Deceit

by Brandilyn Collins

Sometimes the truth hides where no one expects to find it. Joanne Weeks knows Baxter Jackson killed Linda--his second wife and Joanne's best friend---six years ago. But Baxter, a church elder and beloved member of the town, walks the streets a free man. The police tell Joanne to leave well enough alone, but she is determined to bring him down. Using her skills as a professional skip tracer, she sets out to locate the only person who may be able to put Baxter behind bars. Melissa Harkoff was a traumatized sixteen-year-old foster child in the Jackson household when Linda disappeared. At the time Melissa claimed to know nothing of Linda's whereabouts--but was she lying? In relentless style,  Deceit  careens between Joanne's pursuit of the truth-- which puts her own life in danger--and the events of six years' past, when Melissa came to live with the Jacksons. What really happened in that household? Beneath the veneer of perfection lies a story of shakeable faith, choices, and the lure of deceit.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Mystery, Christian, Suspense, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2010

About the author

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®--fast-paced, character-driven suspense with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith.

Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). She is a sought-after teacher and speaker at writers' conferences.

Reviews

[Jordyn Redwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, I'd given up on reading Brandilyn's books. She and her career are definitely something I admire. I'd read a few of the Chelsea Adams series and Over the Edge-- her fiction novel that deals with Lyme Disease. I did find them to be good books-- just not the scary type of suspense that I like to read which is more Harlan Coben, Dean Koontz, Linwood Barclay and Lisa Gardner.

A friend urged me to read Deceit-- stating it was "THE BEST" Collins book out there. Since I had it on hand I decided to give it a try.

Now, I'm going to have to rethink what I've said because now I think Brandilyn is just as good as those mainstream authors I've mentioned above. This book totally raptured me and I read it over three nights (while up sick!) and it turned out to be a great thing to keep my mind off my physical health.

Joanne is a skip tracer and feels very strongly that a local heavy weight has not only killed her best friend but another wife as well. Just how will she prove it and not get killed herself?

The book alternates between two points of view (which I really like as a story telling technique). That of Joanne and a foster child, Melissa, who was living in their home.

I can't say the killer was an ultimate surprise but the writing was genius. I'm holding onto my copy to read again (which I never do) as a study in telling a tightly woven suspense tale.

Highly Recommended.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baxter Jackson’s two wives have died within six years of each other. His first wife, Linda, was Joanne Weeks’ best friend. He was the richest man in town, sponsoring a Little League baseball team. The church’s head elder. Everybody’s best friend. The epitome of Christian perfection.

No one ever spoke against Baxter, until Joanne Wells, through an eavesdropping reporter. She is absolutely sure he was responsible for both deaths, but has no proof. During a late-night, rainy winter storm, she hits a man who claims that Melissa, a 16-year-old foster child who was living at the Baxter’s home at the time of Linda’s death, knows what happened to Linda, and that Joanne needs to find her.

Brandilyn is known by her ‘seat-belt suspense.’ This is one of her best in my opinion. A mysterious accident, a break-in, a shooting, etc., are just the beginning of terror for Joanne. Just when you think she has it figured out and gotten everything under control, new, unexpected twists spin everyone and everything out of control, while she scrambles to get back some sense of equilibrium. Disappointments abound, but tenacity for justice prevails.

Brandilyn’s flashback scenes interspersed throughout help to create intense emotions and suspense, and it’s done in a definitive, calculated way–teasers to keep you hooked. And hooked you are! Brandilyn is able to keep you guessing throughout the whole book, all the way to the very end. And what an end! Shocking, revealing!

Brandilyn demonstrates that what you see is not necessarily how things really are. Deceit in the heart is demonstrated in the Baxter home in ways no one in town ever imagined, except maybe a few. Through Deceit, she also challenges you to evaluate your own heart and motives. “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately wicked; who can understand it?….” Jer. 16::9. Forgiveness is also tantamount to moving on in life, as demonstrated in Deceit. This also a book of choices….

This book was provided by Zondervan in exchange for my honest review. One is never disappointed with Brandilyn’s book. I’d give Deceit a 5 out of 5.

