Rising Danger

Rising Danger by Jerusha Agen is a Christian romantic suspense novel set in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the surrounding suburbs. It’s the first book in the Guardians Unleased series. When someone plants explosives on dams in the Twin Cities, Phoenix K-9 Security and Detection Agency is called in to help.

Bristol Bachmann and her K-9 partner Toby are assigned to help with explosive detection. The dams’ safety supervisor, Remington Jones, turns out to be Bristol’s ex-boyfriend from six years ago. An environmental terrorist wants the dams gone and is determined to not let anyone or anything stop his freeing of the river.

Bristol is dedicated to ensuring no one gets hurt, but her past with Hurricane Katrina has made her one that doesn’t like surprises and always wants things controlled. She doesn’t forgive others easily and can seem vexatious and angry at times when others fail to live up to her expectations. Remington made mistakes in his past and is still paying for them with his family and with Bristol. However, he has turned his life around, if only they could recognize it. He seems to need approval from others that he isn’t getting. They both have a depth of character that makes it easy to like them, but also feel their frustrations. The other characters have a variety of depths and hopefully, several of them will be featured in future books in the series. Toby and the other K-9 partners are a highlight in the book.

This debut novel combines a second-chance romance with suspense, action, hope, family, faith, friendship, courage, honesty, and integrity. The feeling of danger is relatively high throughout most of the novel. The writing flowed well and the stakes were high throughout the story. While there weren’t a lot of surprises, there was enough conflict to keep things interesting and the suspense is built as the investigation evolves, searches for bombs are underway, and discoveries are made. The world-building was good and readers can easily envision Bristol, Toby, and Rem seeking explosives in and around the dams. Some additional themes involve public opinion and perception versus reality and how that can affect lives. Additionally, there are consequences to actions that may not be anticipated.

Overall, this was intriguing and full of tension with compelling characters that kept me turning the pages. With a fascinating story, it kept me fully engaged in learning who the terrorist was and whether or not the dams would survive. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author. Readers who enjoy Christian romantic suspense will likely enjoy this novel.

This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date was May 25, 2021.