Blessed are the Peacemakers

Gabriella Giovanni Mystery #5

by Kristi Belcamino

A primordial evil lurks deep in the jungle. A ruthless killer. A deadly game.

The ANTHONY, BARRY, & MACAVITY-nominated series continues ...

Gabriella Giovanni has it all.

A stunning penthouse in San Francisco. An exciting job on the crime beat. A doting, handsome husband and a beautiful little girl.

So, when she complains about all the travel her husband's new DEA job requires, Gabriella knows she has good problems.

But when her husband's plane goes down in the jungles of Guatemala and she is told he is dead, Gabriella thinks things could not possibly get any worse.


SHE IS WRONG.

Despite the U.S. government's attempt to find the wreckage, they come up empty-handed. Gabriella heads to Guatemala to find some answers, and hopefully, some healing.

In the deepest, darkest jungles, it doesn't take long for Gabriella to realize she's in over her head and putting what remains of her life--and everything she loves--at risk.

Genres: Mystery, Amazon, Ebooks, Fiction

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2017

About the author

Kristi Belcamino is a USA TODAY bestselling author, an Agatha, Anthony, Barry & Macavity, award finalist, a newspaper cops reporter, and an Italian mama who makes a tasty biscotti.


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FULL LIST OF BOOKS:

Gia Santella Crime Thrillers:


Related to Gia Santella Crime Thrillers:
Gia (prequel novella)
Lone Raven (novella)
Taste of Vengeance

Queen of Spades Thrillers


Related: Eva (prequel novella)

Vigilante Crime Series:


Stand Alones:


Nonfiction


Gabriella Giovanni Mystery Series:

Blessed are the Dead
Blessed are the Meek
Blessed are Those Who Weep
Blessed are Those Who Mourn
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Blessed are the Merciful

Related:
The Saint (prequel novella)
Misc:
City of Angels
Tomb of the Queen
Crush Your Query

Reviews

[Tulay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good mystery.

Setting of this story Guatemala jungle. Cartel, drugs and many evil characters and love story. This was my first read by this author, it's okay to read.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blessed are the Peacemakers is the 5th Gabriella Giovanni mystery, and I am solidly addicted to their spell. I should know better than to start a book in this series at night, but I did it anyway and the next time I looked at the clock, it was 6:30 a.m. But, what a glorious night/morning of reading it was! Well worth any sleep lost or dreams missed. Can't imagine any dreams being better than this book. Gabriella and the danger she finds herself in make reading this series a thrill like few others. This character is smart, strong, and tenacious. She is a fierce defender of the truth and those she loves. Gabriella Giovanni is simply one of the best female characters in mystery/crime fiction.

In this latest chapter of Gabriella's life, she is once more in the role of protecting her family and trying to survive tough personal blows. Gabriella and her husband Sean Donovan have been married seven years, with their precious daughter a seven-year-old testament to their love. Living in her step-father's penthouse, with all the protection and luxury it provides gives her family a place to heal and relax after threats in the past. Gabriella has a job she loves as a crime beat reporter, and her husband has a job with the DEA. Looking forward to taking the first vacation with just the two of them since their marriage, Gabriella and Donovan must first get through a week of his absence on a DEA assignment. That vacation never comes, as Donovan's plane goes down in the jungles of Guatemala and he is presumed dead. After two months of barely being able to get out of bed, Gabriella decides that she must visit the area where the plane was last on radar, to find his body or learn what happened to him, as the DEA has ended their inquiries. The decision to travel to these jungles is one that will place Gabriella in a dangerous environment of nature and drug cartels, but she feels that she must endure it in order to put her life back together for her daughter and herself.

Although Gabriella has had a senator's help in planning her trip, with a guide and arrangements on the ground set in place, Guatemala is a place where plans are seldom allowed to follow their intended course. The drug cartels make the rules and have their own plans. Gabriella Giovanni and Sean Donovan are pawns in a cut-throat business where human life is only as important as it is beneficial to the cartels. Gabriella soon learns that trust is a slippery slope of disappointment and dire consequences. Her quest to find her husband is a twist of the unexpected in the most gripping tales yet in this series.

One of the many talents of author Kristi Belcamino is the ability to create suspense, the kind of on-the-edge-of-your-seat excitement that keeps a reader racing along with the characters to escape danger and death. However, Belcamino also has a deft touch at the slower moments of suspense, where waiting behind a door in a breathless panic raises the reader's pulse along with the character waiting. This story and all the other Gabriella Giovanni stories, are participatory reading at its finest. All bets are off in the struggle to survive, and the moment-to-moment peril is palatable.

[Judy Churchill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly well written or sound in plot.

