this one is part of the FBI series where it seems Jade got promoted from detective to FBI agent. Will have to go back and read the first book in this series and then continue on with the detective series to see how Jade ended up getting promoted.
All in all though I enjoyed the story and it kept me wondering what was going to be around the corner waiting for Jade and J.T. Giving this book four "Criminal Chaser Chiller" stars!
Could also been titled Closure. Jade continues to be a solid character. In this one she chased her white whale across country and finished her most difficult case. These are fun, quick reads for anyone who enjoys cops, serial killer stories and the FBI.
If you enjoy police procedural books you will likely enjoy this book. If you are looking for a lot of action you may want to give it a pass. Other than the bad guy doing his thing, there’s really no action until the end, which I found a little anti-climactic if I’m being honest. Having said that, I did not read the first book in the series and some of the references to it in this book made it sound quite exciting. I may give that one a go. The story line in this book was interesting and easy to follow but for me, the author is a bit overly descriptive of the mundane things (e.g. what the characters ate for every meal, the details of every check-in with their boss, etc...). I found myself skimming through some of that stuff to get back to gist of the story. The other thing I found was that there were things that were brought up and then just kind of casually dismissed (such as one of the main characters’ suffering pain throughout the book - really turned out not to be anything serious even though it was mentioned several times and left the reader wondering what was going on, or how that would come into play).
C.M. Sutter writes a masterful story. The killer in this book is a truly horrible person, and you just cringe as he goes on his rampage. Jade and J.T. work diligently in chasing down all leads, no matter how thin, and work toward finding this person. Jade Monroe is a compelling character, and Ms. Sutter has captured her perfectly in both her descriptive prose, and her conversational prose. I look forward to reading all the books in this series. This was my second one, and please...if you're going to read them, start with the first and work your way through them. This is an excellent sequel to the first Jade Monroe thriller. Check it out.
Okay who has been teaching this age group writing lessons. In x number of pages create tremendous horrific criminal event, have your LEOs solve within the same time as an hour tv show, and be sure the heros don't abide by the rules. Nothing like real life and the LEOs tried now media and others would crucify. This is a great crime story but had who it was at hello. The read is good...but plausibility?
Overall: 5 of 5 stars Performance: 5 of 5 stars Story: 5 of 5 stars Reviewed: 05-02-23
The bodies are stacking up, the locations widely spread out, the evidence lacking, and the clues few and far between. One thing is certain, if Jade and J.T. don’t stop him soon, those numbers are just going to go higher! “Justified” is a fast paced, far from tame, mystery thriller that kept me glued to my headphones, frantic for the next clue, eyes popping, breath shallow, at times completely horrified by what I was hearing! Did I ever consider stopping! NO WAY! This fantastically written thriller is not only gripping, tense, and “edge of your seat” suspenseful, but sooooo right up my alley! No spoilers! I’m sorry for the lack of story detail, but I don’t want give away any of the many twists, turns and jaw dropping surprises of this magnificent plot! Beautifully written, both the story and scene setting flow smoothly and are easily understandable! The characters, both the good and the supremely evil, are so fabulously described, so beautifully developed, that they jumped into my head and stayed there! They became real as I listened, and I genuinely felt as if I knew them! The dialogue they spoke not only rang true, but came across as completely believable! The narration that brought these characters, and this story alive was simply fantastic! Clear and consistent with voicing choices emotionally compelling and beautifully suited to their character! All of the elements were present in “Justified” for a perfect five star experience and I loved … every … single …. heart …. stopping …. second!
I've been reading CM Sutter's books by skipping the criminal's POV chapters because I wanted to have some suspense. I wanted to read how the FBI agents search for and find clues to the killer without already knowing who he is. This is the second book I've read this way and generally it's worked out well.
There's a serial killer on the loose. He's been killing people in campgrounds in Arkansas and Monroe and her partner have been tasked with finding him. Mainly it's by looking at security camera footage to follow the killer's passage and talking to witnesses. The author does a fair job of the detective protocol but in both Jade Monroe books I've read, it kind of unravels towards the end, the reveal isn't exciting or done well.
That leads to my next observation, which is though the writing is easy to read and follow, the writing is not done to a high standard. It reads somewhat amateurishly, with unnecessary dialog or actions. For example, instead of writing that someone gets coffee and leaves, the author will write out the characters pouring coffee for each other and then thanking each other. The ending chapter of this book was also a bit superfluous as if the author didn't know how to end it.
After I "finished" the book, I decided to go back and read the killer's POV. That was when I decided to quit the series. That's because it was not only simplistic, it was frankly unbelievable and stretched credulity to my limit. The whole situation of the killer appearing in the wilds and the girls not being wary of him was not realistic and the writing was done at a middle school level. Sorry if that seems harsh but it is what it is.
