Title: Bounty

Author: J.D. Cunegan

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis:

“Jill Andersen is one of Baltimore’s best and brightest detectives, but she harbors a dark secret — a secret that threatens to come out when the body of Dr. Trent Roberts is pulled out of the Chesapeake Bay. Dr. Roberts’ connection to Jill reveals a past that involves a tour in Iraq, a secretive cybernetic experiment, and a conspiracy that involves a native son.

Can Jill solve the case while still keeping her secret? Will her partners at the Seventh Precinct find out what she’s so desperate to hide? What was Dr. Roberts looking into that led to his murder? And perhaps the biggest question of all…

Who is Bounty?”

Review:

I am also interested in murder mysteries, they are my guilty pleasure, and this one did not disappoint.

J.D. Cunegan’s writing is read with ease, and I found the tone and flow of the sentences to be poetic.  He knows how to use similes and metaphors flawlessly, and doesn’t over describe scenes or characters to the point of boredom.  Instead, his plot focused more on the mystery at hand and I found myself guessing at answers throughout the novel.

The best thing about this novel was how Cunegan was able to describe the gruesome events and dead bodies in ways that weren’t grotesque, but intriguing.  I also enjoyed how he noted that the main character, Jill Anderson, was hardened to the point of not becoming disturbed by gruesome scenes anymore.  I found this aspect of her character to be very real, and I looked up to her for her ability to harden herself against the terrible things that she saw on a regular basis.

Since I am going to school for social work and have worked in the criminal justice system, I related very well to Jill because of everything she has seen and gone through.  I also enjoyed how Cunegan emphasized how victims ARE people and aren’t just subjects in a crime scene.  I think that in our criminal justice system the victims are often lost because of how much focus is put on the criminal, and Cunegan did a brilliant job at emphasizing the importance of victims as people.

With books that cover heavy matter such as Bounty, I often find that either the author doesn’t fully understand what they are writing about, or they know just enough to make it brilliant, and this novel is of the latter.  The writing does not come off as ill-informed, but instead knowledgeable, and I admire Cunegan’s grasp on the scenes and world that he writes about.  I am looking forward to jumping into the sequel, Blood Ties, and reading Cunegan’s brilliant writing again.

This novel, and series, is perfect for those who want a better grasp on the criminal justice system and the truth about murder and victims without the fluff.  Bounty is raw and real, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.  It was a much needed breath of fresh air to read and earned a well deserved 5/5 rating, which is a rating that I don’t give often.

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