[John W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS is an engaging story of mystery and intrigue focusing on issues of truth, family relationships, and the conflicts of good against evil. Kristi Belcamino places her readers inside heads of Gabriella and Donovan so they can experience and feel what is happening to them as the storyline shifts back and forth between the principal characters. Belcamino brings heart-wrenching emotions of fear and sadness giving Gabriella and Donovan find themselves in difficult circumstances and unimaginable struggles.

The storyline’s intensity never lets up as readers see the action through Gabriella’s eyes and her interaction with existing good and evil supporting characters. Belcamino updates each character’s history and explains their roles in the story. The author places her readers inside heads of Gabriella and Donovan so they can experience and feel what is happening to them as the storyline shifts back and forth between the principal characters.

Readers embrace the realism of BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS supported by Belcamino’s knowledge of investigative reporting and her research of the DEA’s war against drug trafficking and the ruthlessness of the drug cartels. The author creates an atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal exposing readers to one surprise after another. Belicamino skillfully weaves family issues, loyalty, and romance giving readers a look at what makes Gabriella tick. They learn a Givonnia is a complicated person, who is a mother, lover, and Gabriella is from a family of survivors. Belcamino’s fifth book in the Blessed series BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS doesn’t disappoint her readers earns my recommendations as a must read and a five-star ranking.

[Mikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Gabriella Giovanni book, 5th in the series, is absolutely fast paced and full of action, maybe the best one yet! The suspense is real, the setting is phenomenal, and reading this book is almost like watching a movie. It is so action-packed you will not want to set it down. There are moments of gut-wrenching fear, moments of heart-rending sadness, and yes, moments of impatience, as we follow the non-stop story of Gabriellla dealing with impossible circumstances and horrific struggles. I have read all of the books in this series and have never been disappointed. I eagerly await each new book that Kristi Belcamino publiishes, because I know I will be in for a real treat. She is an excellent writer, and each new offering is better than the previous one. I am so glad I have been fortunate enough to follow her writing career and have had the opportiunity to sometimes read advance copies, as was the case with 'Peacemakers'. I highly recommend this book and all her books!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good adventurous mystery. I have not read the other Gabriella Giovanni books, but I’m thinking they are just as mysterious. Hoping this is not a spoiler when I say.....”Lotta kidnapping going on in this woman’s life”. I won’t read the earlier books in this series, but would if there is another one after this one.

[Maryann Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blessed Are The Peacemakers is the recently released fifth book in the Gabriella Giovanni Mystery series, and I think it is the best to date.
In Blessed Are The Peacemakers, Gabriella has been informed that her husband Sean Donovan, a DEA agent, has died over the jungles of Guatemala on his way to a mission. The crash was so horrific that no remains were found. Gabriella tries to heal and move on for their daughter Grace, however cannot
accept Donovan's death without discovery of his remains or receiving factual confirmation that he is indeed dead.
She makes arrangements for Grace to stay with her mother and her new husband and secures a reluctantly granted extended leave from the paper where she works as a photojournalist. Not knowing what she may discover, she is off to find answers. She quickly learns that answers are not forthcoming and that she is in danger.
Her journey was both riveting and frightening; I was engaged immediately. There were so many questions to be answered. Was there a chance Sean was alive? What was his mission? How would their future, if he was alive be impacted by this experience?
The storyline was well developed and complete; this book can be read as a stand-alone. I do though recommend reading the previous four as there are references to prior events and the reader will gain additional information about Gabriella and Donovan's relationship. Additionally they are excellent books.
Blessed Are The Peacemakers is definitely a five star read; kudos to Kristi Belcamino.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story by Kristi Belcamino! Gabriella's husband's plane wrecks in the Mexican jungle. When the government gives up on finding the plane, Gabriella goes down there herself to see if she can find the plane and her husband's body. Soon, things turn out to be way over Gabriella's head and experience. She wants to find her husband, but she has a daughter and ill mother to think about also. Who will look after them if she continues her search and ends up dead? Can Gabriella find a way to search for the plane and remain safe to take care of her family? Who will she turn to in her time of need? Read the book to find out. I received ARC of this book. The review is voluntary.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what an exhilarating read, this story was fast paced and full of great twists and turns I did not see coming it was fantastic, once I started reading I just couldn't stop.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I obtained this free e-book from Amazon and I am voluntarily writing a review. This is the first that I have read of this author and now I am an obsessed fan wanting to read all her books. This book has everything in it a reader could want. I was so disappointed when the book ended.

