Truth or Dare

Men of the Sisterhood #4

by Fern Michaels

The Sisterhood: a group of women bound by friendship and a quest for justice. Now their male allies, the Men of the Sisterhood, have formed a top-secret organization of their own, with the same goal of helping the helpless and righting the wrongs of the world . . .

When the call comes, the Men of the Sisterhood drop everything to help their friends. This time it's Cyrus, their four-legged hound dog and unofficial mascot. While member Joe Espinosa is driving along an isolated country road with Cyrus in tow, he catches a glimpse of movement in the woods bordering the road and notes Cyrus pawing desperately at the car window. As soon as he pulls over to investigate, Cyrus bolts out the door and leads Joe to three children clustered together--bedraggled, silent, and scared out of their wits. As soon as he has brought the children to safety, Espinosa arranges an urgent meeting.

Charles, Abner, Jack, Dennis, Harry and the rest of the crew gather at BOLO headquarters to hear a shocking story that confirms their worst suspicions. Many more children are still in danger. But in order to protect and avenge the victims, the team must use more cunning than ever before. With so many vulnerable young lives at stake, one mistake would be too many . . .

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Crime, Thriller, Suspense, Collections

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2018

About the author

Fern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.

As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.

Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.

Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.

READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4. Well written thriller based on the factual premise involving the buying and selling of young children. Well plotted.
Unputdownable

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a book! This is another book from the Men of the Sisterhood series. As usual, Fern Michaels provides lots of action and suspense in this book. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Have plenty of Kleenex on hand. You’re going to need it, even when you’re so mad you could break something. I hope the series doesn’t end. Thanks, Ms. Michaels, for a wonderful story.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about child abduction and the hunt for the real people behind it all!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the best MOTS book yet. The guys are hitting their stride and getting in the nitty gritty. When the villains are involved in child trafficking the men don't hold back on their revenge.

New friends are made, a new mission going forward is decided and they have found their own peace when it comes to what they do.

Of course you cannot leave out Cyrus or Lady and her pups. They have their own roles to follow. I cannot wait for more!

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[SOS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won an ARC of this book, an uncorrected proof, in a Goodreads giveaway. That bit of information should be kept in mind as you read this review. This is the first book in The Men of the Sisterhood series. This is also the first Fern Michaels book I’ve ever read.

I’m afraid that I found this book disappointing and frustrating. Oh, it’s easy enough to read, super easy, but it’s predictable and awkward. It requires a degree of fantasy and you’ll need to suspend disbelief where the dogs are concerned. The dogs are, apparently, genetically enhanced super dogs. They can understand two languages, and, it seems, bark in those languages. They can read your mind, and they can put thoughts into your mind. I found it rather had to accept. While I suppose it isn’t a necessity that you read the previous books in this universe, which I’m guessing is the series The Sisterhood, I think it would make it much easier to understand a good deal of what’s going on. I mean, I could follow the action, but I had many questions as to how these people came together and about what the purpose of their team was overall, not just in regards to this storyline. It would have been nice to know that this was a continuation of the other series, more like book twenty-nine than book one, before I’d bothered to enter the drawing.

There’s more than a little repetition, after the first chapter, it appears everywhere.. Every time a character walks into a scene, whatever information has been shared, is shared again. When another character joins the group, the information is, again, recapitulated, on and on. There’s also mindreading in some places, with people knowing what other people want or mean to do before they’re told about it, even if they’re in totally different locations.

The dialogue is awkward, unrealistic. There’s lots of information dumping instead of real give and take dialogue. For a whole paragraph, sometimes two or three or four, a character will go on about what he wants, then another character responds by doing the same. There’s no question/answer, and the blocks of dialogue don’t necessarily follow on the same themes.Worse, is that characters are constantly offering up confidential information, volunteering it, without cause. Names, locations, details of plans ir secret specialists are revealed in a snap.

It appears that this book revolves around a team of almost superheroes, made up of top news reporters (or so it seemed to me), several of whom are British (no explanation for why), yet they neither know or bother to learn the proper names of important things. I found that highly unusual. For instance, they didn’t know that the top part of a coffin is called a lid, not a top or cover. Or that the inside is a lining, not a cover . . . as in blanket. They also didn’t know that what you store cremated remains, ashes, in is an urn, not a jar. Some of these smart, talented, intelligent people are afraid to enter an abandoned mortuary in broad daylight. Journalists would know these things, or at least know to research them to learn the proper words, and journalists face much scarier locales as they come up through the ranks. Sadly, these characters all came off as cartoonish, nothing three dimensional about them.

For all the technology used by these superheroes, one of them carries on and on about how the official seal on a license isn’t raised. That’s such a dated thing. These days, with computers generating licenses, it’s common for the seal to be computer generated and flat, not stamped in.

