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Vital Secrets #3

Web of Secrets

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An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here

So many to choose from…

Someone’s killing one college co-ed a month in North Texas.

A predator with exacting tastes uses technology to select his targets.

…So little time…

Detective Joe Wallace and BAU agent Nathan Thomas see his pattern – but they’re scrambling to figure out his methods.

How many victims will he add to his collection before he’s stopped?

317 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2020

313 people are currently reading
248 people want to read

About the author

D.F. Hart

23 books39 followers
***Go to www.2ofharts.com to get signed up for my newsletter. That way you'll get advance notice of releases, promos, and freebies! ***

D.F. Hart is my pen name for suspense & thrillers; I've never found my given name to be particularly suspenseful or mysterious, so when I opted to finally give in to the siren call of writing, using my initials felt as natural as breathing. (I write contemporary romance as well, and you can find out more here on Goodreads by looking up D. Faith Hart!)

I’d always intended to be in this career; a college professor teaching Chaucer and Shakespeare somewhere and writing fiction in my off time. However, life has a sense of humor, it seems. Before I even realized it, I found myself hip deep into a career in Accounting – just about as far left-brained as you can get from being an author. I went with that flow and obtained my MBA with Accounting concentration to augment what I’d learned ‘in the trenches.’ I’m going on my twenty-sixth year of ‘crunching numbers’; I like it and I am good at it. But it has never been my passion, and it never will be.

In 2009, the pull to write became overwhelming. I’d had the plot idea for “Wall of Secrets” since 1989, but until I approached my fortieth birthday had been too timid to get it out of my brain and onto paper. I finally decided I’d wasted enough time. If nothing else ever came out of it, I would at least walk that fire path and put this story out into the world. “And the Wall Came Down” was the original title of the result.

By late 2018, I felt I’d told a good first story back then, a unique one, a gripping one. But it seemed a shame to just end it there. So, I picked up the loose threads I’d deliberately left at Wall’s conclusion ten years prior, and started weaving the sequel, re-titling books and their stations along the way. “And the Wall Came Down” became “Wall of Secrets”, the history-and-backstory rich prequel of the Vital Secrets series, and its sequel, “Book Keepers”, morphed into “Book of Secrets“, the first 'official' book in the set.

2019 also brought with it a unique opportunity to truly ‘go indie’, and I seized the chance and haven’t looked back. The advent of the next title in the Vital Secrets Series, “List of Secrets“, firmly set the path for a ensemble cast of characters whose lives develop and grow throughout the series while battling bad guys and catching killers.

Seven stories plus the prequel are the plan for the Vital Secrets series. The final installment, "End of Secrets", will be done sometime in 2022. I've also started a new series, "Raven's Path", which will follow an international hitman's travels as he wrestles with being a hired killer with a moral compass. The first installment, "Raven's Rise," will be released June 26, 2021.

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5 stars
305 (47%)
4 stars
206 (31%)
3 stars
93 (14%)
2 stars
25 (3%)
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15 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Cath.
950 reviews17 followers
April 22, 2020
This is book four of the Vital Secrets series covers a couple of different cases of serial killers. Detective Joe Wallace and FBI BAU agent Nathan Thomas are faced with trying to find a pattern in a series of college co-ed killings. It starts with one killing, where the body has been posed naked and left with no noticeable injuries or simple method of killing. This is not the first young college student to be killed and another one is killed in the same method, shortly after this. The other story that runs alongside this is that of Lizzie Zimmerman (Zim) to her police partner who is nicknamed Tank, due to his size, and Donny, a previous Olympic skier.

Donny and Lizzie are linked to the case of a female serial killer, Samantha Kennard, currently on trial and they both have to testify at the trial. Lizzie was in a relationship with Samantha’s brother, although he used a fake name, and Donny was about to propose to his then girlfriend Samantha, before either of them learnt about her true nature. Joe used to work with Lizzie’s dad on the force and so they are quite close, and Lizzie is friends with Nathan’s sister Faith and her husband Rick. There are a lot of characters in this storyline, some of which left me lost at times.

