REVIEW: The Body Market (+$20 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: The Body Market

Author: DV Berkom

Series: Leine Basso #3

Pages: 304

Date Published: January 8th 2015

Publisher: Duct Tape Press

Format: Paperback

Genre: Thriller

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:
A retired assassin is called in when a celebration south of the border turns into a nightmare.

Former assassin Leine Basso is hired by a wealthy Beverly Hills power couple to find their missing daughter, Elise, last seen partying with her boyfriend at a club in Tijuana. At first, police believe the two teenagers are the victims of a carjacking. But when Leine finds their missing vehicle with the boyfriend’s mutilated body inside, and the local cartel warns her away, she knows if Elise isn’t already dead, she will be soon, or worse.

In the lethal world of organized crime, there’s always a worse.

As Leine races to uncover the reason behind Elise Bennett’s disappearance, she must also battle the powerful interests fighting to keep her from the truth.

~My Thoughts~

One of the reasons that I tend to stay away from crime fiction and thrillers, is because they are an entirely male dominated, and more often than not,sexist view of the world. I know...bold statement. I feel that when it comes to that genre, I've seen every kind of female cut-out character and just get sick of it: Sexy secretary, humble mother, jaded whore/prostitute,etc. None of these women seem to have any lives outside of the typecast they've been relegated to, and that sickens me. Which is why I was enormously excited to get a chance to read about Leine Basso. She's the heroin I've never been able to find in the world of the commercial thriller. She's got serious gall and is smart without being unbelievably so. I loved her so much that I think I just found my new favorite character (at least for this year!) This thriller never stops as we navigate the dark, twisted worlds of human sex trafficking. 

I've never read the previous Leine Basso Thrillers, but I've been so intrigued by the character that I now want to go back to see where it all began. Even not knowing what this character has been like in the previous two books, I felt like a lot of development and changes have happened to her over the course of the series. She seems very strong, but also very affected by what she's seen and done. Leine is someone you want to explore again and again, as well as her relationship with Santa (No really...that's the name of the love interest). Christmas-themed names aside, they have a lot of layers to their relationship and I can't wait to see how far that particular rabbit hole goes. 

The plot for The Body Market was gripping and exciting. There was tension around every bend and I enjoyed following along. At times I felt as though I could guess what was happening, but that was okay because I wasn't able to figure out the real climax and that was thrilling and exciting! I don't want to say more because of spoilers, but this was a great read!

~Try an Excerpt!~

Leine walked out of the Gypsy and into the warm evening air, thinking about what Guillermo had said. Obviously, Josh had caught up with Elise and talked her into going with him to the party. What Leine didn’t know was the part the Russian played in their disappearances. It was possible he had nothing to do with it. It could have been a cartel kidnapping.

The noise on the street had increased and the growing energy was palpable. Leine stood on the busy sidewalk watching the human carnival drift by, absorbing the place. Normally, she would have changed her appearance in order to blend with her surroundings, but the trip had been unexpected and she hadn’t felt the need. She would have liked to have been a bit more anonymous. As it was, people glanced at her as they passed but didn’t engage.

Worked for her.

Not wanting to attract attention, she headed back to the secure parking lot and her rental. Lou had made hotel reservations a few miles out of town at a place called the Vista Inn, which wasn’t far from the abandoned housing development where they’d found Josh’s phone. An early night followed by an early start meant better odds of being home in time for dinner.

But first she wanted to connect with the DEA agent Santa had told her about, Bob Herrera. If the Russian had been hanging out for any period of time, he’d more than likely heard of him.

She kept to the shadows and moved along the back streets before cutting between buildings to reach the parking lot. No guard greeted her at the entrance. As she approached her rental a prickle of awareness tracked up her spine.

Someone was watching her.

~Meet DV Berkom!~

DV Berkom is a slave to the voices in her head. As the author of two popular thriller series (Leine Basso and Kate Jones), her love of creating resilient, kick-*ss female characters stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, mysteries, and thrillers, and longing to find the female equivalent within those pages. 


Raised in the Midwest, she received her BA in political science from the University of Minnesota and promptly moved to Mexico to live on a sailboat. Many, many cross-country moves later, she now lives near Seattle, Washington with the love of her life, Mark, a chef-turned-contractor, and several imaginary characters who love to tell her what to do.

DV Berkom will be awarding a $20 Amazon or BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $20 Amazon or BN GC to a randomly drawn host. 

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