There’s something weird in this book about the number three. It’s everywhere! Here’s a list of those that jumped out at me.

Three showers
Three tooth-brushings
Three toilet flushes
Three dogs
Three children
Three different people promised
Three years of tracking
Three survivors
Three men
Three Chinese
Three Americans
Three Ancients
Three American officials – different from the Americans above
Three miles down the road
Three sharp horn blasts

There’s an instance where some of the men are talking about a helicopter. The potential pilot says, “I can fly anything that has wings.” Last time I checked, helicopters don’t have wings.

While the book makes fun of one character for using a cliché, the book itself is riddled with them. It also telegraphs what’s going to happen before it does. There are also instances where people with very different roles and purposes in this book refer to others using the same descriptions. What are the chances that you, your neighbor, and a crime fighter would all refer to the bad guy using the exact same descriptor? There are such odd and unbelievable mistakes in this book. One when a CIA agent puts another agent’s top secret ID code on the outside of an envelope that is delivered by a messenger service. That means it’s possible that anyone could see it. Even within the CIA, I would imagine there’s some restriction about who can see these things. By putting the ID on the outside of the envelope, it opens up the possibility, the likelihood, that someone could use this ID for nefarious purposes..

At some point in the book, the “team” members mention how hundreds of children in one small geographic area have gone missing, possibly abducted, but how no one has reported their disappearance. However, even at the end of the book, when everything else is solved, there is no explanation, not a drop of additional information, as to how or why these children vanished or why no one missed them.

At another point, the team is instructed to set off smoke bombs inside a house, but there’s no concern that smoke alarms might go off and tip off the bad guys inside. Then, it changes, and the smoke bombs go off outside. It was confusing, as was so much of this book.

In another section, even when victims were physically tortured, leaving them with serious injuries which should have incapacitated said victims, the victims spoke in the same way they did in their luxurious hotel room. That made no sense at all. There was no pain mentioned, no moaning, no hesitation in their speech, no fear; it was like they were sitting around having a cup of coffee.

A news reporter has then chance to talk to a former top level CIA operative. Oddly, she walks away from it because she’s angry over something she perceives he did, even after he explains that he didn’t? Hardly what I’d imagine a good reported would do. They’d be chomping at the bit to ask the hard questions and get real answers.

And lastly, I’ve never been to a funeral where the headstone was put up at the time of interment. It usually takes a while for the ground to settle and the base of the stone to be installed. Weird as everything else in this book, the grave is closed and the headstone installed within an hour of the end of the funeral service.

I found this book predictable, poorly executed as far as plot and characters; although the technical writing itself was good, and unrealistic. While the dogs were cute, their abilities were beyond belief. I suppose if you’ve read through the entire sisterhood series and were able to accept whatever occurs in those books, then you might like this one, but I found it incredibly hard to invest myself in such a comic book tale. Unless the editors rewrite virtually the entire book, I can’t imagine it will see much improvement.

I do not recommend this book, except to Fern Michaels super fans.

[Susan Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an alright book. Pretty easy to figure out the ending. Not very suspenseful.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read of the Men of the Sisterhood novels. Three children are found in an isolated area. Joe Espinosa picks them up and arranges a meeting with the rest of the crew. In an effort to protect children that are victims of human trafficking the team must be one step ahead of the organization. It was a little difficult to follow all of the characters and I thought the book was slow moving. I received an advanced copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways for an honest review.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual Fern delivered another exciting adventure for the men of the sisterhood. I can’t wait for the next book. She is one of my favourite authors.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say at times I wonder why Fern Michaels continues some of her series as they seem to falter . . . this is NOT one of those times! This "Men of the Sisterhood" story was one of her best yet! Great story, great ending!! 9 out of 10!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truth or Dare: The men of the Sisterhood is by Fern Michaels. This series which builds on the story of the Sisterhood is just getting started and it is a great series. When the women of the Sisterhood are gone on a mission, the men gather to compare their lives without them and to end up solving some kind of case by themselves.
Joseph Espinosa is at the facilities of Demetri Pappas getting Jack Emory’s dog Cyrus checked out. Jack is at the dentist’s office trying to get a tooth fixed. He couldn’t miss this lesson with Demetri so had his friend Espinosa take Cyrus. On the way back from the facility, Cyrus caused the back door to open as the car skidded off the ice and snow. Espinosa is led by Cyrus to the side of three small children0 2 girls and a little boy. Who are these children, how did they get out here in the middle of nowhere, where are their parents? The men of the Sisterhood gather together to figure out where the children belong. What they find is the tip of a child kidnapping and sex ring. Can they stop these men and bring those missing children home? Where are the parents of these three young children?
As men get involved in finding the parents and the decision as to what will happen to the children, the plot gets thicker and thicker. Humorous incidents are included with the antics of the dogs in the story. The book is great.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, the Men of the Sisterhood series is integrated with the original Sisterhood books. I had read most of the Sisterhood books in order before I dived into this series, which helped a lot, but there are a few plot holes here and there...like when did Cyrus join the group? (we never really know when or how he arrives, but we know right away how special he is. Jumping from the Sisters to the men can confuse the reader a bit, as there are some skips in the timeline which can be confusing.