[Maria C · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entry in author Brandilyn Collins' 'Seatbelt Suspense' series finds Christians wrestling with truth and deceit in their own church. Joanne Weeks, a fiftysomething skip tracer believes that church elder and pillar of the community Baxter Jackson killed Linda, his second wife (and Joanne's best friend). Joanne tries to find the Jackson's foster daughter Melissa, whom she believes holds the key to finding out what really happened to Linda. The novel seesaws between present and past (in which we learn about Melissa's horrible childhood and the facade of Christianity that the Jacksons lived behind). To Collins' credit, there is a somewhat romantic subplot between Joanne and Perry, who helps her find Melissa. Not many authors include late-in-life romances in their books and this is something that apparently readers want, judging from the comments in the Christian Fiction forum here. The story is fairly solid, but there is some sexual innuendo that might offend sensitive readers. Christians are told to 'let their love be without hypocrisy' in the Bible and Collins does a good job of showing how appearances can be deceiving.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this story was great! Deceit is the first story I've read by Brandilyn Collins and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Deceit is the story of Joanne Weeks who lost her best friend Linda. She believes Linda's husband Baxter Jackson killed her, as well as his second wife. Joanne, who is a professional skip tracer sets out to locate Melissa Harkoff, a foster child in the Jackson household, and the only person who can possibly put Jackson behind bars.

I loved the different point of views, switching from first person to the third person. Not many stories can pull this off, but I felt Brandilyn Collins did very well and for me, it didn't detract from the book at all.

I found myself feeling the way Joanne felt as she was walking around the house checking doors and windows - I could feel the fear she felt. I enjoyed being drawn into the story this way.

This was a good read that I highly recommend.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading 'Deceit'. There were twists everywhere, that I didn't expect, which kept me guessing until the end.

Brandilyn Collins is really good at combining suspense with a great story that keeps your attention to the end. I think 'Deceit' should have had about two more chapters because it didn't seem 'finished'.

I really liked the subtle message about how lies are lies and even if you do it for your job it is still a lie. I have read almost all of Brandilyn Collins books and loved most (if not all) of them. I recommend 'Deceit' if you love reading books that keep you guessing and are filled with suspense.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story line was ok but very predictable. Initially I was drawn in by the vivid description of being afraid when the garage was broken into. I'm a fairly nervous person myself and could actually feel the fear.

However, as the book went on I felt I knew what was going to happen before it did so it became a fairly standard who done it. The constant consumption of Jelly Bellies made it feel rather like an advertising campaign too.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting book on deceiving, lying, and Christians who live a life of hypocrisy that you wonder if they are really saved or not. One thing while reading the book, keep an eye on the year. The book covers two different years with 6 years between them. You got Melissa the teenager in one section and Joanne the adult women in the other section. Eventually it all comes together at the end. To a very surprising end.

[Donna Pfeiffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast and easy read crime mystery. A woman who lost a dear friend feels guilty when the second wife of her friend's husband also dies. She always felt suspicious of the death but did not raise.questions to encourage more inquiry. She is approached by someone in a disguise who tells her that there is someone who knows the truth and she is then encouraged to pursue the lead and provide justice for her friend.

[Lovely Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️
The story was good and unpredictable, but it was mostly in first person (with a brief perspective in third person present tense) 😬

The story: Skip tracer, Joanne, is certain that her friend was murdered by her own husband (an elder in their church). 6 years later she gets a lead that points to their foster daughter, Melissa, who apparently saw it all but never said anything….now Joanne must find Melissa and bring the killer to justice

[Stefanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brandilyn Collins once again sucked me in and gave my heart a scare.
The garage scene in the beginning had my heart racing and when a book can do that, then I know I have a winner.
There was definitely suspense in this one, all the while giving a good lesson on the sinful nature of lying. We all lie; we all deceive. Sometimes those lies cause real, life-altering consequences and this book opens your eyes to that truth.
I enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading another of Brandilyn Collins' books!

[Stella Potts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book by Brandilyn Collins that has you fastenings your seat belt. A very good book full of suspense. I thought I had it all figured out but what a surprise ending. I love her books.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I look so forward to any suspense from this author. I liked this, but some things seemed a little hokey in this one. Almost any book I have read from her has rated a 4 with me, several a five. To write my problems with the book leads more into spoilers, but I really want to say what perturbed me with it.

Why did Baxter want to kill Melissa after 6 years of the murder so badly? Yes he conspired to cover the crime up, yes he would lose his good name, but it seemed rather awkward how he acted in doing this and he made it so easy to get him by the manner he was doing it slightly also.

He did not do the 1st murder and how he was so upset with it when it happened. I find it hard to believe he would do another, though we were not shown if the 2nd was a premeditated murder or accident. Accident would work, but his violence did not seem to go that far.

