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FBI Thriller #3

The Target

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Near his secluded cabin high in the Rockies, Ramsey Hunt finds a small girl unconscious in the forest. But taking her in proves dangerous, and soon they are fleeing pursuing strangers with the intent to kill.

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

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Catherine Coulter

302 books7,144 followers

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5 stars
6,354 (41%)
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3 stars
2,587 (17%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 575 reviews
Profile Image for Kat.
Author 14 books604 followers
December 8, 2022
Judge Ramsey Hunt is at his cabin in the woods when he discovers a little girl who’s been abused. But who’s after her and why? Eventually Molly, her mother finds them… but so do the bad guys. This one was a game of cat and mouse as the trio was on the run the majority of the book, escaping one bad situation after the other. Then they have to figure out who is after them, and why. Quite a page-turner! These first few books feature different characters, as opposed to later books in the series, where Savich and Sherlock become the main players, but they still make a brief appearance in this one. An exciting read!

Trigger Warnings:

Profile Image for Barbara.
1,765 reviews5,280 followers
April 7, 2022


After some dramatic courtroom heroics Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt - needing a break from the paparazzi - takes time off to relax in an isolated cabin in the mountains of Colorado. While there Ramsey finds a six-year-old child, Emma, who escaped from an abusive abductor.



The child doesn't speak and Ramsey, believing the girl would be further traumatized by police and doctors, contacts no one.



Instead he cares for the child himself. Before long people try to kill both Ramsey and the girl, so their situation is clearly perilous.



Skip ahead a few days and the girl's mother, Molly, shows up. Molly decided the cops and FBI searching for Emma were haughty and useless; thus she set out to find Emma herself.



At first Molly thinks Ramsey is the kidnapper and almost kills him.



Things are soon straightened out though, and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly become a trio - working together to evade the would-be killers and find out what's going on.

It turns out Molly's ex-husband (and Emma's absentee dad) is a famous singer with a huge gambling problem.....



.....and Molly's father is a big-time Chicago mobster.



Could all this be connected to Emma's abduction somehow? A number of deaths follow and Ramsey, Emma, and Molly are apparently in constant danger. To help resolve the situation Ramsey contacts his friends, FBI agents (and married coupled) Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock for assistance.



I'd say this book is roughly half thriller, half romance and has the expected features of those genres. That is, people fall in love super quick, there's a lot of risk, and so on. In the end the motives of the various bad guys' stretch credulity and the resolution of the story isn't totally satisfying. In addition, the idea of a federal judge harboring a kidnapped child without attempting to contact authorities or her parents is beyond belief.

For me this book was just okay but I think readers who are big fans of romantic suspense would probably like this book.

You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
Profile Image for Gloria.
1,109 reviews101 followers
August 30, 2025
3.5 stars

Oddly addictive in spite of being completely unbelievable.

None of the characters felt like real human beings. The MMC was a combination of Judge Dredd—it was his nickname in the book!—and the most sensitive, intuitive, gentle, and patient man who ever lived—he plaited a six-year-old’s hair, for pity’s sake. The FMC was an insecure photographer who’s the ex-wife of a rock star and the unloved daughter of a gangster. Her child was six-going-on-Confucius.

To say the plot was complicated would be the understatement of the century. There’s a child who is kidnapped, raped and beaten, and escapes her captor to be found unconscious in the wilderness by a man who is hiding from paparazzi because he single-handedly took down three armed assailants in his courtroom while wearing his judge’s robes. There’s commando moms and car chases and going off the grid. There’s crime lords, and car bombings and pedophiles and gender-fluid computers and snotty FBI agents and nasty wives and attempted murder and actual murder, a wide variety of baked goods, snipers and sea lions. There’s a side trip to Ireland.

What there isn’t is romance. There’s zero romance for the first 75% of this book, except for the MMC telling the FMC that her hair is the color of an Irish sunset. Then she sees him naked about to step in the shower and next thing you know

There’s also never a dull moment. And, somehow, the author manages to tie all these story threads, characters, and events into a neat little bow before it’s over.
Profile Image for Izzah ꒰Hiatus ಇ Duchess of Cabria꒱ .
1,222 reviews320 followers
August 16, 2025
Order of the day: pure insanity

We start with

➻ Lauded hero judge is overwhelmed by the media his heroics have brought, so he takes a long leave of absence and hides himself away in the mountains. There, he finds an abused little girl in the forest.


We end with

➻ An almost drowning and the heroine ending a mafia war.



And you will never guess how we get there even if you twisted your mind like a pretzel 🥨

P.S. This would've been a 5 star for me if it weren't for the little girl having gone through sexual abuse. I don't think the story needed to take it that far even if it did a good job of tackling her trauma.
Profile Image for Jill.
1,501 reviews14 followers
November 18, 2009
OMG, this was terrible! I can't believe I wasted 10 hours listening to this--luckily, I was in the car, so I was getting *something* accomplished! There are just too many implausible things happening in this for it to be believable. I should have stopped listening after the first disk when Ramsey, a federal judge no less, finds a 6 year old girl in the woods who has been beaten and molested and he not only doesn't take her to the authorities, but cleans her up. Um, evidence?! Of course, they don't need evidence, because this 6 year old, who doesn't know her letters until Ramsey starts teaching them to her, is later able to give a police sketch artist enough detail (after only seeing his face briefly after a 2nd kidnap attempt--he wore a disguise the 1st time she was with him) for the authorities to identify him. Really? And then there is the reason for the kidnap attempt in the 1st place--so her father, a famous singer will go out with a mob boss' daughter. huh? Add to the mix, Molly (the 6 yr old's mother, her father who is another mobster and you have a whole lot of chaos. That doesn't make any sense. Then there is the marriage proposal that happens before they've even kissed each other. And at the end, Molly bam! figures out who is behind the attempts on her father's life and is able to conveniently get a confession (which we don't ever hear, it's just told to us.)

This is definitely not what I expect out of Catherine Coulter--maybe I should go back to her historicals?
Profile Image for Donna (Currently Busy).
426 reviews10 followers
August 21, 2019
Every year our library holds two major used books sales. At the last one in April, I purchased "The Edge" by Ms. Coulter, which is the fourth book in an FBI series. Since I've always read series books in chronological order, I checked the first three books out from the library. "The Target" was the third book in the series. It was okay but not riveting. The storyline regarding Judge Ramsey Hunt and his involvement with the Lord family was unbelievable to me. Can't say why in this review due to spoiler reasons. The author did her research, so I will respect that with three stars.

I will move on to "The Edge" after I read a different genre. Like to mix things up a bit.
Profile Image for Carolyn.
2,233 reviews
July 9, 2024
Re-read.

Okay, so I see this is the fourth time I have read this book. It's an early book in the series. I still REALLY like it! :) (Judge Ramsey Hunt, Molly and Emma show up again in "Backfire" and "Reckoning.") As always, our main characters, Savich and Sherlock, shine!
Profile Image for margaret.
22 reviews3 followers
March 16, 2019
could not get past the first bit where the supposed hero finds an apparently lost/abducted/abused little child and does not take her to hospital or contact other authorities ASAP. It was creepy and disturbing to have him appoint himself her saviour and essentially subject her to again being held against her will
Profile Image for Caroline.
184 reviews19 followers
January 21, 2008
I found this book in our beach house, left behind by (I imagine) a disgruntled reader who had been renting the house. I have to believe no one in my family would have purchased this book and then left it for others to read. This was terrible. Again, I bitterly read to the end and promptly threw the book in the garbage, so no future tenants would fall into the trap of beginning what looks like an entertaining beach read only to be horrified by the terrible writing and unbelievable plot lines.
Profile Image for Debbie .
548 reviews44 followers
September 19, 2009
Federal Judge Ramsey Hunt needed time away, his time in a cabin in the Rockie Mountains was anything but relaxing. After finding a little girl in the woods that had obviously been abused, men show up shooting at them and then the childs mom finally shows up accusing him of kidnapping. Molly Santera had been all over Colorado looking for her precious Emma and after finding her safe with Judge Hunt, the nightmares begin.

This was not much in the way of a romance, it was very easy to fall for the little girl who had been through so much. The action of the book was spaced out, nothing real exciting, just a basic crime thriller. A few unexpected twists in the plot, but mostly very predictale. Happy ending, I would be interested in seeing the Judge in a later book. Overall just a basic read to get your mind of normal everyday boredom, and make yourself feel lucky you don't have a 'godfather' in the family.
Profile Image for Joe Young.
143 reviews4 followers
October 25, 2011
A Judge who is schooled in martial arts has AK-47 armed invaders attack his court to free defendants but, he leaps into action and kills or subdues the attackers saving numerous innocent parties an foiling the great escape attempt. He becomes an instant celebrity but, life that is constantly interrupted by photographers and others seeking to cash in on his moment of fame. He finds himself constantly angered and in danger of exploding and using some of his martial skills against jerks rather than actual bad guys. He takes a leave of absence and retires to a friends small cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains woods. He is far from population, with no phones, press or other interruptions from civilization. He is slowly living the quiet life and winding down from the tense burning that had become his recent life. Just when he believes things are becoming normal, he hears a small whimper from the forest while out chopping wood. He looks about and finds a young girl barefoot and clothed in a dirty shirt with welts and scratches covering her body. When he tries to pick her up, she shrinks away and whimpers more. By moving slowly, he is able to take her back to the cabin. He slowly tries to draw out a story but the young girl doesn't respond and appears mute. He takes it upon himself to do what he can to settle her, giving her warm food and being gentle with her. He treats her wounds with antiseptic cream and cleans her up as she allows. His gentle manner soothes her until she is able to sleep without nightmares and doesn't shrink into a corner unless he moves suddenly and frightens her. As her self confidence develops he takes her out to fly a kite in a near meadow. She knows how to fly kites and is able to cause it to do tricks but, as it is flying, someone shoots it out of the sky. The judge and girl move back to the cabin where he takes up his pistol and confronts the men. A firefight ensues and the judge wounds one of the men and they run off but, remain a unknown threat. The judge is also wounded in the leg but can still walk with pain. He does what he can to reassure the young girl and does what he can to dress his wound. He secures the cabin as best he can but, doesn't lock the front door. An attractive young woman bursts into the cabin with a very large gun and mistakenly threatens to shoot the judge thinking him a pervert who kidnapped her daughter from a Denver park. The young girl speaks out and tells her mother not to shoot the judge as he had been the one who had befriended her and kept her from further harm. Together they set off for civilization only to be hunted and haunted by a number of bad guys. Together, they fight their way back to their homes but, it seems that someone is taking everything apart just in front of them. Several more attempts are made to abduct the young girl but they are thwarted by either the judge or the girls mother. The story takes many strange twists but leads to a happy solution after severely testing the participants. The suspense, action and obvious affection between characters makes this a great read!
Profile Image for Darcy.
14.3k reviews537 followers
November 18, 2010
I really liked this book, I think a large part of it was due to Emma. What a doll this little girl was!

When the story first starts out we meet this randome man off in the wilds of Colorado and I wasn't sure where exactly this story was going to go. As Ramsey was chopping wood, he heard this god awful sound and goes to check it out. He quickly finds out that this horrible sound was that of a little girl, lying on the ground very obviously beated and sexually abused. He quickly scoops her up, a decision that changes the course of his life. Ramsey is a federal judge and knows how the system works, so to protect this wounded child he decides to take care of her himself.

The next few days are those that will break your heart, reading about this bright girl who was brutalized, but still has some spunk left in her. This gentle man does a great job of drawing her out and starting the healing process. While I hate to read about anything like this happeneing to anyone, much less a child, I will say that I loved this part, watching this little girl start to trust again.

Things change again for this duo when her mother finds them and jumps to the conclusion that all of us would, that Ramsey is the bad guy. In a tense situation where so much could go wrong it is up to the little girl to let her Momma know just what is going on.

It is at this point that the story changes again, from a little girls fight back to life, to a group of people developing into a family, one that none of them saw coming. You can see where both of the adults are going to end up with each other, but that is ok, be cause the journey to get there is the fun as the two are so clueless.