Each of the young women that are about to be killed, are mentioned in a little side piece of text, from the voice of the killer. Offering you a small piece of their reasoning and thought process. Joe is exhausted with all the cases that keep piling up. He asks Nathan for assistance and for his expertise in dealing with serial killers, to try and find a pattern or some sort of reasoning behind why the women are being targeted and to try and stop his next attack. Adding in the stresses of the trial of Samantha, and Lizzie and Donny both have to deal with their memories of the events of the previous year, all being brought back to their minds and for Lizzie, something she hasn’t managed to deal with well at all. The killings happened just after she had lost her father and she has had nightly nightmares of the events ever since.

Donny is managing a little better than her, but they both start to depend on the other whilst they are in town for the trial. Having the serial killer escape from captivity, probably with inside assistance, leaves Nathan putting them into protective custody together, where they end up closer than ever. Nathan has the difficult job of trying to catch Samantha again and to also protect all those that she may try to get revenge upon. The list is huge! Nathan thinks Lizzie has what it takes to join his new team and pushes her to put in an application to the FBI. The moving away of her own partner, Tank and his family, leaves her wondering what to do and if she really has any reason to stay where she is, instead of closer to any other family and friends.

An interesting case of one serial killer, who is currently on trial, with another one who has just started their rampage of killing, with little or no rhyme or reason behind their actions. How many young women will be killed before Joe and Nathan can catch them, is a long one, which could be getting longer by the day. Starting to work out part of the pattern, isn’t quite enough to stop the killings. Something else is required to find the person responsible and it will bring about a very surprising conclusion and an unexpected suspect. A fascinating read, once I managed to get the numerous names straight, by actually writing them down, which is not something I normally have to do, but it certainly helped in this case.

Fascinating serial killer storylines, mixed in with a wide variety of police and FBI involvement, with interlinked families, friends and colleagues helping characters to make their choices in life and career choices. I loved the coming together of Lizzie and Donny and the help he gave her to overcome her nightly nightmares. Joe is certainly a hard working detective and just when he thinks he is getting too jaded and wants to hang up his gun, he finds a reason to stay on and help train a young police officer. Would love to have learnt more about Max, but maybe in another book. Definitely a complete web of secrets about to be uncovered in this book! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout, but also bought it! I have freely given my own opinion of this book above.
Profile Image for Larissa.
680 reviews8 followers
January 5, 2024
Okay, then, this is Vital Secrets series (bundle of book 1-3, but as you can tell, reviews will be separate!) is my first read for 2024 (started and finished on Jan 4, 11pm sharp), picked this set at random after seeing cover with dude holding a gun and some words like, crime, thriller, suspense, detective work etc attached to it. All that, set my mindset for CSI, NCIS; set the standards too high, but the coincidences were piling up too hard and too fast, I just followed the letters on the e-page.

Yeah yeah, I kept the same intro used for the first and second book, sue me, and will continue for this paragraph cause my muse has left the building. This is also my last installment in this series for a while, unless the next volume is FREE or something. Anyway… Web of Secrets is about 66% into this bundle, and while I have the separate book status being marked on Goodreads, I could definitely NOT review 3 books in one go; my brain wouldn’t let me. It would also be super long, and I know Goodreads and my blog have limits. Bear with me, I’ll keep the bundle review simple. NOT SPOILER FREE, read at your own risk.

Ha! I knew it, when Lizzie sat at trial and the handsome man decided to sit next to her, I though, “they will be paired next”, well — I was right. While I managed to foresee the couples like Cupid itself (Joe and the tech lab lady, as an example), I did not see the bad guy being highly connected to previous book and to a good initial part of this current one, I only knew that at some point he was on broad daylight. Nor could I have predicted such an awful death to a lovable character —SPOILER, Max— But alas, I was caught by surprise, overall by Donny, he is a sweetheart, and Lizzie is special indeed. I kept cheering them on since the last couple of pages from previous book, and I’m happy with their outcome. Ain’t gonna lie that their “witness protection” scenes rang a bell for me - maybe it was a movie or even another book. Found it to be quite similar. Or maybe one of my daydreams. Whatever!

