Customer Reviews

Just North of Luck

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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At times brutal and rough, the action in Just North of Luck comes in waves of violence against an otherwise serene backdrop. Not for the faint of heart. Mud, blood, and love, Logan Hunter always seems to be in the middle of everything.

I love fast-paced suspense but this was was so fast that (for me) it lacked substance. A lot was happening in this short novel but most of it was glossed over so quickly that I couldn't latch onto the action. Also, the characters were not developed enough for me to get a good feel for them as "people". There was no real mystery in the story, as we knew who the bad guy was pretty much from the start. Because of that, I felt the story needed more depth to keep me involved.

That being said, the author definitely has talent and huge potential. The plot could have been riveting if a little more detail was given.

Just North of Luck

Just North of Luck by Susan Whitfield grabs you by the scruff of the neck and takes you on a harrowing ride from the very beginning. Whitfield's excellent writing skills transport you into a hellish movie from which you cannot close your eyes, even through the most gruesome and scary scenes. Whitfield's skill at "expectation and reversal" will leave you saying "OMG!" at the unexpected ending. Excellent read. Bravo Susan. This second book of the Logan Hunter Mysteries is most definitely a must read.
-Elise Crawford, A Promise KeptA Promise Kept: The Story of One Widowed Bride s Journey through Grief

In Just North Of Luck, the second in the Logan Hunter series, Susan Whitfield's tightly plotted novel will at times make your spine tingle and at others you'll find yourself chucking out loud.

Set in North Carolina's majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, we find Logan Hunter, a new SBI agent has been sent out on her first case alone. But searching the kudzu for the production of illegal moonshine is soon forgotten when she is called teams with Detective Chase Railey to solve a baffling and brutal murder. In the process we see this character grow and reach out to others as some of her background is explored and explained.

If you like tense mysteries with a touch of humor and unexpected twists in the end, I recommend you put the Logan Hunter Series on your reading list.

There are two authors that I've followed by reading all of their sequel novels. One is Patricia Cornwell's Dr. Scarpetta and the other is James Patterson's Alex Cross. I now have another favorite to follow and that is Susan Whitfield's SBI Agent Logan Hunter. In fact, she may now be my #1 choice in sequels due to Whitfield's style of writing. Whitfield adds a twist to murder mysterie making the story more believable. That added twist is humor which makes the stories more realistic.

In Just North of Luck Logan Hunter is assigned to the mountains of North Carolina in search of "Moon Shiners." That assignment is soon put on the back burner when school employees start turning up murdered or have mysterious accidental deaths. Logan is teamed up with Detective Chase Railey to find the killer. You'll follow Logan as she tramples through kudzu, goes to her first Testicle Festival, rents a room from a woman who runs around at night in the nude and connects with a wolf. You will also follow her as she gets her man, or should I say men.

I've read Genesis Beach where Logan was first introduced and loved it. Just North of Luck, which is the 2nd book in the series, was even better. I can't wait to read the 3rd book Hell Swamp.

The persistent voice of the deranged makes the reader urge on Agent Logan Hunter in her pursuit of the serial killer. Whitfield has created a unique supporting cast of Appalachian characters in the true Southern writing tradition. Poor Agent Hunter gets lost and skunked in the North Carolina mountains in this mystery which combines hate and humor.

Quirky characters, humor and an interesting setting lend buoyancy to Just North of Luck, a tale of suspense by Susan Whitfield.

In the story, Whitfield pits her heroine, Logan Hunter, a rookie SBI agent from North Carolina, against the current problems in the character's life as well as the story villain, Haze DeBrew, a sociopath with killer instincts brought on by a life of abuse at the hands of his father.

You'll get a keen sense of place and laugh at some of the character antics.

Bob Avey, author of Twisted Perception

Many scenes in Just North of Luck are loaded with intensity although the book offers enough humor to settle nerves before the next onslaught.

"You're a wuss! Rubbish from the git go. Quit tryin' to squirm away. I ain't turnin' you loose `til I'm done with ya."

The aftereffects of domestic violence manifest themselves in various ways, but its most devastating legacy is the erosion of the self-esteem of its victims. Years and years of abuse, neglect, and mistreatment will surely wary even the strongest of souls, and, without intervention, the vicious cycle inevitably continues from generation to generation.

Such is the case in the remote community of Trust, North Carolina. The typical small, mountain town has its own mores and cultural traditions, and DV is certainly among them. The fact that the problem goes unreported and - ultimately - unresolved, though, contributes more to the town's everyday logistics than most of its residents realize; thus, when a series of grisly murders soon envelops the community in fear, the local folk are understandably shocked and mortified; however, when SBI agent Logan Hunter descends upon the town to assist in the murder investigation, she is taken aback by the community's over-eagerness to keep silent about the matter. With their very lives at stake, most people would be more than willing to share crucial information leading to the apprehension of a perpetrator; in the small town of Trust, though, Logan soon finds that the local folk are just as mysterious - and keep just as many secrets - as the mountains that surround them.

Teaming up with local detective Chase Railey, Logan struggles to make sense of an investigation that drags on for months, and, with each fresh corpse that emerges, the duo quickly realizes that they have less and less time to find the killer before it's too late.

What they don't know, though, is that they'll soon stumble upon an even more sinister, devious scheme framing the town's everyday workings - the reach of which extends all the way back to Chase's own affluent roots...

Many words can describe Just North Of Luck: action-packed, suspenseful, engaging, witty - but it shines most brightly as a tightly-plotted, masterfully scripted story that stands alongside the best and brightest that the mystery/suspense genre has to offer. Highly recommended.