I hope in future books we get to check in with these characters as I want to know how they are doing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Anastasia.
2,228 reviews103 followers
January 13, 2024
The Target by Catherine Coulter is the 3rd book in the FBI Thriller series. Judge Ramsey Hunt is taking a break in a cabin in the remote Colorado Rockies when he comes across an abused little girl. A terrific, fast paced adventure as he becomes involved in the fight between two mob bosses. Although part of the FBI thriller series, they play only a minor role in this book. Ramsey and Molly make a terrific partnership as they focus on helping Emma, and I'm hoping to see them in later books. An enjoyable mystery thriller.
1 review1 follower
February 26, 2018
I loved it. Every time I would be so curious for what is next
Profile Image for TJ.
3,268 reviews272 followers
March 11, 2017
3.5/5.0
Very good romantic suspense. I just couldn't jump the believability chasm with a few of the plot devices. That didn't stop me from devouring every page, though!
Profile Image for Shelley.
5,593 reviews489 followers
November 22, 2010
Synopsis: Judge Ramsey Hunt has fled to recuperate after being forced to shoot a man during a melee in his courtroom. But his dream of peace and quiet is shattered when he discovers an unconscious, beaten, and sexually abused little girl who is too traumatized to speak. Reluctant to subject her to any more terror, Ramsey refrains from going to the authorities and cares for her himself. But once again, violence intrudes, first when two gunmen attempt to take the girl, and then when her mother, Molly, appears, ready to kill the man she believes is the kidnapper. Miraculously, Emma regains her voice in the nick of time, so Molly and Ramsey join forces and attempt to solve the mystery of her abduction. Emma is a target for any of a number of reasons--her father is a famous rock star with a gambling problem, and her grandfather is a Chicago Mob boss.

Review** Series favs Savich and Sherlock do make an appearance with Sherlock being pregnant and having an interesting version of morning sickness, but it's a minor role. The story is about Emma, Ramsey and Molly Santera, Emma's mother. Emma's character was probably the most intriguing, and painfully read. Her abuse was just awful. Of course, the romance angle is between Molly and Ramsey.

10 reviews1 follower
August 13, 2016
I started the book and almost stopped after the first 20 pages of so because it was so ridiculous. A federal judge finds an injured and abused girl and doesn't try to let her parents know she is okay at the very least! What he did was highly illegal, and as someone in the justice system, he would have been very well aware of that fact. I saw that people on Goodreads gave this book such high reviews, so I thought I would keep reading to see if it got better. I'm probably 2/3rds the way through, and I just can't take it anymore. I would like to know how it ends so she obviously did a good job peaking my curiosity. So, if anyone wants to write an ending spoiler for me, I would appreciate it. But knowing how it ends isn't worth it anymore. The dialog and behaviors of people in the book feel very old-fashioned. They remind me of a Katherine Hepburn movie in the 60s or something. This oddity just adds to the inauthentic and unrealistic feeling I got through the whole book.
Profile Image for Kelly.
231 reviews
October 26, 2009
I actually picked this up without knowing it was part of a series, so maybe I would have enjoyed some of the characters who popped in from previous books a little more if I'd read the first two prior to this one. I thought it was a reasonable suspense novel, with some good twists, actions, and developments, but it got a little slow at points. It was hard to read at times because the premise began with a girl who is kidnapped and sexually assaulted, and one of the villains of the story is a child molester. Not really something I wanted to ponder in my leisure reading time, but once I started I was hooked and wanted to at least get far enough in to witness the girl's progress towards recovery (if such a thing is possible.) Not bad, not great. I think I'd prefer a Harlan Coben.
Profile Image for Jonetta.
2,582 reviews1,318 followers
May 18, 2011
I fell in love with this story. While Savich and Sherlock didn't have a major presence in this installment, the main characters more than adequately filled that space.

The relationship between Ramsey and the child he discovers is touching and it was written in a way that had you experiencing its development rather naturally. The suspense surrounding her story unfolded at the right pace and I couldn't put the book down.

This story stands on its own but I appreciated having read the previous two. No matter where you come into this series, Target is a must read.
941 reviews6 followers
February 14, 2018
Disappointing on several levels. The story line, the romance novel mush, the characters, the situations. I know it's fiction, but fiction should parallel reality a bit more than this one did.
Profile Image for Dan.
637 reviews53 followers
September 7, 2023
The cover blurb and novel description/synopsis does well at saying what this book is about. I think it gives away a few more plot points than it should. I'm certainly not going to add to them in my review here.

This is my sixth Catherine Coulter read and is so far my favorite. She tops her first two suspense novels, The Cove and The Maze, which I read about twenty years ago because she stretches plausibility less on this outing. I love the way she starts her book with just two characters, the judge and the lost little girl, and keeps the focus on just them for a long time as their relationship builds. Just when it's about to become too long, in comes the next character. Masterful!