Couldn’t pass up this gorgeous cover, and that def worked in my favor, as it was a really fun listen. Thanks so much to the author / publisher for offering this up on a free site, I did claim it that way, but leaving my opinion is voluntary. I think I’m officially a fan of this author after enjoying a couple of their books.
This was pretty much your typical serial killer / police procedural, with alternating POVs from both the killer and Jade, one of the officers on the case. I wouldn’t say it packs any originality, but not much does anymore anyway. I was interested in listening to it all play out, so I’d say the author did a decent job, overall.
There were a couple little continuity hiccups, that a good editing, or even beta-reading team could’ve helped with.
3 stars.
Audio— Not great. Not bad, exactly, but the narrator has weird pronunciation for a few works and mostly just sorta of reads off the words as a robot. Sounds a lot like AI at times. At other times she does inflict some tone, but it tends to sound out of place. If she’d work more on performing the books, instead of trying to mimic Siri or Alexa, it’d make for a better production. Though, as I said, not bad. 2 star-narration.
Note At the time of this review, C.M. doesn't have the right cover up on Goodreads.
This story starts out really well...you think you are in for a real ride, but then it just fizzles. I got so tired of the repetition (speaks to her boss on the phone, then repeats what was said to her partner, talks to the doctor then repeats to the sheriff etc etc ad nauseam) I'm pretty sure this could have been edited much more tightly to eliminate about 50 pages of repetition.... what was ordered at dinner, and just mundane things like, he turned on his left indicator and turned into the parking lot....and what direction they were going on which highways for how far....ugh. It definitely took away from the story. I was all set for a thrilling ending, and it just was a huge lunchbox letdown. This clever individual who has eluded the FBI for months just allows the ending to happen in about 2 pages. Not very clever at all! I also did not read book 1 so that back story could have been explained much earlier in the book...I guessed something happened to Amber early on, but had no idea what was going on there. What could have been an awesome creepy story was just ho hum. I think I need to get a second job as an editor.
Great Suspense Story! - Audiobook Review 🎧 Everyone thinks that a bear is attacking and killing people in the campgrounds until something is found to change their minds. Jade and J.T. are the ones that need to figure out who is doing this and why. I love the friendship they have and the way they work together and I think that is a big part of why I loved this book so much. This was a fast pace, suspenseful, crazy thriller, that was hard to stop listening to. I don’t want to give much away so I won’t say too much, except that this is a must listen to book (or read if you don’t like to listen)! I am really looking forward to the next book in the series when it comes out in Audiobook. Meghan's narration was awesome as it always is when I listen to her. She brought all the characters to life with all of their feelings and you always knew who was speaking when you heard the narration.
Wow! What a story! This really captivated me from the beginning! One of my favorite things about this is that it gives you point of view from the killer. I love that since many times s/he is left as a one dimensional character. But not here! He is a full character with wants, needs and desires. Albeit some of them are bloodthirsty. This has a quick pace and a great line up of other players.
This is the second in the series but could be listened to as a stand alone. This series is off to an amazing couple stories and I eagerly look forward to more in this series! I listened to this on audio. Meghan Kelly, who is the narrator, does an outstanding job. She seems to embody the characters and uses the perfect voice for each one!
I enjoyed this book. I'm not going to nitpick the procedural parts of it because it was close enough... in spirit if not in actuality. What I do count as important is the fact that the storyline stands alone. You can read this book out of sequence & not really miss anything important. Another aspect that I applaud is the fact that while there is a series of these books, it is NOT serialized. Each book has a definite end & each book stands alone. Reading them all, in the proper sequence, only enhances the entire series. It's too bad that other authors haven't learned that fact.
A chilling serial murder thriller. I read this as a stand alone, and found that not having read any of the other books in the series wasn't too much of am impediment. The search for this killer goes down many different paths and ends up being closer to home to Jade Monroe that she suspected. The finally clue was given by the only survivor of this crazed killers attacks. It was an enjoyable read, kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The ending was really unexpected in many ways.
I think this is the first book I've read by this author. For the most part, I could read this book without reading book 1, though there are obvious references to past events (which I'm guessing were in the first book), so I can't say that reading book 1 would not have helped.
There was one part that really bothered me. What Jade calls a maniacal killer is after her, and Jade, at a time when she should have all her wits about her, decides to drink a beer. Somehow, I just can't see an experienced agent doing that for any reason. That threw me entirely off the story.
If you’re expecting an accurate police procedural story this isn’t it, the agents regularly touch the dead bodies before anyone else but it’s ok because they cover their hands with their selves!