[Ruby Bibi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not on a par with the author’s other books

-This is another story revolving around the character of Gabriella Giovanni, a reporter living in San Francisco. The author, Ms. Belcamino, is at her best when there are tense fighting or escape scenes and those in this book are very well done. The ending of this story is puzzling as it really is not satisfying at all and seems to focus on domestic spats.
-At the start of this story, Gabriella is sent a tip that there are bodies that have been dumped into a lake in the city. When she approaches the scene, she sees divers pulling up one body after another and the count reaches 13. There is a mysterious man there who seems to know who Gabriella is. He’s dressed impeccably in a suit and has an Italian accent. When Gabriella gets too near one of the bags holding a body which tears open, the stench is unbearable and she gags. The stranger goes over to her to help but she feels there’s something off about him and she moves away.
-We next see Gabriella and her husband, Special Agent Sean Donavan. He’s preparing for a trip regarding a case for the DEA, but he speaks about a much needed vacation coming up that he and Gabriella are planning.
-We now jump to two months later and Gabriella is distraught. The case that her husband had gone on resulted in his death. She can’t function, has difficulty caring for her 7 year old daughter, and has to take an extended leave of absence from her job at the newspaper.
-It turns out that her husband is only assumed to be dead. He was on a case involving drugs in Central America and his plane went down and could not be located. She decides that, in order to have closure, she’s going to enter that area, and conduct her own search, while also arranging for a guide to take her into that area in order to interview heads of the drug trade. When she finally arrives in the jungles of Guatemala, she sees the mysterious Italian man who is also having a guide take him into the jungle.
-As they enter deeper into the area, the guides are attacked and killed while she and the stranger, Nico, are taken prisoner. She has a distrust for Nico but he convinces her that he’s trying to help her as she is trying to find out what happened to her husband and he’s trying to find out what happened to another passenger who was on that same plane.
-She finds from her captors that her family back home has been told that she’s dead and she and Nico are forced to stay as a “guest” of the drug lord for reasons known only to him.
-There are twists in this story and the action scenes are written very well but the ending is one that’s a very big let down as events that are more appropriate in a romance novel, focusing on family issues, take up the last 20% of the end of the book, with no point. I had expected a surprise ending, with certain of her abductors possibly revealed as people she knew, but this wasn’t the case.
-Though the other books in the series were excellent, this one could easily be skipped, as it’s not at all on a par with the others.

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting Gabriella Giovanni #5. I had only read the first of this series but came upon this in my Kindle library. It starts out with Gabriella who is a journalist for a local newspaper is standing at a lake while 13 dead bodies in plastic lie draining on the shore. Then her husband who is now a cop turnedDEA agent is off to somewhere in Central America regarding a drug cartel case. She is notified that his plane has crashed but his body has not been found. She is devistated and refuses to believe that he is dead. Gabriella decides that after mourning for 3 months she is going to go and cover the crash site and either find him or his body because unless she does this she can't have any closure. While there, her guide is killed and she is kidnapped by a drug kingpin who goes byEl Laro who conceals his identity by wearing a mask. Gabriella had come across an Italian gentleman, if you can call him that named Nico who bears a scar across his cheek down to his mouth also working the drug ring/cartel case who is also taken by the kidnappers.And I wll leave you here so as not to have any spoilers in this review. Does she find her husband? Is he alive? Does she make it back to San Francisco before her beloved mother succumbs to cancer? I definitely recommend you read this book. Even though it is one of a series, you can catch up with what was in the past and totally know and love the characters, And it could be a stand alone but I want more Gabriella.

[J Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of intrigue and action!

Gabriella Giovanni, an investigative reporter, receives an anonymous tip that leads to the discovery of 13 corpses in a peaceful neighborhood lake. She is surprised to discover that Homeland Security has also responded to the scene and her husband, DEA agent Sean Donovan, is leaving immediately for Central America on a mission that has ties to the crime scene. When the DEA informs her that Sean has died in a plane crash, her life is shattered. Two months later, she emerges from a haze of alcohol and drugs, places her seven-year-old daughter in the care of her mother, and leaves for Central America to search for her husband’s remains and closure. Gabriella soon discovers that the jungle is teaming with animal and human predators. When she is taken captive, and her guide murdered, her search for Sean’s remains is put on hold and her focus becomes escape. The story is full of intrigue and action. I liked the plot twists the author weaves into the story. The characters are realistic and the scenarios are believable.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blessed are the Peacemakers has it all – adventure, intrigue, the cartel, Guatemalan jungle, animals and sex. And of course, Kristi Belcamino throws in the Italian family, Sunday lunches, the Saint and everything we as her readers expect in a Gabriella Giovanni book. This is definitely a page turner. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the books in this series, but she has out done herself with this one! The writing is both emotional and descriptive. As a reader I could picture every detail and hear every sound as if I was right there. This book is a wonderful thrilling adventure in the jungle that only Kristi could write. If you have not read one of the books in this series, you are truly missing out on great human, realistic characters and superb writing. I recommend starting at the beginning of this series, however, if you like jumping in than start with Blessed are the Peacemakers! This one is not to be missed!

[Robert C. smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly Exciting, Entertaining and Touching!

Belcamino isn't afraid to take readers to the depth if gory horror as she masterfully creates one of the most entertaining tales ever about what appears to be the perfect couple, before ripping their hearts asunder! Kidnapping, murder, spying, drug cartels, human trafficking and orphans are woven into this addictive story that is difficult to lay down, even in the early morning hours that promise to make going to work later a challenge!

[Debbi Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down!!

Another awesome addition to Gabriella 's story. Gabriella has been mourning her husband's death, yet isn't satisfied with the details of his death. She wants answers & will do whatever necessary to go d out what happened. She leaves her daughter and ailing mother to travel to the jungles where Donovan's plane was shot down. She has no idea what awaits her. Will she find out what happened to her husband, survive her ordeal with the Cartel & the handsome, intriguing stranger or will she leave her daughter an orphan?

[S M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her husband DEA agent’s plane gets shot down and he is held a prisoner. While she was told he died in the crash, after 2 months of grief she wants to find the body/bones whatever for closure and trying to do that, she herself also becomes a prisoner for the drug gang.
In the end they escape with lots happening in between. Yes they escaped from the gang, did their trust in each other escaped also. Read the book to know more.

I liked the book and certainly will recommend to others.

[Tom Bierdz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story takes Gabriella to Central America where she tries to find out what's happened to her husband, Donovan. I enjoyed the book. The writing was good and the plot was interesting. I especially liked the characters who were very believable. My only criticism was that the title didn’t seem to fit. I gave it 5 stars because it kept me interested and entertained. The author was new to me but I’ll read her again.

[Ellen White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new author, and a definite winner. She has written a story that has a lot of twists and turns. A love so strong, that led her to the jungle. To find her husband or body, what else was found in these jungles. Was the basis of this riviating story, the depth of what led them to do what they did. To come home, can anything be salvage with their marriage. The emotions are deep, the characters are real. Readers will love this book

[Mike Bratek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrill ride to read!

Many lies, tortures, and disappointments are developed as love is tested in a marriage that involves a crazy adventure. Each turn and twist led to a plot where one can forgive, but can the other? An outstanding read that leaves you on the brink to read the next book in the saga! Well done to this author, Kristi Belcamino for expressing true emotions in a story.

[Jeff Cochrane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it

This series continues to improve. And I have to say I have liked all of the books so far. Of all the series the author is writing, this is the darkest. Gabriella has had a tough life but she is definitely a survivor. She has handled things that would crush other people. I have grown to really like her. Not only this book but the entire series is highly recommended.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great story. It has lots of great characters. I love her plot and how the author makes me want to see them forever happy. The determination of the main character makes the book and how she strives to remain loyal to her husband no matter what. The ending was unexpected too. I am now following this author.

[Mcf1nder_sk · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a big fan of Kristi Belcamino's works, most notable her Gia Santella series, I'm surprised that I hadn't yet read any of her Gabriella Giovanni novels. Blessed Are the Peacemakers is not the first book in the series, but with such richly crafted characters and a plot sure to grip the reader from the start, I will definitely be going back and starting the series from its beginning.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blessed are the Peacemakers (5)

Thus is an invigorating story! A story about love and family! Its also about faith, hope and peace! Its about a family trying hard to live through the things that life has thrown them into! I can't help but , cry, laugh and try to understand how it could happen! It could happen to others too!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this is the last book in the Gabriella series, but I don’t want it to end. Fast paced, heart pounding action. This is a great read and Belcamino took me on a great escape. Her characters are interesting, the story surprises you, and the writing is amazing.

[Beth McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong woman

Loved this book! A strong woman as the main character offers a delightful treat as the reader can walk in the footsteps of this heroine and share her ups and downs in a story that takes place in the jungle playgrounds of a ruthless drug lord. Spellbinding.

[Cathy A. Witherspoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Determined to survive

Feisty and on a mission Giovanni is determined to find her husband's body in the jungle. She plans to fly to Mexico City, hire a guide and travel to the crash site but nothing goes as plan ned.


nd

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author weaves a story and entangles you into her characters so tightly that you have to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next! Wonderful storyline with complex characters, mystery, intrigue and action fill these pages. Cannot wait to start the next book!

[Christina Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fab

Another good read, some interesting and surprising turns of event. Kristi certainly keeps it interesting and the pages turning. Now for the next in line, Blessed are the merciful!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the twists...

Well written with suspenseful moments and great plot twists. You never know who you can really trust! This is my first book by this Author but I will definitely read her other books.