This is a book that grew on me the more I read it. It is written by L J Sellers, who wrote the Detective Wade Jackson Series - which I have enjoyed a lot. The book is short on description and in-depth characterisation, but does have plenty of action and builds up good pace the further you get into the book. It does build to a good crescendo at the end of the book. I look forward to continuing with this series to see if it continues to grow on me. ( )

THE TRIGGER is the first book in the Agent Jamie Dallas series by L.J. Sellers. I enjoyed reading it and give it a three star rating.

This book investigates the disappearance of a woman, the wife of one of the two co-founders of an "end of the world as we know it" group, and her baby. The group is living commune style as they stockpile supplies and learn to become self-sufficient in preparation for civilization's imminent collapse from global warming and all of the other ills humanity is inflicting on each other and the planet. Dallas is sent undercover to infiltrate the group in an attempt to find out what happened to the missing woman and her child. During the investigation, she discovers that this is not just a missing persons case. There are even more nefarious and potentially catastrophic actions afoot!

The book was fast paced, interesting and had several good plot twists. I liked Agent Dallas even though I occasionally wanted to strangle her for several of her character defects. Didn't they teach her to wait for backup? And what's with all the relationship self-sabotage?

While overall I enjoyed reading the book, there were several points that stretched my credibility a little bit too far. But mostly what kept this from being a four or five star rating was the ending. I felt frustrated because there were too many unanswered questions for me. That said, I still enjoyed the book and will try the next book in the series. ( )

This book was being offered as a member giveaway, but was cancelled before I could request it. The author's comment that they loved writing this character spoke to me, since I have a character I'm developing that I like too. This prompted me to purchase the novel on Amazon and it was worth the money. The character was jump off the page real and intensely engrossing. This would be a five star book if the plot had been more intense. I will look for more from this author. ( )

I enjoyed this Agent Dallas kickoff, and I look forward to more books in this series. A fast-paced, fun read. ( )

The Trigger by L.J. Sellers is a 2014 Spellbinder publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Special agent Jaime Dallas is beyond ready for some field work. Finally she gets the call to infiltrate a group of enviromental fanatics because one the leaders of the group, Randall Clayton, is a suspect in his wife, Emma's disappearance. Even more troubling is their young son is also missing and their car is found wrecked and abandoned. Emma's father is beside himself with worry. The other leader of the group, Randall's brother, Spencer is tending to his terminally ill wife. Spencer knows she has only days left to live and he still wants to have a family, so when SA Dallas applies to join their group and he sees she has a little money, something the group is in dire need of, and she bears a striking resemblence to his wife, Spencer begins to rush her application through in record time. Once inside the compound, Dallas begins to believe that Emma and her son may not be dead, but are being held hostage on the premises. But, time is of the essense because the brothers have a plan in motion to bring down the nation's economy.
This is a spin off , if you will, from another of Sellers' series in which SA Dallas made an appearance. Dallas is a complicated character that has a sad past that shaped who she became as an adult and ironically helps her do her job quite well. Dallas is very adept at pulling off deceptions . If not for the extreme incompetance of other law enforcement officials and the over the top paranoia of Randall Clayton, Dallas would have had zero problems with Spencer Clayton. But, the situation gets out of hand in a hurry. Dallas will have to think fast on her feet in order to find Randall's wife and child and prevent the economic disaster the Clayton's are planning to trigger.
In the background, Dallas's partner is working on a related case that involves the discovery of a woman found dead in a body of water that may have also had connections with the extremist group.
The characters in the book are quite believable since in real life we have seen these groups crop up and get media attention and the FBI is usually involved in trying to determine how serious they are and if they are threat. Randall has some mental issues that were alluded to making him take things more seriously and go beyond the norm to achieve thier goals. Spencer is trying to pull of their plans without actually causing a major showdown with the authorities. Both brothers are certain that something terrible is on the horizon due to global warming and other environmental issues. They have smart, computer literate people helping them to hack into computers to force an economic disaster. All of this is quite plausible.
As to Special Agent Dallas, she is an interesting character who would rather keep her relationships on the short term and even diliberately sabotages them so she can continue to live life on the edge. She has a therapist who tries to understand her need to walk on the wild side of life. So far, he doesn't seem to have a clue as to what kind of treatment this woman needs. The conversations she has with the shrink are sort of funny. She seems to be comforting him and not the other way around.
Overall this is a really great start to a new series and I am very interested in seeing how Jamie Dallas's personality will develop and how she will use her unique talent to save the world. This one gets an A. ( )