Compromised

Stephanie Chalice Mystery #6

by Lawrence Kelter

Two shots ring out from a rooftop. When the smoke clears, Detective Chalice is down and her rookie partner is dead. She's sustained a traumatic head injury that has left her with a compromised memory and suffering from seizures.

Hurt, raw, and angry, Chalice is set on retribution. Joined by her former partner's brother, Detective Yanagisawa, she will let nothing stand in her way as she pursues the shooter through the dark underworlds of American and Japanese organized crime.

But will Chalice's obsession with vengeance stand in the way of her catching a mysterious psychopath who's been preying on the young women of New York City? With a young child of her own to keep safe, Chalice must see justice served on all fronts before it's too late.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Ebooks

313 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2015

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

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compromised by Lawrence Kelter is an enjoyable book. I like how it unfolds, the plot, and the characters. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was that made me like it but it had that something that kept me intrigued and that's all that mattered to me.

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second generation cop Stephanie Chalice wakes up thinking she's dead....however, she's only in the hospital. Fortunately, she's hard-headed enough to survive being hit in the head by a ricocheted bullet. Unfortunately, she has amnesia from the injury and doesn't remember how she got shot and her partner murdered.

The last thing she remembers is talking to the parents of a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered .... one in a line of victims.

Stephanie ropes her husband, Gus, who is also a homicide detective, into helping her hunt for the man who shot her and her partner. Due to the brain injury and the possibility of seizures, Stephanie knows her time as a cop is coming to an end and she's out looking for justice ... or maybe revenge.

This is another exceptional book in the series featuring Stephanie and Gus. I really their relationship ... they are loving, and humorous, and weather all the storms that come their way. Gus is overprotective after seeing his wife come close to dying ...Stephanie feels smothered by Gus and her mother. Characters are portrayed beautifully. Lots and lots of action as they are actually working two cases simultaneously.

I have read one other book in this series and now I'm determined to go back and read them all. Here's hoping the author has another in the works.

I received a free digital copy from Kindle Scout since I voted for this one and it was selected for publication.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second generation cop Detective Stephanie Chalice awakens in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. Even though she sustained a gunshot to the head, she’s determined to find out who killed her partner Yana during the same incident. Trouble is this puts her at odds with Gus, her detective husband, and her Italian mom.

Officially sidelined from work for R&R, Stephanie soon busts free of the prison of her home, contacts Yana’s brother, and goes off the grid in NYC for a few days. Retracing her steps that last day doesn’t bring her memory back.

The question that stumps her is why. Why would someone kill Yana and injure her? It takes some digging, but Stephanie makes more progress in a few days than the department has in a month. Soon, puzzle pieces start fitting together, and the body count rises.

This is the first Stephanie Chalice mystery I’ve read. Even though its several books into the series, I enjoyed reading it as if it were the first. This Kindle Scout winner captivated me from page one. Author Lawrence Kelter writes with a deft hand, cleverly drawing out the story so that it had to be read in one sitting. I’d read the next Stephanie Chalice mystery in a heartbeat.

Another winner from Kindle Scout.

Maggie Toussaint and Rigel Carson for Muddy Rose Reviews

[kay adey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun with menace as a side dish!

I have read the other books in this series,which should tell you that I quite enjoy them.
I'm not sure that they need all the constant referrals to sex, I am not prudish but feel that they are there to to fulfil the author's fantasies in some instances, rather than add to the story line.
That said,the plotlines are strong and engaging, the characters well crafted and interesting. In each book more is learnt about Stephanie and what makes her the way she is.
I love the humour and the interaction added by Stephanie' s mother. It's good to see Max growing up, sometimes child characters become just an aside but he is a part of the story lines in his own right.
Looking forward to the next book.

[Beth McGee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sassy!

Stephanie Chalice is just plain sassy, and the books written about her are also. The suspense is always present wherever she is, even when she is recovering from a near death episode. With her involvement, the ending is twisted in a way to surprise the reader. And, I forgot to mention her wry wit - she and her husband will keep you grinning.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the second Stephanie Chalice mystery that I have read. Just like the first book, I just could not put it down. It is fast-paced, and it isn't bogged down with wordy paragraphs describing every little thing. The conversations are usually just a little snarky, which puts a little humor in the writing. I am game to read more Stephanie Chalice mysteries.

[Sapthagiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spicy meal turns out to be bland!

The novel starts off with a bang and it proceeds in a high tempo. Lawrence somehow in his attempt to make the plot more spicy, ends up dishing out a bland plot.

[James N Fulton, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable story

I enjoyed reading this book, it was well written. I especially enjoyed the banter between the main characters it seemed very real. I will definitely read more from this author.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re a fraud. You go on and on about honor, but you’re just a stinking cowardly fraud.” This was a rough story and I learned more than I expected. But, I highly recommend the book.

[linda kellogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced

Easy to read and full of suspenseful action, this police detective book is exciting and humorous. The characters make it personal

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last read several years ago. Re-read January, 2021. Still amazing.

