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Sophie Trace Trilogy #1
The Real Enemy
Work has become Police Chief Brill Jessup's favorite distraction from trying to forgive her husband's infidelity. But when seven people in her town go missing, her tireless investigation threatens her family and she's forced to confront the real enemy.
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2009
116 people are currently reading
1198 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Herman
34 books245 followersBest-selling suspense novelist Kathy Herman has written twenty novels—including the Secrets or Roux River Bayou Series, Sophie Trace Series, the Seaport Suspense Series, and the Phantom Hollow Series—since retiring from her family’s Christian bookstore business. She and her late husband Paul have a blended family of three grown children. Kathy lives in the Northwest.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
July 6, 2020
An excellent tale of suspense and overcoming adversity. Rather intense at times, it proved to be a real page-turner.
November 23, 2015
Wow, I began this book thinking it would just be another good book to read. No, this book was amazing. It has been far to long since I have read a favorite book, but this one made the cut. The suspense kept me enthralled, and the Jessup family situation, to keep from spoilers, was touching, raw, and captivating.
January 9, 2012
I loved this book. I did only give it 4 because it was slightly hard to believe, but was also hard to not put aside and stop reading.
August 14, 2025
This is the 2nd book I’ve read by Kathy Herman. I really enjoy her characters and her plots. The author brings God and Christianity into her plots in a manner I enjoy. I appreciate that her characters have a relationship with God (or don’t initially) without that aspect of the plot being the focus.
September 7, 2019
I really liked this book! Not only did this book have so much real life and emotions in this book, it also included the gentle reminder God still cares regardless of what you go through.
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August 31, 2019man this was a great book the first one of hers i read.
February 8, 2010
This book was hard to put down – why are all these people disappearing? However that said I really did not like this book – the person who committed the crimes was not a character in the book rather someone who only showed up as a suspect. So you could not figure out who committed the crimes because you did not even know the person existed – however one of the accomplices was introduced towards the end of the book and you knew immediately he was involved so pretty weak story/mystery I thought.
The plot in the book regarding Brill (wife) and her husband Kurt and their marriage problems after Kurt had an affair was handled pretty well – it does affect the whole family and it does take a while to resolve. Good story about forgiveness and bitterness. However where was the resolution really – seemed like the last chapter was “ok crime solved – everyone safe – marriage is fine”. In real life it does not happen with a turn of a page.
The plot in the book regarding Brill (wife) and her husband Kurt and their marriage problems after Kurt had an affair was handled pretty well – it does affect the whole family and it does take a while to resolve. Good story about forgiveness and bitterness. However where was the resolution really – seemed like the last chapter was “ok crime solved – everyone safe – marriage is fine”. In real life it does not happen with a turn of a page.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2017
Just keeps getting better😇
It's amazing someone can weave mystery suspense heartbreak love loneliness sin sorrow into such a riveting story. I didn't want to put this one down and bought the next one before I even finished this one. The way her characters are so real in the failings and victories had me hooked and is one of the things she does so well it's hard to describe.
It's amazing someone can weave mystery suspense heartbreak love loneliness sin sorrow into such a riveting story. I didn't want to put this one down and bought the next one before I even finished this one. The way her characters are so real in the failings and victories had me hooked and is one of the things she does so well it's hard to describe.
September 25, 2020
Eh... couldn't finish this one.
September 18, 2023
A very entertaining story of a big city cop who moves to a small fictional town in East Tennessee and immediately forced to handle a kidnapping case. Only it's not one kidnapping...it's seven. Add to this the fact that she and her husband are living a farce of a marriage after his infidelity, and they're both trying to hold everything together for the sake of their kids.
The Real Enemy is a thrilling read from beginning to end! It plods along a few times and the kidnappings almost became monotonous, but there is a point to there being 7 of them. The supporting characters (children, neighbors, Nick at the local diner, etc.) all make the town of Sophie Trace a charming one, and I have no doubt they'll all be making appearances in the rest of this series.
The Real Enemy is a thrilling read from beginning to end! It plods along a few times and the kidnappings almost became monotonous, but there is a point to there being 7 of them. The supporting characters (children, neighbors, Nick at the local diner, etc.) all make the town of Sophie Trace a charming one, and I have no doubt they'll all be making appearances in the rest of this series.
November 6, 2017
After completing this book I'm sitting with the problem of an ever growing to read list, as I have now found another great suspense author!
The suspense plot was quite interesting, not sure if it was plausible at all times but it made for a great read.
I really enjoyed that the author's characters were flawed and made mistakes. Some times I did feel that the 9 year old were a bit "older" than what was said with the way she was portrayed or spoke about things.
Looking forward to continue the series.
The suspense plot was quite interesting, not sure if it was plausible at all times but it made for a great read.
I really enjoyed that the author's characters were flawed and made mistakes. Some times I did feel that the 9 year old were a bit "older" than what was said with the way she was portrayed or spoke about things.
Looking forward to continue the series.