Also, as a side note: I liked so many of the victims here. Many had a whole future ahead: a date, a party, a night in studying, a night in just chilling. Those cut deep. The last one was really sad too. And dude, the reason?!? Why? It’s still muddled somewhat. Why did he think he needed to breathe in their light?!? And yup, Samantha is dead. SPOILER.

That’s it. Oh, and lots of moving boxes towards Texas from several people, I guess. Now, I’m entering my pause for this series. Know it’s unwanted. Sorry for the hasty review. I really didn’t know how to say everything and the good-byes for now are pretty fucking sad. Bye.

*sorry for any grammar errors or typing. I’m on my phone and I have reviewed the text, but I’m human, something might have escaped. Sorry for murdering the English language. It suits the genre.
1,062 reviews18 followers
May 6, 2020
This fourth book in the Vital Secrets Series by DF Hart definitely had multiple storylines going on as two separate major events unfolded, along with several minor ones too. The many enjoyable and special regular characters can sometimes get confusing as there are so many, and the author attempted to keep them straight for the reader by giving them their own paragraphs, while at the same time trying to keep the story moving steadily towards its conclusion. One thing I must say is there was not a lot of information or details given to help the reader determine who the guilty party was, at least in my opinion it came as an unexpected surprise. With all this being said, I can NOT wait to read book #5 in the series. This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books.
Profile Image for Billie.
5,783 reviews72 followers
April 29, 2020
So many to choose from…
Someone’s killing one college co-ed a month in North Texas.
A predator with exacting tastes uses technology to select his targets.
…So little time…
Detective Joe Wallace and BAU agent Nathan Thomas see his pattern – But they’re scrambling to figure out his selection methods.
How many victims will he add to his collection before he’s stopped?

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believeable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
Profile Image for Elouise.
170 reviews1 follower
July 24, 2020
Excellent FBI case, very mysterious and tricky to solve. Quite fast paced, the mystery man seems to be able to stay one step ahead of the investigation. Read how the clues come together to finally catch the bad guy. Loved how the story flowed and how it didn't always look good for the FBI, that made it more realistic in my opinion. There seemed to be a couple of different cases that they were working on, a string of murders and the disappearance of a young lady who later was found to have been murdered. It was interesting to see how the investigator recognized clues and chased the suspect down with them. All the way through was an underlying theme about the lives of the agents who were actively investigating the case and living their lives too.
Profile Image for Linda.
1,366 reviews12 followers
March 5, 2020
I couldn't put it down. The next chapter in the Vital Secrets series had me immersed once again in the trials and tribulations of familiar characters that I fell in love with in Book 1. A serial killer is on the loose in Texas and our friends have their hands full trying to nab him. You won't believe who it turns out to be. I would highly recommend this book. I received this book as an ARC and this is my honest review.
Profile Image for Sharon.
4,152 reviews31 followers
May 3, 2020
A lot going on in this book and due to having not read the previous books in this series I did feel somewhat lost at times. It’s a great book though and so I’m planning on reading the previous books in this series as I have now found a new author to follow and read. A wonderful book filled with suspense, intrigue and mystery.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
122 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2020
I received an ARC copy of this book for my honest review, which is very easy with this author. My favorite is still the first book (Wall of Secrets) because of the history going back to WWII, but each subsequent book builds with the families and their intertwined histories, and the past. This seemed to start rather slowly, but built to another exciting and unexpected end! I highly recommend the series and its author!
Profile Image for Michael Nethery.
149 reviews5 followers
November 12, 2023
What can I say that everyone else has not said.
I think plot, characters, locations, twists have been covered.
All I can say is I found this to be another of Hart's never put down books! You just have to read it. This lovely lady knows how to put you on a spinning wheel and really spin you around...a lot! :)
Great book, get off you duff and get it! Then read it. This is not a book for the to be read pile! Read it now.
176 reviews
January 23, 2024
Hunt for a killer.

This was a good mystery to try and figure out, with many different characters to try and keep separate and look for a connection. The story was well written and held my interest right from the start. I liked the way the author did not give any clues about how the characters were connected. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a difficult story to figure out who the protagonist is.
31 reviews1 follower
March 16, 2020
Great stand alone novel, but it was nice to continue following the characters from her previous books.

