Reviews

Full Reviews

Jill M. Smith for Romantic Times, November 2002:

Ex-FBI Agent Cody O'Brien has way too much experience living in the shadows. When her husband is killed in an arrest gone bad, Cody and her young son Ryan become the targets of a vengeful Russian mobster named Oskar Kirov. Kirov's eldest son Viktor was also killed during the deadly arrest and Oskar has sworn to kill both Cody and Ryan. To protect her son, Cody enters the Witness Protection Program, but when someone in the FBI leaks their location, Kirov's gang comes gunning.

After barely escaping with their lives, Cody and Ryan strike out on their own. For three years now, they have been living a low-key life in Northern California. Their peace is shattered, however, when circumstances place Ryan in the wrong place at the wrong time. Eight-year-old Ryan's best friend is Peter Landon, the son of millionaire entrepeneur Travis Landon. Similar in looks and build, Ryan is kidnapped by individuals who mistake him for Peter.

Cody is frantic, angry and terrified. Fearing at first that Kirov has grabbed Ryan, Cody doesn't take much comfort in discovering that it is a case of mistaken identity. Knowing that any publicity will alert Kirov to their location, Cody desperately tries to handle the search on her own. However, a crusty old retired Marine Colonel refuses to be put off. Walter Turner has known for some time that Cody and Ryan are in hiding. Missing his own estranged grandson, Walter is determined to help in any way he can. With Ryan's life in the balance, Cody will need all the help she can get.

In this story of vengeance, lies and betrayal, Girard does a great job ratcheting up the loneliness and terror felt by her main characters. This is nail-biting suspense at its finest!

Russ Isabella for Deadly Pleasures Magazine, Fall 2002:

Readability: 4.0 Overall Rating: 4.0

One of the best things about reviewing mysteries is that occasionally I'm motivated to read something different. There are so many hardcover books to choose from that I typically don't read paperbacks. For one thing, I tend to think of them as re-publications of hardcovers I've already read or already missed the chance to read (though I know there's a whole world of paperback originals out there). For another, I guess I figure that the publishers know what they're doing when they decide to publish a book only in paper, that the book just isn't good enough to make the cut. Well thank you Danielle Girard for showing me once again that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about!

Cold Silence is good enough to make any cut, and if the paper/hardcover question really is one of quality, then there's no explaining why this one isn't decked in boards.

Cody O'Brien lives quietly with her eight-year-old son, R.J. Cody works in computers, mostly from her home, and R.J. lives the life of a normal kid his age, except that his mother usually won't let him out of her sight unless it's for the purpose of going to school. Because Cody and R.J. are not your typical family. Cody is a former FBI agent whose husband, R.J.'s father, was killed by the Russian mob, the same mob that has vowed to take its revenge on Cody and R.J. for the death of the son of its leader. Cody and R.J. have been failed by the witness protection program, and now Cody has taken matters into her own hands and created an anonymous life for herself and her son. A life that may not be entirely normal, but at least it is relatively safe. As far as she knows....

R.J. begs and pleads with Cody to allow him to spend the night with his best friend, Peter Landon. Cody doesn't want to take the chance, but she also doesn't want to continue to smother R.J. with her overprotective ways. Eventually she relents, with the understanding that Peter's dad, Travis, will pick the two boys up from their private school and that R.J. will call her to let her know when he has arrived at Peter's house. When the evening comes and goes and Cody hasn't heard from R.J., she tries and fails to stifle her concerns and ends up at the Landon home for the purpose of seeing for herself that her son is healthy and alive. And that's when Cody finds out from Peter Landon that during the time between when his father was supposed to pick them up and when he actually got there, R.J. had been picked up by his own father. But of course R.J. doesn't have a father, which signals the onset of Cody's worst nightmare.

Alone, frightened and determined, Cody sets out to figure out what has happened and what she can do about it to bring her son back. Trouble is, she's too isolated to do anything but work alone. She can't go to the police or the FBI because that would require revealing her true identity and she doesn't want to risk that. She can't trust Travis Landon because she doesn't even know the man and has no reason to expect that he can be of any help to her. And she can't trust her neighbor, Colonel Walter Turner, an elderly Marine Corps veteran who had befriended R.J. and who is sensitive enough to the nuances of his surroundings to know that some kind of trouble is brewing for the young woman and her son who live beside him. But Cody will learn that she can't go it alone, either, and will have to make some difficult decisions about who to turn to with her son's life at stake.

