Customer Reviews

Ricochet

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Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (3/07)

This book had me hooked from the very first sentence. P.M. Terrell is a master storyteller. In "Ricochet" the author uses her real-life experience in computers and software to weave a diabolical story including terrorism, murder, espionage and illegal immigration. It is fast moving from the very beginning to the end.

The story begins when Sheila Carpenter is in the wrong place at the wrong time. She and her "shopaholic" best friend, Margaret, decide to go the mall the day before Sheila is due to start the FBI academy. While they are waiting for food, Sheila notices a person acting and dressing strangely right before everything goes black in a huge explosion. When Sheila comes to, she finds she is buried in the rubble and having trouble breathing due to the fire. After she is rescued, she seems to be relatively uninjured but quickly finds out that Margaret did not fare so well and is in a coma. Unfortunately for Sheila, a reporter catches her and she tells the reporter that she will never forget what the face of the terrorist looks like. This begins a chain of bizarre events that will put Sheila's life in danger.

Looking for comfort, Sheila, feeling out of sorts by the strange events that are unfolding, goes through a box of pictures that her Great Aunt Jo put together for her after her parents untimely death two years before. She begins to see some pictures that she does not recognize and on the back of one them her mom had written "the beginning of the trail." Sheila begins to realize that her parents' accidental death may not have been that at all.

As Sheila and her FBI instructor, Steve Moran, work with the FBI to solve what has happened; it all begins to tie back to her mother's trail and trip that she had taken shortly before her death. Sheila has to solve the case before the people that are trying to kill her catch up with her or more lives are taken through another terrorist attack. The story leads us directly into the world of illegal aliens, some honest, hard-working people just trying to find a better life here and some not.

"Ricochet" is a great book from beginning to end. I highly recommend it for people who enjoy fast action, suspense and mystery. I look forward to reading more books by this acclaimed author.

Book received free of charge.

What happens when you're at the wrong place, at the wrong time? Murder, mayhem, and a trail that is so full of high-voltage action there's no time to catch your breath. Ride with Shelia Carpenter, FBI Academy student, and her mentor, Steve Moran, as they ricochet from State to State uncovering America's worst nightmare; one of murder, identity theft, and terrorism.

Shelia, the sole witness to attempted mass murder, accidentally discovers a cryptic note left by her Mother and against all odds, begins to unravel the complex story of what really caused her parents death never suspecting that ultimately, all would lead back to this trail of terrorism. Stay with Shelia as her final test becomes ... to stay alive.
---Georgia Richardson,<a href="http://www.queenjawjaw.com" target="_blank">Queen Jaw Jaw</a>

A griping and suspenseful story with a no-nonsense protagonist that sometimes bites off more than she can chew. With the back-up of her fellow FBI agent and Quantico teacher, her trail leads them to illegal trafficking for contraband and people, terrorist plots and more thrilling discoveries about her parents untimely and unusual deaths. Strap yourself in for a wild ride.

We've all, at some point in our life, set a goal to do the best we can. For those in law enforcement protecting others and our country is number one, while calling attention to themselves is their least intention. For Ricochet's heroine, Sheila Carpenter, on the brink of her training for the FBI, just making it thru the day alive is taking quite a bit of intention.

During an innocent shopping trip, Sheila soon finds herself at the wrong place at the wrong time. Terrell gives us a well researched description of what it's like to find oneself in the aftermath of an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber. And when a cryptic note is later found stating, "the beginning of the trail" Sheila realizes that her wits and her computer-savvy are the only thing between her and the terrorists.

While a well trained force of side characters help her, we get a peek at life at the academy, where we begin to understand what goes into tracking those that intend to do harm on our soil.

With page turning action, a slight scent of romance and an overview of the role immigrants play in our society, Ricochet once again shows Terrell's tenacious handling of touchy subjects.

You'll be halfway through P.M. Terrell's Ricochet before you know it, deeply entrenched in Shelia Carpenter's world. The story explodes quickly and quite literally when a bomb in a mall food court leaves Sheila's best friend seriously injured. Shelia herself is due to start the FBI Academy the next day, and she does, only to be intrigued by a roommate's dark secret before being drawn down the trail of a mystery involving the death of her parents. She teeters between her past and present, struggling to understand the intricacies of both--all while trying to elude death by determined killers. If you like mysteries jam-packed with action, you'll love Ricochet.

"Ricochet" is yet another jewel in the crown of one of the best mystery/suspense novelists I have the pleasure to know. Terrell's third book is proof positive that we get better and better when we want to in this business. Her finely crafted story is full of intrigue and interest - it's a very tough book to put down once you've picked it up. This is truly my kind of read.....plot interest, great characters, more than enough to capture the imagination of even the toughest critic. Did I say critic? I don't think anyone who reads this book will be critical - they will just say "when's the next one coming??"

Highly recommended read.

Written by a computer consulting specialist whose clients have included the U.S. Secret Service, CIA, and Department of Defense, Ricochet is a suspenseful novel of terrorist infiltration, sleeper cells, illegal immigration, and an FBI agent hot on the trail of her parents' killers. A fearsome and at times explosively violent story of stolen and misused identities and edge-of-one's seat intensity, Ricochet keeps the reader hooked right up to the fearsome finale. Also highly recommended are Terrell's previous novels, "Kickback" and "The China Conspiracy".

Like a projectile out of control FBI Special Agent Sheila Carpenter retraces her mother's steps as she is determined to solve the mystery of her parent's death. While attending the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Sheila finds clues that cause her to think her parents may have been murdered, not accidentally dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Her determination to follow these clues while tracing the last days of her mother's life bring to light an illegal immigration ring, a terrorist plot, and a surprise breathless ending.

Before being sworn as an FBI agent, Sheila witnesses a terrorist suicide bombing, in a shopping mall food court that sends her best friend to the hospital in a coma fighting for her life.

Television coverage of the bombing includes a brief interview with Sheila in which she reveals she will recognize the bomber and will personally track him down. Her life is now in jeopardy as the terrorist makes several attempts on her life.

Sheila's computer expertise and fluency in the Spanish language make her a valuable asset to the FBI in bringing the case to closure.

Terrell does not waste words in this masterfully written novel of conflict, intrigue, adventure and romance. This fast paced novel is hard to put down. It is a book that begs for more of P.M. Terrell. This is my first Terrell novel and I am eager to read her earlier books as well as more of Sheila Carpenter's adventures.

It is required reading for my ap english 3 class. The only reason my class is reading it is because it mention the town were in in North Carolina. I liked this book when I first started reading it because it put you right into the story, but after the first couple of chapters I didn't like it anymore because I think it is trying to be a thriller, but isn't a very good one. It's a very fast read and isn't boring. The end was fitting, but very predictable.

thank you for your time,
Loran