Fatal Secrets Review

Sonia Knight knows the true horror of human trafficking and that the statistics of escaping and making it out alive aren’t that good. But Sonia is a survivor and instead of obsessing over the sad circumstances she was put through, she decided to help others. Sonia works as a senior agent for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. She works tirelessly to help rescue victims of human trafficking and to put the people who profit off of them behind bars.

While working a case, the FBI ends up having to join forces with ICE since they’re both investigating the same criminal, Xavier Jones. Agent Dean Hooper works side by side with Sonia Knight to uncover who is kidnapping these women and forcing them into being sex slaves. As they get closer to uncovering the truth, Sonia’s former superior, Charlie, is one step ahead of them. He holds the answers to their case but Sonia isn’t sure she can trust him after what he did to her in the past. Will Sonia take a chance and put her trust in Charlie or will trusting the wrong person put everyone in danger and cost them their lives?

Fatal Secrets is the second book in the Sacramento FBI Trilogy by romantic suspense author Allison Brennan. The story starts off with a brutal rape scene that might put a lot of people off from reading this book, as it initially did for me. However, after the prologue there really aren’t anymore scenes like that which I was happy about. Sonia Knight is on the hunt for the men who run a sex trafficking ring and the story consists of her trying to hunt them down, and finding love along the way. There is a ton of suspense, action, and mystery to this story. At 428 pages, Fatal Secrets is a rather long book but the writing makes everything move along at a fast pace.

Even though this is the second book in a trilogy, the books are stand alone stories and can be read individually without having read the others. Brennan writes strong female characters that overcome all obstacles put in their way and that is what I love about her books. I normally would never want to read a book about sex trafficking as it’s a scary subject and not one I’d like to read about. But Brennan found a way to get her message across without completely horrifying the reader with too many details. The topic is real and it is happening all over the world. I commend her for taking this on as it is a hard subject to write about.

I have been a huge fan of Brennan’s books for some time and found this book to be exceptionally written and very thrilling. Please be advised that even though this book is romantic suspense, the romance is minimal in Brennan’s novels. I think it would be better classified as a thriller as it is not a light hearted book at all with a lot of scary moments. Overall, I enjoyed reading Fatal Secrets and have never disliked any of Brennan’s books as she never disappoints. I highly recommend this book to thriller readers who enjoy a tightly plotted story that will keep them guessing until the end.


Reviewed for Night Owl Romance