Cold Silence is an imaginative, fast-paced and gripping novel. It is a thriller in the true sense of the word--white knuckles, rapidly turning pages and shallow breathing all are built into the package. The writing is crisp and assured, the plot is tight enough, characterizations are wonderful and the tension is off the charts. I found the final action scene to go on just a bit too long to be believable, but there's no telling how much my judgement in this regard may have been affected by my hyperventilation!

Publishers Weekly, Feb. 18, 2002:

In this taut psychological thriller, Girard portrays the effects of child abuse with clarity and honesty, demonstrating how some victims turn into victimizers while others choose to guard the innocent. Samantha Chase, a special agent for the Department of Justice and a former homicide detective, spends her time apprehending child abusers and caring for her orphaned twin nephews. At all times she represses her own traumatic childhood experiences and maintains an aloof distance from her colleagues, friends and family. But when a copycat killer begins targeting women who are connected to Sam through her cases, her life starts to unravel. Her colleagues wonder what she's hiding behind her icy veneer -- could she be a rogue cop? -- and a single-minded police chief who's convinced of her guilt is determined to put her away. Sam's primary ally is her ex-lover, Detective Nick Thomas, but his lingering affection for her may place her life in jeopardy. As Sam and Nick come nearer to uncovering the killer, disturbing secrets about Sam's past and her nephews' bleak childhood come to light. Girard maintains the novel's swift pacing and high tension... this is a compelling thriller and a skillful treatment of a difficult topic.

Toby Bromberg for Romantic Times, March 2002:

Special agent Sam Chase is working on a heartbreaking case. The corpses of two strangled women have been found with eucalyptus leaves behind their ears -- just like the trademark of a serial killer that Sam had discovered years ago, a serial killer who was caught and who could not possibly be at large. Sam just doesn't get it. She doesn't know if she arrested the wrong person or if somehow, the detail of the eucalyptus leaves -- never made public -- has leaked out.

Working with detective Nick Thomas, she feels the pressure building. Nick is sure there has to be another explanation, but it eludes them both. As they get closer and closer to a maddened killer, neither is prepared for the horrible truth that will be revealed.

Although the plot gets boggled with too many details at times, Chasing Darkness is a real thriller, a tantalizing story that packs a punch. Ms. Girard spins a tale that will surprise all.

Barbara Sloane for The Montclarion (Oakland, CA), July 24, 2001:

Ruthless Game is... designed to scare the reader no matter where he/she is. Girard last year published her first book, Savage Art. It was spine-chillingly grisly but completely compelling. Ruthless Game is equally scary.

A prologue set in 1971 takes us inside the mind of a small, blindfolded girl, listening as 11 of her fellow students are killed one by one. Quick shift forward 29 years to Berkeley police officer Alex Kincaid, who finds herself awakening in the early morning, sitting in her car in a strange neighborhood.

Her confusion is heightened when she and her partner Greg Roback are assigned later in the day to check out a possible murder site -- at the same location where Alex had found herself only a few hours earlier. The victim, a local attorney, at first is unfamiliar to Alex, but closer examination of his corpse reveals the face of a man who had attempted to speak to her the day before. Further investigation also discloses that one hand has been cut off, and, more ominously, that one of Alex's gold loop earrings is lying on the floor near the body.

So begins a traumatic period of nightmarish episodes in Alex's life. With the guidance of psychologist Judith Richards, she begins to retrieve long-suppressed memories from her childhood. Greg also helps her cope with the series of intimidating anonymous calls and break-ins at her home. Little by little the suspense builds as Alex feels herself drawn back nearly 30 years to the event which has undermined her self-confidence and shaken her ability to trust others.

Although the reader may finger the perpetrator before Alex does, that knowledge only adds to the sense of impending doom, because this murderer is a conscienceless human being interested only in a ruthless game of fear manipulation. Girard has done it again -- a gripping thriller.