Melissa was self absorbed -as almost any teenager having lived in her circumstances would be, but she never through the book was portrayed really as being as evil as she was supposedly made at the end. I know she played both Linda and Baxter for her own intentions, but my own kids do stuff like that and she did not have guidance to direct her not to when young.

The murder really was self defense. Not quite the same as outright killing someone.

Baxter acted so out of character after it happened. Most abusers physically would not have displayed such extreme turn a rounds. There are always exceptions, but?

Why did Linda go so radically off with the knife over her husband and Melissa together. Maybe she just finally exploded over all he did to her? It just seemed rather dramatic after the way he treated her prior and her just taking it. I would think any man that punches his wife like that would be under suspicion and the spouse would really expect affairs, pornography or something anyway.
A few other things that stem from the above seemed trite also.

I would recommend the book though since it was steady moving. I wanted to know what happened, etc.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed emotions about this book. I came close to putting it aside during the first part because I didn't care for the style it was written in. The POV character, Joanne, was written in first person, and I don't usually care for things written in first person. The first person parts didn't make me like first person any better. Added to that, the writing style seemed choppy to me, much more so at the beginning than at the end. I know there's a big push these days towards "lean" writing, but parts of this almost seemed emaciated to me.

Another part of the issue, and probably the major factor in my feelings about the book, was that the writer uses some odd descriptions/metaphors, etc. I'm not sure how to describe them, but sometimes they were so obtuse I had no clue what they were supposed to mean. As a foreign language teacher for 22 years, I appreciate a good turn of phrase in many languages, but every so often one of these would pop up and take me totally out of the story. If it's so weird it stands out and makes me scratch my head or seems pretentious, it seems counterproductive to me.

With that said, I really liked the technique of switching viewpoints. The parts written in Melissa's POV (3rd person) felt much more natural to me and helped to anchor me in the story (except for the occasional jumping out because of an oddly phrased sentence).

I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first, except for some of the poor (illogical) choices Joanne made (but most of those were at the beginning). The ending was satisfying, and there were enough twists and turns to make a strong plot.

I've never read any of Brandilyn Collins' books before so I'm not sure if this is typical of her style or not. I'll try another one of hers because the plot was good, and the ending didn't disappoint me.

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Deceivers don’t like anyone who knows the truth about them.”

“How does one know when a liar stops lying?”

“Would it turn out well if [God] examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?”

3.25 Stars Out Of 5

This book started out real slow for. The first 25% was a slow build with a lot of scenes that didn’t have much going on. But once Brandilyn Collins brought in a lot of Melissa’s flashbacks and Joanne using her skills as a skip tracer to find Melissa, the excitement ratcheted up quickly. Some of it might seem risqué to some people, but I found it very realistic in this world of good versus evil. I really liked that Collins didn’t try to portray all Christians as good and non-Christians as bad; she instead chose realistic portrayals that all of our deceitful in certain areas of our lives and sometimes we even justify our actions. So this book is a good reminder to look inwardly into our life and how we can make a change for the better.

I hovered back and forth between 3 and 4 stars but felt this wasn’t up to her usual Seatbelt Suspense standard. As mentioned, the first 25% was very slow. And not a lot of twists. The few twists were pretty obvious. But I will definitely keep reading her books.

For more reviews, please check out my blog!

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[Tracy Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the positive side: Brandilynn Collins did an excellent job of weaving a scenario that was simultaneously exciting and frightening. While trying to get justice for the death of her best friend, she gets caught in a web of evil that she has greatly misjudged. I enjoy reading books that keep me guessing and I couldn't put this one down. It also was something that I could read while in the presence of kids, noise, etc. without losing track of what was going on. A great travel book or summertime read.
On the negative side: I found the writing to be more of what I would consider a basic style and the characters very shallow. I was surprised by the references to God and while I thought it was fine I could see how some people might consider that a negative. One of the points that I listed as a positive is also going to show up here as a negative - It was something that I could read while in the presence of kids, noise, etc. without losing track of what was going on, which shows that the story while exciting, wasn't as deep as it could have been and that left me a bit disappointed.
All in all it was worth the read but not very complex.

[Gretchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mystery deals with the important issue of domestic violence that can be hidden within the church and for that I give it applause.

I understand heroine Joanne Weeks, a skip tracer, has a personal reason for hunting this wolf in sheep's clothing. He's a killer and he killed her best friend. Now for the down side. I expected more professionalism from a well seasoned law enforcement professional. Sometimes she did idiotic things and I'm tired of dumb heroines. I kept wondering why she didn't have a gun when she knew she was going up against a fiendish killer. And why did she nearly back herself into a corner more than once?