February 20, 2018
Racist in part against Latinos
Enjoyed enough parts of the story to keep me reading to the end. But somehow all the bad guys seemed to be drug dealing Latinos in a small town in Tennessee. Possible of course, but unnecessary. Unfortunately many gangs do have members of just one nationality since there is enough bigotry that it is unwise to trust people who are not of the same nationality. But there are white gangs all over this country too. So there was no necessity to make the gang Latinos.
Enjoyed enough parts of the story to keep me reading to the end. But somehow all the bad guys seemed to be drug dealing Latinos in a small town in Tennessee. Possible of course, but unnecessary. Unfortunately many gangs do have members of just one nationality since there is enough bigotry that it is unwise to trust people who are not of the same nationality. But there are white gangs all over this country too. So there was no necessity to make the gang Latinos.
August 27, 2020
Seven people have vanished from the small town of Sophie Trace, Tennessee, at the rate of one per day. Some folks in town attribute the disappearances to "red shadows," supposedly the spirits of the ancient Cherokees who were forced from their lands centuries before.
Police Chief Brill Jessup doesn't give any credence to the legend. She has a hunch that whoever or whatever the real enemy is, it is much more human and possibly more malevolent.
Police Chief Brill Jessup doesn't give any credence to the legend. She has a hunch that whoever or whatever the real enemy is, it is much more human and possibly more malevolent.
June 13, 2024
At first, I was happy that this was an actually Christian fiction story without romance, but the more I read the worse I found it.
The authur says gang banger and blow and other words of this nature as if this was an episode of Miami Vice. I also felt it was a little racist that all the bad people were Hispanic, and I didn't always understand their findings such as the graffitti that they all understood so well.
I wanted to love this book and yet we part barely aquaintances.
The authur says gang banger and blow and other words of this nature as if this was an episode of Miami Vice. I also felt it was a little racist that all the bad people were Hispanic, and I didn't always understand their findings such as the graffitti that they all understood so well.
I wanted to love this book and yet we part barely aquaintances.
March 11, 2018
The real enemy was that easy to read the author kept going back and said the same thing over and over again.Brill was the first female to be chief of the police’s department and now she’s after what they thing a serie killer. But see Brill has some real problems she have to forgive her husband for what he did but now she has everything on her. I she has to deal with. This was a good read for me
July 15, 2019
The Jessup family moves to small town to start over and save a marriage and family for a 9 year old daughter who is loved by both parents. Mom is the new Police Chief and dad runs multiple franchise stores. Multiple abductions and drug issues in town complicate their lives. But the real enemy is a lack of forgiveness that stops the family from moving forward.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2024
Where can betrayal take you
If betrayed can you forgive as we are commanded? It's not an easy task! Anger, bitterness and revenge gets in the way. What does help look like to get past all this?
This novel has an excellent storyline and well developed characters that are very likeable. You don't feel you are reading a Christian novel either. Well put together!
If betrayed can you forgive as we are commanded? It's not an easy task! Anger, bitterness and revenge gets in the way. What does help look like to get past all this?
This novel has an excellent storyline and well developed characters that are very likeable. You don't feel you are reading a Christian novel either. Well put together!
June 6, 2018
I love that Kathy Herman's protagonists aren't your typical young single. Instead they include a wife struggling with her husband's infidelity, parents of a runaway, a mom of an unmarried, pregnant daughter, etc.
September 9, 2025
Not all are religious and are real good people with big hearts!
Well done! I’m not religious anymore after the loss of our son and all the horrible things that are done to helpless children and adults! But, I do recommend these books to my peers who are religious.
Well done! I’m not religious anymore after the loss of our son and all the horrible things that are done to helpless children and adults! But, I do recommend these books to my peers who are religious.
September 12, 2017
This was a wonderful story of second chances with a mystery to boot.
January 10, 2018
Excellent book - unfortunately now need to wait for Book 2 of the Trilogy to become available. Already have book 3, but want to listen in sequence.
August 27, 2018
Good book.
November 25, 2018
Great story
Really good story. Easy read. I really enjoyed faith and Christianity being woven in to the story. I am thankful for Christian authors.
Really good story. Easy read. I really enjoyed faith and Christianity being woven in to the story. I am thankful for Christian authors.
February 20, 2019
Excellent read!
Love the characters and story. Kathy made every character believable and you could sincerely feel the emotions! She drew you in to their lives!
Love the characters and story. Kathy made every character believable and you could sincerely feel the emotions! She drew you in to their lives!
March 3, 2019
This was a fast paced crime novel with memorable characters and great human drama!
September 11, 2019
A good mystery linked to finding ones spirituality again and family drama. It was fun piecing everything together with Brill.
February 18, 2020
Great read
This was a pleasant surprise. It had suspense and a story line that would not let me put the book down. Plus it had a spiritual twist that was greatly appreciated .
This was a pleasant surprise. It had suspense and a story line that would not let me put the book down. Plus it had a spiritual twist that was greatly appreciated .
June 5, 2020
Fun read.
June 7, 2020
3.5 stars - It had some good intrigue, but it had some weak spots that didn’t warrant 4 stars for me.
July 22, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Kept my attention and loved how the author kept God in the book throughout. A great read..
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews