Sometimes we are too emotionally connected to a situation to see clearly all the details involved in making a wise decision, whereas someone detached from the drama is likely to be able to show more objectivity. Although we may wish that someone else would step in to make tough decisions for us, the final decision remains ours to make. That is exactly what the main character, Julie Collins does in Hallowed Ground.

Julie is a former dispatcher for the sheriff’s office in a small county of Bear Butte. After a turn of events, she is now a partner in a PI company with one of her best friends, Kevin Wells. Now that Kevin is having to deal with his own issues of taking care of his dying girlfriend, Julie has been left pretty much on her own to make decisions on the cases they have coming in. When Tony Martinez walks in with a simple case of finding a missing child, Julie sees a chance to finally prove to everyone that she can do the job on her own.

Tony Martinez may be the one that hired Julie, but he is also the leader of the Hombres, the local biker gang that pushes the law to the limit and beyond, but nothing has ever been proven to support that fact. However, neither Julie nor Tony can deny the attraction between them. Can Julie push all that aside to focus on the case at hand or will the attraction finally be too much for them to resist?

When the child’s father is shot and dead bodies start showing up, the job may be too much for not only Julie but anyone. Julie runs across information that an east coast crime family, a local biker gang, and the Lakota Holy group are all connected in one way or the other in all the events that are starting to close in around her and her case. Can Julie do the one thing she was hired to do, find the child or will it be to late for them all?

Hallowed Ground is a book that will keep you interested from page one; all the twist and turns will have you on the edge of your seat. Ms. Armstrong has also written "Blood Ties", which is the first of this series, but Hallowed Ground can also be read as a stand alone. This is one of the best mysteries I have to say I have read in a while. Ms. Armstrong will definitely go on top of my list of authors to watch out for in the future.

Reviewed By: Tammy Adams
December 2006