Simply Angela : The A List by J.A. Jance

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

The A List by J.A. Jance

More than ten years after the abrupt end of her high-profile broadcasting career, Ali Reynolds has made a good life for herself in her hometown of Sedona, Arizona. She has a new house, a new husband, and a flourishing cybersecurity company called High Noon Enterprises, where her team of veritable technological wizards hunts down criminals one case at a time.

But the death of an old friend brings Ali back to the last story she ever reported: a feel-good human interest piece about a young man in need of a kidney to save his life, which quickly spiraled into a medical mismanagement scandal that landed a prestigious local doctor in prison for murder.

Years may have passed, but Dr. Edward Gilchrist has not forgotten those responsible for his downfall—certainly not Ali Reynolds, who exposed his dirty deeds to the world. Life without parole won’t stop him from getting his revenge. Tattooed on his arm are the initials of those who put him behind bars, and he won’t stop until every person on that Annihilation List is dead.

Series: Ali Reynolds #14 | Publisher: Gallery Books | Release Date: April 2, 2019| Genre: | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3.5 Cups

This one was a bit different from what I was expecting. I went in thinking this was going to be a straight up mystery and it ended up being a suspense/thriller and I’m not mad about it.

When Ali Reynolds helped expose a fraudulent fertility doctor who impregnated clients with his own sperm, she never expected to end up on his hit list ten years later. With the help of his mother and another inmate, Dr. Edward Gilchrist is on a mission rid the world of those who brought him down. As his list gets shorter, Ali and her team of techies soon realize she’s next on the dirty Doctor’s Annihilation List.

I’m not going to delve too deep into this one as I don’t want to give too much away because it’s one of those books you need to start fresh going in.

There’s a lot going on in this one and, at times, it felt a little congested as there was so much backstory needed to move forward. Although I didn’t mind seeing as the events of the past was what put the present events into motion. Without the backstory, this one would have fallen flat.

This is my first time reading a full-length Ali Reynolds Mystery (I read a novella years ago but can’t recall much of it) and since it’s the fourteenth book in the series, I was a bit worried I would struggle with the characters. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. While I would like to know more about Ali and her circle, I still feel as though I was able to get a nice sense of who they are.

I found the suspense/thriller aspect of this one to be riveting as we see the events playing out on the page as they happen. We get to see the origin, the thoughts of the characters, and the way it’s carried out and I found that to be an interesting take.

Overall, if you’re looking for a different take on a suspense/thriller then you’ll enjoy this one. There’s a lot of characters to keep up with but it’s well worth the read.