When I compare it to the likes of J.A. Jance, this story comes up short.

[Sarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this audiobook in one day. The narration was captivating and the story interesting.

I loved following the story from Melissa and Joanne’s POV, one being the past and one the present. As the story unfolds and more events are being revealed, the truth of what happened to Linda unfolds and the killer was a bit unexpected.

The subtle message of a white lie is still a lie was also coming through strongly.

*I listened to the audiobook on Scribd.*

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest in her Seatbelt suspense TM books, I was so totalled caught up in the story and the action, I couldn't put the book down, it took control of my mind in the pursuit and the chase. I love forensic type mystery stories, this is great

[TheReadingKnitter/ Kasey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good but the jelly belly references were weird.

[Elusive · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 'Deceit', expert skip tracer Joanne Weeks' determination to seek justice for her best friend Linda grows after a terrifying encounter with a hooded man. Driven by the strong belief that Linda was murdered by her abusive husband Baxter, Joanne uses her skills to locate their foster daughter, Melissa in the hope of getting her to come forward as a witness. However, someone is hell bent on making sure the truth remains a secret..

The alternation between the past (how Melissa ended up living with the Jacksons) and present (Joanne's attempts to find Melissa) was an effective storytelling technique as it contributed to the suspense and mystery. I found Melissa's background story to be especially engaging because it delved into the dark and ugly side of the Jacksons that no one else was aware of. In addition, it showed how it's possible to sink so low to the point where there's no return.

Throughout the story, several questions were gradually answered with the revelation of more details on what had actually happened to Linda. The twist wasn't exactly unpredictable but it certainly made me see certain characters in a different light. Joanne was a frustrating protagonist due to her host of stupid decisions combined with her pointless worrying. The incorporation of a budding romance in the last quarter of the book felt forced and unconvincing hence thankfully, it wasn't fully developed.

The "showdown" that took place between Joanne and Melissa was disappointing since the latter was conveniently dumbed down. That character could have easily made a clean getaway but decided to pay a visit to Joanne to ask her for tips on how to make herself untraceable! Uh.. how about going online to find out or better yet, use your brain?? I also couldn't overlook how the police completely trusted Joanne considering her bond with Linda. But then again they were incompetent from the beginning.

Last but not least, Jelly Bellies were mentioned so often that they became a prominent character in this story. Overall, 'Deceit' was an average and mildly entertaining read that would benefit from more fleshed out characters, realism and of course - deceit.

[Lisa Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot, even though I really didn't have much hope for it. One thing that I liked best was that there was very little profanity in it. I find I have a hard time finding a good book without profanity. This was very refreshing, especially since it is a mystery.

this books starts out one direction, and takes the entire story to finally wind up. It was a thrill to read. I plan to read more books by this author.

[Becky C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d grown weary of the saccharine filled Christian fiction books so I was cautious when I picked up this book. I didn’t have much hope for it.

This book surprised me. I loved it. The twists toward the end of the book was good. There were parts I had predicted prior to the reveal but overall this is a good book.

Maybe there is hope for Christian fiction.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the beginning! I really FELT the fear! So outstanding. I did guess the murderer and the plot twists half way through, and I don’t think I’m necessarily that clever with mysteries but that’s ok. It was still good. Parts of the plot was distasteful and while not graphic in any way, the themes were surprising and a little gross in a CF book. I’ll definitely read this author again!

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great suspenseful book. I had an inkling of the twist in the ending but hadn't fully recognized it. I think it's a good reminder that sometimes Christians portraying the perfect life would do better to be more honest. Joanne was intriguing character and I loved how she figured it all out.

[Mel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐

This kept me interested, and honestly, it's probably better than what my rating shows. I'm just too grossed out at the fact a grown man sleeping with a 16 year old is so casually mentioned and made to seem ok because she was a murderer. Gross.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot! Fast moving, suspenseful with lots of twists. Love the way the author can tell a really good mystery without all the graphic sex and usual profanity that is in most novels these days!

[J. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painful but compelling

So sad … and unfortunately so real. How many of us go through the denial, remembering the sweet past, so reluctant to give up hope for the future. Love is hard to destroy … sometimes until it’s too late.

[Rachel Brantley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great one!

This book had me guessing til the very end! Full of suspense! I could not put this down until I finished it!

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7