It's for a book like this, the potential of which is only foreshadowed by her first two books, that I read Catherine Coulter. She doesn't sustain this. The books later in her series don't have plot ideas as marvelous and trade off on the fact people are content to simply read the latest Sherlock and Savich adventure. But back in 1998, when Coulter still had something to prove, these are the novels to read.
Profile Image for Carol.
1,071 reviews9 followers
July 19, 2021
Good Thriller - Not Much FBI

We hardly saw or heard from Savitch or Sherlock, but it was a pretty good story just the same. Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I never thought Judge Ramsey Hunt seemed "creepy." Actually, I liked him right away. And I just fell in love with little Emma. We were more than 40% into the book before we saw Dillon Savitch, and even after that there was very little of him or Sherlock in this novel. But it was well put together and contained the excellent plotting and pacing we have come to expect of this author. There was plenty of suspense and the denouement was very well done as well. I was not terribly surprised by the final reveal at the end, but it did tie things up very nicely. It is not actually a 4-star book, but I am satisfied that it is about a 3.6, rounded up. I enjoyed it.
Profile Image for William Bentrim.
Author 59 books75 followers
December 6, 2018
I haven’t read any Coulter for a while. No reason for not reading but she has moved front and center to my TBR pile again. This book had an adorably precocious child, a butt kicking judge, a talented photographer, a demented rocker, a malicious gangster, a gentleman gangster and some familiar FBI agents. Coulter successfully blended such a wide range of characters into a stupendous souffle of delicious intrigue.

Spoiler Alert:
There were some parts of this book that were very difficult to read, particularly if you are sensitive to the abuse of a child. I found myself incensed on a couple of occasions reading this book.

The story is finely crafted and has some very intricate twists to prevent you from foretelling the conclusion.

An excellent story which I highly recommend.
Profile Image for Pennie Morgan.
2,334 reviews10 followers
October 5, 2020
Love this series and that is why this is a revisit for me this time in audio form. Judge Ramsey Hunt is on vacation in the Colorado Rockies after an event in his courtroom that left him needing to get away for a while. He comes across an abused little girl who is obviously traumatized but he takes her in but when her mother shows up sporting a gun right after they had been shot at and Ramsey hurt. Good thing Emma comes out of her stupor and talks to call off her mother or she may have shot Ramsey. The three of them set off across country while being chased and hunted. So many twists and turns and thrills make up this story. Great narrator!
Profile Image for Judy.
3,369 reviews29 followers
May 28, 2022
This is an exciting story of a judge who is hiding out from the press in a remote cabin after he became a reluctant hero when he stopped three armed gunmen in his courtroom. One day he hears strange noise and when he investigates he finds a young girl who has obviously been beaten and raped. He takes her under his protection and hides her from her abductor. She will not or cannot talk to him, but communicates through drawing pictures. Eventually he teams up with her mother to protect her and calls in his FBI friends to help search for the kidnapper. It is a good exciting story.
Profile Image for Teresa.
20 reviews
August 28, 2024
It could’ve been better, but the more I got to know the Judge, the more I disliked him. I can’t understand how he was so worshipped. He was almost as creepy as the villain in the book. I just got really bad vibes from the way he treated that little girl that he just met. And very strange that a mother would allow that. I know that he discovered the little girl in a horrible state, but it was very bizarre how quickly he bonded with her. It just felt ick to me. I give it three stars because it kept me mildly entertained but I could have been fine never finishing this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Vfields Don't touch my happy! .
3,477 reviews
June 15, 2018
This is much better than the first in the series for me.
I'm of the belief Coulter male characters are stronger characters than her female characters.
The kid was not annoying. For me, that's special.
The action is easy to follow.
Far from perfect but enjoyable
Profile Image for Dee.
2,664 reviews21 followers
March 29, 2021
Two-haiku review:

He finds little girl
Who has escaped kidnapper
Tries to keep her safe

Enjoyable tale
Liked main characters a lot
Danger, excitement
26 reviews1 follower
April 25, 2022
I really liked the storyline it kept you on your toes. The parts I don’t like are the cussing, I’m not real crazy about that.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 575 reviews

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