Jane Reads: The Defenseless by Carolyn Arnold

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Defenseless by Carolyn Arnold | Excerpt

The Blurb

The first victim was poisoned. Three others are still missing. One more turns up dead. But there is one connection that ties them all together.

This case has FBI Agent Brandon Fisher and the team in Colorado to stop a serial killer targeting men who beat charges of animal abuse over twenty years ago. With the method of murder changing to match what his victims had allegedly inflicted on the defenseless, the team questions who is on the side of justice — them or the murderer. After all, their unsub is seeking retribution on behalf of the victims who have no voice.

While facing this moral dilemma, Brandon’s loyalty to the bureau is also tested. But Brandon is up for the challenge — anything to get his mind off his pending divorce and the upcoming holiday. Being thousands of miles from home, the forbidden relationship between him and Paige becomes more tempting, but is he willing to risk all that he’s worked for?

The Defenseless by Carolyn Arnold
Series: Brandon Fisher FBI Series, #3
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Police Procedural

Date Published: December 11, 2014

The Excerpt

Chapter 3

His hands shook every time, but someone had to clean up the city. The government certainly wasn’t going to do anything about it. Those who were elected put on a show for glamour and fame with no real purpose. They slept in their million-dollar homes and shut out the ugliness of the world around them. For appearance’s sake, they went to their charity benefits while being too lazy to deal with the issues. The promises made to those who’d voted them into office in the first place were forgotten. It was a disgusting irony that defined politics. The very men who swore to deal with issues, to rectify injustices, sat on the sidelines, more incompetent than most.

This is why he was left to take the power into his own hands and make a difference to society. He brought justice for the Defenseless by condemning their Offender.

It was this reasoning that added justification for his actions. Everyone had a purpose. His was to speak for the victims who have no voice. He was their Advocate.

Placing Simpson’s body on display was a message to the world to let them know crimes against the Defenseless would not be tolerated, and that those who inflicted abuse upon them would be held accountable.

This Offender, his latest captive, would take patience, but that was one thing he had developed over the years. A tempering of knowing when best to strike, and whom.

The Advocate watched his captive through a camera he had placed in the man’s cell. The Offender was extended the same courtesies he had provided his canine companion — a dank corner with an empty food dish and a shitty water bowl. To complete the retribution he put a tight choker around his neck and attached it to a short chain.

For hours, the man had protested his captivity, but now his cries for help had lost conviction. What was once a high-pitched fervor had dulled to a mumbled whisper. Despair and hopelessness were taking over.

The thought made the Advocate smile. He was making a difference. He offered no mercy for these men. The Offenders deserved what was coming their way, and if he was the one destined to exact the punishment, he would see it through. Exacting revenge and punishment on these mongrels had become his driving purpose in life. It was what he was meant to do.

The Author

About Carolyn Arnold

CAROLYN ARNOLD is the bestselling author of the Madison Knight series, the Brandon Fisher series, and the McKinley Mysteries. Her love for writing dates back to her teen years, but her passion was reignited in 2006 when a fellow employee said "tell me a story." Since then Carolyn has never looked back.

Her writing has since been compared to New York Times Bestsellers such as JD Robb, Mary Higgins Clark, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, and more.

Carolyn was born in 1976 in a rural town of Ontario, Canada, and she currently lives with her husband and two beagles in a city near Toronto.