I read for fun. I do not care one bit about literary aspects; we are not talking about classic works here. We have extremely likeable characters with strengths and weaknesses who are truly there for each other, their female counterparts, and (especially) for those they help.

I really do not recommend reading this series before the Sisterhood books. These characters link up through the women, bond in their own way and have their own distinct back stories, but having a bit more info about their ties to the women would be helpful. There is no real jump off point in the Sisterhood series that points the reader to these books. This would be helpful.
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One thing though: I would definitely want these men and women to have my back!

[J.C. Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is an easy read, but predictable—not much suspense or mystery. There are too many coincidences and the good guys never seem to have a problem executing their plans. They also have lots of money to throw around to get the job done. Not entirely believable. Most of the story takes place sitting around “the farm” discussing what they’re going to do next.

Far too many characters to follow populate the story. At times their names are almost the same; i.e. Margie and Maggie. Maybe if I had read the previous Men of the Sisterhood novels it would be easier. I also think most of the characters display juvenile behavior. At times it feels like they’re playing a video game. The super-intelligent dogs are my favorite characters.

I stuck with the book to the end because I wanted to learn more about child trafficking. It was an okay read.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to read all the books about the girls going after justice, with the guys helping. Then after the pardon, it switched to the older ladies, and retired men. I read a few of those. This was the guys, and Maggie, and the wonder dogs. The theme was a worthy read, about child trafficking. The statistics were horrific. This in intolerable for everyone, that so many children, and young teens disappear from our country, for a very short life, and a terrible existence. These people from kidnappers, to the man at the top, should be publicly executed. I gave this a 3 .5 It got off track at times into unrealistic story telling. I love dogs, and they can be warriors, but controlling your actions, and thoughts? I felt that distracted from the serious nature of the book.

[Brenda Kochis · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the content may not be for everyone, I enjoy this series for the main reason that the guilty/crooked are caught and held accountable. In this story a CIA agent leaves her team because she realized it is compromised. Her team was trying to get information on the Karas Brothers who were involved in child abductions and trafficking. Fortunately, she knows Lizzie Fox who connects her with the Men of the Sisterhood. In the interim the guys find three kids that have escaped from where they were held, interesting enough the kids of that very agent. They unraveled the missing and exploited children racket that was going on and held the perpetrators accountable.
As with these books the ending was satisfying, although for a few pages one was not sure if one of good guys was killed.

[Heather Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway on Goodreads and thought it was a decent book. It had a good story/mystery/adventure that I enjoyed. I found it difficult though to follow all the different characters-I think reading the previous books in the Men of the Sisterhood series is very necessary to really get the full understanding of these characters. I liked the psychic dogs and will have to read the previous books to get the full story on them! A hard topic on the trafficking of children handled very well, excellent ending and closure for characters. All in all-a good book I would recommend with the caveat of strongly recommending reading the rest of the series first!

[Joseph Nakonechny · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very easy and enjoyable read. There were too many characters to keep track of. The plot was pretty great although very unrealistic. The cover looks quaint, but there's actually some graphic stuff in here like picking someone's eyeballs out. Also, the characters, (including the dog, Cyrus) and narration were kind of cocky, like "this is America, we shake hands here", "If you speak Spanish one more time I'll punch you!" and when the kids described an Asian man with "Funny Eyes". I could tell this book was written by an old white lady without looking at the author bio on the back flap, I'll tell you that much. Alas, It was an enjoyable pulpy romp novel.

[Deanna Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sisterhood

I purchased this book but must confess I haven’t read it, as I bought three at the same time on sale. I read Fern Michaels years ago and thought they were good, but this sisterhood series has finished me. I read the Christmas one and three vigilantes ones. I’ve had to agree with other reviews, that the sisters are getting very mean, vindictive and quite violent, and enjoying it. The editing is not that good, and the constant giggling, raucous laughter with arms waving in the air, is quite frankly quite childish. I know they get a lot of 5 star reviews, and I guess some like reading about mean and unrealistic behavior. Not for me.

[Dawnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is The Men of the Sisterhood series. The male allies of The Sisterhood series.The men have their own organization to help the helpless and they do it well. This time the men have a heart breaking and emotional case of child trafficking. This is book four in the series. The topic of child trafficking is not an easy one but the novel does well with it. It's everything you expect from Fern Michaels. Coming in July,2018

Thank you
Good Reads
And Kensington
For the book win!

Novels & Latte
Book Blog

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got to say, I think I definitely prefer the Men of the Sisterhood series rather than the Godmother series. The plots feel better and I enjoy the characters more. The latest installment, Truth or Dare is the best one of the 4 book series (all can be read as standalones though) and I was interested through the whole thing. The one thing this book DIDN'T do though, was inspire a witty review. It was solid book, one of the more plausible ones in the series, and worth picking up!

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read some of the sisterhood books but this is the first of the Men of the sisterhood. It was great fun. Cyrus is a hoot and adds even more fun to the story. The plot is full of danger and is something that is current. Child abduction and sale is something most of us do not run into but we know it happens. The Men come to the rescue when they find 3 small children who have escaped from child abduction.
This has danger and tension and great characters. I enjoyed meeting this group and seeing how they operated.

[Terri Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book #4 and the first I've read, so I'm a little lost about the Sisterhood and the special dogs, but I still enjoyed reading this book. There was action and suspense and vigilante justice. The premise is taking down the kingpin of a child sex trafficking organization. The book does not show the children, nor does it detail the horrifying experiences these victims face. There are a lot of characters that could get confusing if one cared enough to try to tell them apart. For me, good guys/bad guys is all that mattered in following the plot, and they were easily distinguishable.

[Maryann Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book The Men of the Sisterhood take on a very relevant crime: child trafficking.

Three kidnapped children running for their lives find sanctuary with the men and as they try to uncover more about the children they learn their parents "career".

A rogue super agent joins forces with the men who in turn call upon other assistance to shut down child trafficking and the two men who are behind it.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about the men of the Sisterhood. Joe and Cyrus find three children alongside a rode. The kids are dirty and explain that they got taken when their aunt left them. Joe takes them to BOLO headquarters and calls a meeting. The guys discover the kids were kidnapped by a group that deals in children and young women. After taking the children to the farm it is discovered the kids are the children of two CIA operatives. The case goes from there. The book was a quick easy read.

[Lea McKenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot say I enjoyed Truth or Dare by Fern Michaels at all. Maybe I needed to read the earlier books in the series, because there are too many characters with little or no development, dogs who have the ability to out-think humans, and a plot that just works out perfectly with no tension or conflict. I received this book in a Giveaway in return for an honest review. I wouldn't have finished the book except I felt obligated by the terms.

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot and adventure. First read in the Men of the Sisterhood. Enjoyed the enhanced dogs and the familiar characters. (Though I did miss the "Sisters." Suppose we'll find out their adventures in another book.) Child trafficking is the mystery here and I applaud the attack on this vile crime. Would recommend reading previous books for comfortable relating to characters.
Voluntarily read ARC, through Netgalley and publisher, for honest review.

[karn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exploitation

With up to date on sex trafficking this book brought a lot to real life and what we wish would /could happen if we had the men of sisterhood or even the sisterhood doing it in real life. A great read that kept you turning the pages. Wish we'd have more a year from this great author but know good books take time. Thank you, Ms Michaels for doing in books what we'd like to do in person. Another great read!

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give my honest opinion.

This doesn't appear to be one of those books you can pick up in the middle of a series and just follow along. I had read some of the sister books but for some reason this one was harder to follow. Maybe it's because the dog was the star of the book and the book was horribly predictable. Child sex ring books are not a favorite of mine since most of the journey is harrowing. I gave this book three stars.

[BARBARA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It was wonderful to see how the MEN of the SISTERHOOD worked together and took care of business. It deals with a problem that is very real in our world today. I understood their anger and frustrations. People tend to turn a deaf ear to this problem today, unless it affects them personally. I was cheering them on every step of the way. I didn't want to put it down till I saw how it would end and that justice was served. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ALL.

[Marybeth Lapilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best

I have read everyone book in this series. I think this one is the best.
It showed the warm, loving side of all the men. It also showed the motherly side of Maggie, who is always a stuff cookie.
The story is one that is unfortunately something that really does go on in our world.
I cannot wait for the next chapter in their stor.. I would also love to see a book where the sisterhood and the brotherhood work together again.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 4 in the Men of the Sisterhood series and it can be read as a stand alone. Much of the men's backgrounds are reviewed as the story progresses. This one is a little darker than some of the previous books. It's theme is child kidnapping and trafficking. As usual the men and ladies work together to solve the current dilemma. The story is a little predictable. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.