Jill M. Smith for Romantic Times, August 2000:

One year ago, FBI Profiler Casey McKinley found herself at the mercy of the subject of her latest profiling case -- the killer, whop called himself "Leonardo," destroyed Casey's hands an started on her leg before he was interrupted. Her attacker escaped and Casey never saw his face, just heard his voice.

While Casey survived the brutal attack, she was badly damaged, and her life collapsed around her. Her anger, fear and despair drove her husband and 12-year-old daughter to try a separation. Now in San Francisco, Casey lives with a companion and sinks further into depression.

San Francisco Police Inspector Jordan Gray is hunting a vicious child serial killer. Politics make it impossible for him to bring in the FBI, but when he learns Casey's in the city, he asks for her help. At first, Casey wants nothing to do with the case, until she realizes that this serial killer is none other than "Leonardo," who is now attacking children...and has ever intention of finishing his work of "art" on Casey.

New author Danielle Girard makes a very promising debut with this extremely intense and frightening novel. Definitely an author to watch.

Nancy K. Jones for The Bookshelf, Grand Prairie, TX:

Casey McKinley is an agent for the FBI working as a profiler on a very nasty case. All of a sudden she comes home one night and finds herself one of Leonardo's victims. The trauma and the extent of her injuries causes her to turn from the world into one of her own. She is alive, but not altogether thrilled about it. She feels she would have been better off if she hadn't survived. As always when life begins to settle down a little, the nightmare returns. She has no interest whatsoever of doing anything to assist in the capture of this serial killer, but a police officer has come to her for help.

The story is excellent and very well written, you feel like you are there yourself. I couldn't tear myself away. Danielle knows how to write a suspense so you are not just a reader, you are a participant. I am an avid reader, but it takes a lot to get me excited about a book. Danielle has done that. Left awake with visions of her characters, I was sorry to see the book end. The characters were so real to me and the sequence so logical that I felt like I had been through it with them. I loved this book. I hope to see lots more of her writing in the future. The twists and turns of the book are great and the ending is worth waiting for. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense. Great job, Ms. Girard.