Vivid, clean story line, believable characters, and a great book. It's difficult to put it down. Hard to ask for more.

I was provided this free copy of the book for review purposes, and I am grateful for a damn good read!
53 reviews
December 6, 2020
Another great book.

Each book has made it more clear that I will be reading all this author's books, current (starting #4 now) and future. She writes extremely well with great plot and character development. This was not my favorite, that would probably be #2, but still very enjoyable to read in one day. But it now confirms Ms Hart as a favorite author.
2,044 reviews14 followers
November 26, 2023
all over the place

(1 1/2)This was one of those prime reading freebies. It was a quick read, which is a good thing. There are two or more plot lines here, and at least one of them is pure sap. A fairly interesting serial killer story, but so much other filler I was kind to mark it up to two stars. I hope one of my library reserves comes in soon. Very medium stuff.
Profile Image for Black Butterfly.
2,617 reviews39 followers
December 18, 2024
THIS WAS NOT AN FBI CRIME STORY IT WAS MORE LIKE A ROMANCE STORY. VERY LITTLE CRIME INVOLVED. THIS HAD A WHOLE LOT OF CHARACTERS WITH THEIR LIFE, LOVES & BACKSTORIES GOING ON. THE STORYLINE JUMPED FROM CHARACTER TO CHARACTER AND AT TIMES THIS MADE IT CONFUSING TO FOLLOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. I REALLY HATED ALL THAT JUMPING AROUND. ;<
Profile Image for Pat Eroh.
2,617 reviews32 followers
April 20, 2020
This is an amazing read with a compelling story that I just could not put down! I love the storyline and the characters were wonderfully developed and realistic. I highly recommend this book

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Stacy.
115 reviews2 followers
May 11, 2023
OK it's taken me 3 books to reach this decision. I like the author's style. I like the way we follow the story of characters throughout the arc of this series of books. I look forward to reading the rest.
328 reviews
November 8, 2023
Beautiful Young Women Beware

So many horrible murders with a serial killer. There are a lot of characters to keep up with and the chapters change subjects pretty quickly. All told the book was intriguing as to how the law goes about gathering evidence to find a killer.
15 reviews
November 12, 2023
Excellent

This was a great book. Except for using the Lord's name as a curse, I didn't like that. Thanks for leaving the sex scenes to the imagination. I usually figure out the villain before the end but not this time. Good job!
260 reviews2 followers
November 21, 2023
A well written plot making me feel I was reading multiple stories at the same time. It featured explicit murder scenes and I loved how the author introduced us to the personal lives of all the people involved. The ending was a complete surprise.
772 reviews
November 25, 2023
I liked the primary plot and the police work involved, but it had too many other story lines that detracted, in my opinion. I didn't need the long story line of Lizzie & Donny or as much of the family interactions of Nate's extended family.
199 reviews
February 14, 2024
Disjointed tale.

There were interesting places in this story but it seemed like a tedious winding road. A story that couldnt decide whether it was a mystery or a romance and too disconnected to be both. Sorry , I won't be reading any others in the series.
16 reviews
May 27, 2023
Excellent Seriez

Started this series at the first book and have been hooked ever since. This book has excellent twists and turns and great characters.
Profile Image for Mike Zowacki.
19 reviews2 followers
December 28, 2023
This was a good read but a slow starter. It may have been slow in the beginning because I didn't read the first 2 books in the series.
19 reviews
January 21, 2024
Another Winner

MS Hart has written another great story and I hated to see it end. Can't wait to start the next in the series.
1,404 reviews
July 22, 2025
Very good mystery. Many interesting characters.
6,020 reviews45 followers
March 6, 2020
Intense psychological thriller and action adventure with family/ romance sub plots


Follow the lives of several folks linked to each other through their connections to law enforcement and crime - sometimes on the dark sides of the law
44 reviews1 follower
August 9, 2024
A thoroughly good read

I really enjoyed this book which was a thoroughly good read.
It got your attention quickly and the end was a real surprise.
Would recommend
14 reviews
December 1, 2023
Excellent FBI thriller. I didn't guess the killer before he was revealed. Hard to put down.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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