This is an ok read not a lot of action it’s mainly just the agents chasing the serial killer until the killer decides it’s time to conclude his spree. I have to be honest I didn’t really take to Jade Monroe so I’m unlikely to read/listen to anymore of the series.
Not Dostoyevsky, much easier to read.And isn't a treatise on a cultural upheavel on the dying and death of an era which seemed like the end of the world. But is as pleasant read, as pleasant as a read as one about chasing down a clever serial killer. Resembles the Dick Tracy comic strips I used to read growing up (I am indeed an old man) where I learned "crime does not pay". Gripping read. Worth a few hours of your time if you are a sucker for mysteries. Like I am.
I saw a few people complain about big mistakes in the story in a couple of the books. In the first one there was one. But otherwise the story held my attention. This book had one that bugged me for a chapter of two but again I carried on. Over all I am no snooty critic type and I am liking the characters and the stories. No body is perfect and I am going to continue the series.
It was all I could do to finish it . The explanations went on and on and lost me out of boredom. Usually I don't even finish a book that I'm not sure of but I kept hoping it's get better. Yeah, it doesnt. I sped read through the rest and really? An fbi agent who keeps crying like a baby just was ridiculous and a tad annoying. I'm not happy to write a bad review but the authors request we do. I won't be any more of these Jade Monroe books.
I have to agree with some other reviewers who gave this a ho-humm. I really wanted to like the characters, but there was just so much boring conversation, repeated conversations, and directions to the hotels, what they ate...and did anyone count just how many cups of coffee Jade has gulped down by the end of the story??
It has a good story-line, but the ending was rather a let down as it all ended so quickly. I doubt I'll read the next book in the series.
Fast read, but simplistic with limited charater development. Had potential, but never got going. A shame because the author has written so many books. I cannot understand the overall 4.41 rating by other readers. For these reasons, I really tried and actually finished the book which turned out to be a waste of reading time. It was like reading a serial killer Danille Steele or Sidney Sheldon book with much less detail. No meat on the bone in this novel.
I really like the story lines of these books. However I find that some details are excessive considering I still have no idea what the main character looks like because I began reading the series after she joined the FBI and the dialogue between the characters doesn’t seem realistic at all at times. If the main character is in her 30s there is no way she speaks that way.
Love this Agent Monroe! Jade is fabulous. This story had some very disturbing parts. Oh, my....Max was one evil bad guy! Neko Te? I had never heard of such a weapon. Viscious, scary, tense moments. Moved along well. Quick reading because I couldn't stop. I needed to know what was coming next. Thank you!
I have read both the first and second books in this series. And they have both had me reading into the night. Very easy to follow the plot, well defined characters that don't have you looking back to see who the are. I do recommend the series, I'm about to start on book three
Great, fast-paced book! Serial killer on the loose, and FBI agent Jade Monroe and her partner are on the case. Lots of clever thinking by the criminal means the body count sadly racks up pretty quickly as he evades apprehension. The twist of the serial killer’s connection to Jade made the story even more compelling.
Knowing that "Justified" is a complete, stand alone book, even though Agent Jade Monroe FBI Thriller, #2 is a series. I have been suckered into pervious books that finally resolve the mystery in two or three future books. With great writing, great characters, and a great plot has me chomping to read all of C.M. Sutter's books.
read. Kept me interested all the way through. Just wish Jade would hGreat shortave bought flowers for the young girl in the hospital On her last visit.o
Great short read. Kept me interested all the way through. Just wish Jade would have bought flowers for the young girl in the hospital on her last visit.
This should have been a great book instead of just a good book. The storyline was there and should have reached out, grabbed you, and pulled you in. The beginning chapter does that and then starts losing luster and never regains it. The characters are way to immature for a story that should have you sitting on the edge of your seat.
Loved the narration of Meghan Kelly, who brings out the characters, pace, suspense and action. Perfect
We meet FBI agents Jade Monroe and J.T. Harper are on the trail of their most recent serial killer. Tracking the killer who kills women campers and leaving carnage left in his wake. Jade discovers it is someone from her past who attended the same high school she did.
Decent enough for investigatory-police procedural thriller. I did enjoy the different point of views between agents and killer. Slightly anti-climatic in the end in my opinion. Dialogue felt forced between the characters with unnecessary callbacks. This caused me to skim the pages towards the end to get to final conclusion. I haven’t decided if I want to continue the series.
The FBI is on the trail of a serial killer so Jade and her partner J.T. are dispatched to catch this vicious killer. The trail of death leads them from Arkansas to Wisconsin with many stops and bodies on the way.