			Full Reviews Jill M. Smith for Romantic Times, November 2002: Ex-FBI Agent Cody O'Brien has way too much experience living in the shadows. When her husband is killed in an arrest gone bad, Cody and her young son Ryan become the targets of a vengeful Russian mobster named Oskar Kirov. Kirov's eldest son Viktor was also killed during the deadly arrest and Oskar has sworn to kill both Cody and Ryan. To protect her son, Cody enters the Witness Protection Program, but when someone in the FBI leaks their location, Kirov's gang comes gunning. After barely escaping with their lives, Cody and Ryan strike out on their own. For three years now, they have been living a low-key life in Northern California. Their peace is shattered, however, when circumstances place Ryan in the wrong place at the wrong time. Eight-year-old Ryan's best friend is Peter Landon, the son of millionaire entrepeneur Travis Landon. Similar in looks and build, Ryan is kidnapped by individuals who mistake him for Peter. Cody is frantic, angry and terrified. Fearing at first that Kirov has grabbed Ryan, Cody doesn't take much comfort in discovering that it is a case of mistaken identity. Knowing that any publicity will alert Kirov to their location, Cody desperately tries to handle the search on her own. However, a crusty old retired Marine Colonel refuses to be put off. Walter Turner has known for some time that Cody and Ryan are in hiding. Missing his own estranged grandson, Walter is determined to help in any way he can. With Ryan's life in the balance, Cody will need all the help she can get. In this story of vengeance, lies and betrayal, Girard does a great job ratcheting up the loneliness and terror felt by her main characters. This is nail-biting suspense at its finest! Russ Isabella for Deadly Pleasures Magazine, Fall 2002: Readability: 4.0 Overall Rating: 4.0 One of the best things about reviewing mysteries is that occasionally I'm motivated to read something different. There are so many hardcover books to choose from that I typically don't read paperbacks. For one thing, I tend to think of them as re-publications of hardcovers I've already read or already missed the chance to read (though I know there's a whole world of paperback originals out there). For another, I guess I figure that the publishers know what they're doing when they decide to publish a book only in paper, that the book just isn't good enough to make the cut. Well thank you Danielle Girard for showing me once again that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about! Cold Silence is good enough to make any cut, and if the paper/hardcover question really is one of quality, then there's no explaining why this one isn't decked in boards. Cody O'Brien lives quietly with her eight-year-old son, R.J. Cody works in computers, mostly from her home, and R.J. lives the life of a normal kid his age, except that his mother usually won't let him out of her sight unless it's for the purpose of going to school. Because Cody and R.J. are not your typical family. Cody is a former FBI agent whose husband, R.J.'s father, was killed by the Russian mob, the same mob that has vowed to take its revenge on Cody and R.J. for the death of the son of its leader. Cody and R.J. have been failed by the witness protection program, and now Cody has taken matters into her own hands and created an anonymous life for herself and her son. A life that may not be entirely normal, but at least it is relatively safe. As far as she knows.... R.J. begs and pleads with Cody to allow him to spend the night with his best friend, Peter Landon. Cody doesn't want to take the chance, but she also doesn't want to continue to smother R.J. with her overprotective ways. Eventually she relents, with the understanding that Peter's dad, Travis, will pick the two boys up from their private school and that R.J. will call her to let her know when he has arrived at Peter's house. When the evening comes and goes and Cody hasn't heard from R.J., she tries and fails to stifle her concerns and ends up at the Landon home for the purpose of seeing for herself that her son is healthy and alive. And that's when Cody finds out from Peter Landon that during the time between when his father was supposed to pick them up and when he actually got there, R.J. had been picked up by his own father. But of course R.J. doesn't have a father, which signals the onset of Cody's worst nightmare. Alone, frightened and determined, Cody sets out to figure out what has happened and what she can do about it to bring her son back. Trouble is, she's too isolated to do anything but work alone. She can't go to the police or the FBI because that would require revealing her true identity and she doesn't want to risk that. She can't trust Travis Landon because she doesn't even know the man and has no reason to expect that he can be of any help to her. And she can't trust her neighbor, Colonel Walter Turner, an elderly Marine Corps veteran who had befriended R.J. and who is sensitive enough to the nuances of his surroundings to know that some kind of trouble is brewing for the young woman and her son who live beside him. But Cody will learn that she can't go it alone, either, and will have to make some difficult decisions about who to turn to with her son's life at stake. Cold Silence is an imaginative, fast-paced and gripping novel. It is a thriller in the true sense of the word--white knuckles, rapidly turning pages and shallow breathing all are built into the package. The writing is crisp and assured, the plot is tight enough, characterizations are wonderful and the tension is off the charts. I found the final action scene to go on just a bit too long to be believable, but there's no telling how much my judgement in this regard may have been affected by my hyperventilation! Publishers Weekly, Feb. 18, 2002: In this taut psychological thriller, Girard portrays the effects of child abuse with clarity and honesty, demonstrating how some victims turn into victimizers while others choose to guard the innocent. Samantha Chase, a special agent for the Department of Justice and a former homicide detective, spends her time apprehending child abusers and caring for her orphaned twin nephews. At all times she represses