[Janie D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Stephanie Chalice!

I’ve enjoyed them so much, I accidentally purchased two books I’d already read and read them again! Looking forward to Number 7!

[Patricia Mccammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of excitement as Stephanie, after being shot in the head, loses her memory. Refusing to just sit by, she starts trying to find the killer. Great characters

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rate this Five star

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good thriller.

[Dan A. Foster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Compromised

I am no fan of bad language, especially using "Christ" as an expletive. Any good author will have more respect than than.

[Karen greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read in this wonderful series!

[Dewey Carroll Brackett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok

I just could not get into this book. It's a miracle I even finished it.All the sexual innuendos and profanity ruined it for me. Also I am not a fan of organized crime stories.

[Brendolyn Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Here to China

Slow beginning for me...unusual beginning. Enjoyed the characters however didn't understand the connection at first with the novel.Had to understand the Chinese culture.The ending surprised me but we'll written and filled in all the holes.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephanie is fairly sure she is dead. Then she creeps up on consciousness discovering it's just the hospital. Gus, her husband, looks beyond exhausted. Stephanie, whose whole life has been about digging into details, finds she doesn't have a clue what happened. When she finally gets the whole story from Gus and Ma, well, her partner is dead and she had been shot in the head. The bullet was surgically removed from her brain. Seizures are somewhere between possible and probable. Stephanie hasn't seen or held her son in too many days. She wants to get home. Then she wants to know what happened!

And so it begins. Will Stephanie alienate Gus and Ma by continuing her research into anything possibly connected to the shooting? Will she get caught by the NYPD since she's supposedly on sick leave? Who is really helping her? Can she really be that dedicated - to put justice before her soon to be toddling little guy? It's fast and it's fun and you most likely don't know what you think you know and have a snack nearby since no way will you want to put the book down. I read it in one sitting - usually do with this author's books. Something with the way he writes, his very three dimensional characters and the stories - I just kick back and enjoy the read. Hope you can take the time soon to do the same.

[Carolyn Injoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free kindle copy of Compromised, A Stephanie Chalice Thriller by Lawrence Kelter, published by Kindle Press from Kindle Scout in exchange for a fair review.

I gave this suspense-filled thriller four stars.

Stephanie Chalice woke from a coma after five days and had no memory how she got there.

Her mother had lost her NYPD husband and come close to losing her daughter. "One of her friends had recently become a widow and was on one of those antidepressants. It wasn't Paxil or Lexapro. It was one of the newer miracle drugs. I think it was called Darnitol or Screwitol or Hellwithitol, or something equally hopeless sounding."

Stephanie mentioned hating the expression 'If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' "Whoever made it up was probably one LSD trip short of a total mental breakdown."

Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010...

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced action and quirky characters set the tone for this story. Detective Chalice likes to flip the bird and use plenty of sexual innuendos, especially when it concerns her husband. She has a sharp mind, even after being shot in the head. Her verbal spars with her mother felt a bit exaggerated (but who knows, that could be a cultural thing). I felt the mother and husband went a bit overboard talking about how Chalice was ruining her marriage. The detective's actions didn't seem to justify such strong sentiment. But not enough to ruin the story itself.

***SPOILER. One thing that would have made this story better was if the investigation into the rapes/murders had been tied into the shooting of the detectives. It felt as if the story were two separate novels. Once the rape/murder situation was resolved, the story concentrated on the cop shooting.

[robinet1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty exciting story

I couldn't wait to get back to this book when I had to put it down! The characters were very easy to love. The twist at the end I could see coming though. All in all it was a well written work of art.

[Robert Ruesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. I was not getting into the storyline and was confused. However, I continued to read, and I am thankful I did it was a great plot, with action characters and believable situations. I am more than sure there are mothers out in the world like Lawrence Kelter describes! Worth the time to read.

[Nicholas E Pinette]

Good read

If you like an easy read but with twists and turns this is for you. Great characters. Will read more of this author's books now.

[Stephanie Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does it again....

Awesome!!!! Couldn’t put it down... great mystery story, keeps you twisting and winding through the front to the back ally... Stephanie as usual is unpredictable and always keeps you on your toes.... hurry and write the next one!

[TopHat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes please, may have another?!

Not a literary commentary, not a plot analysis, no spoilers. Was it Good? Yes! Will I immediately acquire more of this authors work? A resounding yes! Is it worth your time? Again, a resources yes!

[Lois Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a pleasure to read, it had a little of everything.

Intrigue, sad parts, happy parts, a hardheaded female character, and a story inside a story.

This is the first time I have read this author and it will not be the last time.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compromised

This is an action-packed book that is hard to put down once you start reading it. It grabbed my attention from the first chapter. The ending was a surprise when it was revealed who actually was responsible for having Stephanie ' s partner killed.

[Drummond Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice fast pace

Loved the lead character, ballsy and single minded but with a tender side. Good story and twists. Read this in two sittings. Didn't like end. I wanted it to go on and on.