I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Night Watch (Kendra Michaels, #4) by Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen on October 25th 2016
Pages: 342
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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The #1 New York Times bestselling author and the Edgar Award winning author are back with a new a new novel featuring Kendra Michaels—hired gun for both the CIA and FBI.
Born blind, Kendra Michaels spent the first twenty years of her life living in the darkness. Then, thanks to a revolutionary medical procedure developed by England’s Night Watch Project, she was given the gift of sight. Her highly-developed senses (honed during her years in the dark), combined with her new found vision, have made her a remarkable investigator, sought after by law-enforcement agencies all over the country. But her newest case finds her uncovering a deadly truth about the shadowy organization that has given her so much.
Kendra is surprised when she is visited by Dr. Charles Waldridge, the researcher who gave her sight. But all is not well with the brilliant surgeon; he’s troubled by something he can’t discuss with Kendra. When Waldridge disappears that very night, Kendra is on the case, recruiting government agent-for-hire Adam Lynch to join her on a trail that leads to the snow-packed California mountains. There they make a gruesome discovery: the corpse of one of Dr. Waldridge’s associates, brutally murdered in the freezing snow. But it’s only the first casualty in a white-knuckle confrontation with a deadly enemy who will push Kendra to the limits of her abilities. Soon she must fight for her very survival as she tries to stop the killing… and unearth the deadly secret of Night Watch.
Night Watch is book four of the Kendra Michaels series, although you really do not have to read the first four books to understand the history and plot behind this latest release. Kendra, blind for the first twenty years of her life before a scientific experiment made her see again, consults for the FBI utilizing her senses honed by the years she was blind. In this installment, the doctor who gave her sight again has been kidnapped and Kendra uses her FBI contacts to open an investigation into her benefactor’s disappearance. Not all is as it seems with Dr Charles Waldridge and Kendra is taken down memory lane as she rediscovers the man who “cured” her all those years ago.
Kendra’s search for Waldridge was a quick and easy read, complete with enough flashbacks to understand the intense relationship between doctor and patient as well as enough of a mystery to keep the reader guessing. The bad guys, although obvious from the start (think murky corporation with no morals), is one that is still “under cover” until well into the novel.
The sense of black and white begins to grey: bad guys are revealed to be characters who are only attempting to survive the long arm of a shady company.
I loved the elements of medicine sprinkled throughout this crime mystery. The whole premise of this novel is on the medical advancements that gave Kendra her sight, and the shady corporations who would do “bad’ with that knowledge. The concept that sometimes wanting to do the right thing can lead to doing the wrong thing in an effort to continue to do good is definitely prevalent throughout this plot.
Unfortunately, the only part of this book that seemed confusing and less than spectacular was the romance. I feel like without the history between Adam Lynch and Kendra Michaels, the “fiery” passion between the two main leads was a bit dramatic and rushed. The novel hints at a slow burn romance that, sadly, I missed out on by leaping into this novel so late in the series. To be honest, I didn’t really find Adam Lynch all that sexy either – he seemed a tad too “douche” for me..but that’s okay because not all men are for all women, right?
In the end, this book was okay and is a great starting point for readers who want to leap into the series without reading books 1-3. In addition, this makes a great standalone novel with plenty of explanations of Kendra’s history with each characters and an in depth look at Kendra’s experience as a blind woman. Interesting, fun and definitely a great beach read, Night Watch is worth a gander if you are looking for a novel with happy endings and a decent mystery.
This novel will appeal to readers who enjoy crime mysteries mixed with a hint of medical drama, novels with romance between “partners” in police settings, international intrigue and plucky characters.
About Iris Johansen
Iris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.
She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.
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