her own traumatic childhood experiences and maintains an aloof distance from her colleagues, friends and family. But when a copycat killer begins targeting women who are connected to Sam through her cases, her life starts to unravel. Her colleagues wonder what she's hiding behind her icy veneer -- could she be a rogue cop? -- and a single-minded police chief who's convinced of her guilt is determined to put her away. Sam's primary ally is her ex-lover, Detective Nick Thomas, but his lingering affection for her may place her life in jeopardy. As Sam and Nick come nearer to uncovering the killer, disturbing secrets about Sam's past and her nephews' bleak childhood come to light. Girard maintains the novel's swift pacing and high tension... this is a compelling thriller and a skillful treatment of a difficult topic. Toby Bromberg for Romantic Times, March 2002: Special agent Sam Chase is working on a heartbreaking case. The corpses of two strangled women have been found with eucalyptus leaves behind their ears -- just like the trademark of a serial killer that Sam had discovered years ago, a serial killer who was caught and who could not possibly be at large. Sam just doesn't get it. She doesn't know if she arrested the wrong person or if somehow, the detail of the eucalyptus leaves -- never made public -- has leaked out. Working with detective Nick Thomas, she feels the pressure building. Nick is sure there has to be another explanation, but it eludes them both. As they get closer and closer to a maddened killer, neither is prepared for the horrible truth that will be revealed. Although the plot gets boggled with too many details at times, Chasing Darkness is a real thriller, a tantalizing story that packs a punch. Ms. Girard spins a tale that will surprise all. Barbara Sloane for The Montclarion (Oakland, CA), July 24, 2001: Ruthless Game is... designed to scare the reader no matter where he/she is. Girard last year published her first book, Savage Art. It was spine-chillingly grisly but completely compelling. Ruthless Game is equally scary. A prologue set in 1971 takes us inside the mind of a small, blindfolded girl, listening as 11 of her fellow students are killed one by one. Quick shift forward 29 years to Berkeley police officer Alex Kincaid, who finds herself awakening in the early morning, sitting in her car in a strange neighborhood. Her confusion is heightened when she and her partner Greg Roback are assigned later in the day to check out a possible murder site -- at the same location where Alex had found herself only a few hours earlier. The victim, a local attorney, at first is unfamiliar to Alex, but closer examination of his corpse reveals the face of a man who had attempted to speak to her the day before. Further investigation also discloses that one hand has been cut off, and, more ominously, that one of Alex's gold loop earrings is lying on the floor near the body. So begins a traumatic period of nightmarish episodes in Alex's life. With the guidance of psychologist Judith Richards, she begins to retrieve long-suppressed memories from her childhood. Greg also helps her cope with the series of intimidating anonymous calls and break-ins at her home. Little by little the suspense builds as Alex feels herself drawn back nearly 30 years to the event which has undermined her self-confidence and shaken her ability to trust others. Although the reader may finger the perpetrator before Alex does, that knowledge only adds to the sense of impending doom, because this murderer is a conscienceless human being interested only in a ruthless game of fear manipulation. Girard has done it again -- a gripping thriller. Jill M. Smith for Romantic Times, August 2000: One year ago, FBI Profiler Casey McKinley found herself at the mercy of the subject of her latest profiling case -- the killer, whop called himself "Leonardo," destroyed Casey's hands an started on her leg before he was interrupted. Her attacker escaped and Casey never saw his face, just heard his voice. While Casey survived the brutal attack, she was badly damaged, and her life collapsed around her. Her anger, fear and despair drove her husband and 12-year-old daughter to try a separation. Now in San Francisco, Casey lives with a companion and sinks further into depression. San Francisco Police Inspector Jordan Gray is hunting a vicious child serial killer. Politics make it impossible for him to bring in the FBI, but when he learns Casey's in the city, he asks for her help. At first, Casey wants nothing to do with the case, until she realizes that this serial killer is none other than "Leonardo," who is now attacking children...and has ever intention of finishing his work of "art" on Casey. New author Danielle Girard makes a very promising debut with this extremely intense and frightening novel. Definitely an author to watch. Nancy K. Jones for The Bookshelf, Grand Prairie, TX: Casey McKinley is an agent for the FBI working as a profiler on a very nasty case. All of a sudden she comes home one night and finds herself one of Leonardo's victims. The trauma and the extent of her injuries causes her to turn from the world into one of her own. She is alive, but not altogether thrilled about it. She feels she would have been better off if she hadn't survived. As always when life begins to settle down a little, the nightmare returns. She has no interest whatsoever of doing anything to assist in the capture of this serial killer, but a police officer has come to her for help. The story is excellent and very well written, you feel like you are there yourself. I couldn't tear myself away. Danielle knows how to write a suspense so you are not just a reader, you are a participant. I am an avid reader, but it takes a lot to get me excited about a book. Danielle has done that. Left awake with visions of her characters, I was sorry to see the book end. The characters were so real to me and the sequence so logical that I felt like I had been through it with them. I loved this book. I hope to see lots more of her writing in the future. The twists and turns of the book are great and the ending is worth waiting for. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense. Great job, Ms. Girard.
			© Danielle Girard, 1999-2006