5-STAR REVIEW: ALL THE BROKEN GIRLS by Linda Hurtado Bond

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About The Book

Publication Date: August 23, 2022

When one falls

Crime reporter Mari Alvarez was never able to solve her mother’s murder ten years ago. But when a woman is gunned down on the doorstep of her West Tampa neighborhood, Mari can’t shake the eerie sense of connection.

The others will break

Now there have been two murders in two days. Each crime scene awash with arcane clues―and without a trace of DNA from the killer. And for each victim, a doll. The first is missing an eye. The second is missing a heart. But are these clues leading to the killer…or messages for Mari?

Unless she plays the game…

Caught up in a maelstrom of Old-World superstition, secrets, and ties to her own past, Mari has only one option. Put the puzzle together before someone else dies―even if it destroys her career. But there’s no escaping the hungry spider’s web when it’s been made just for you…

Excerpt

The Review

Television crime reporter Mari Alvarez is on thin ice with her career after an explosive story resulted in her station getting sued. Regulated to reporting on puff pieces like a new baby sloth, Mari can’t help getting involved when a woman is murdered. With All the Broken Girls, author Linda Hurtado Bond delivers a pulse-pounding thriller.

For Mari, the case reminds her of her mother’s unsolved murder. When additional bodies are found, and clues seem to send a direct message to Mari, she must form a partnership with Detective Antonio Garcia and navigate old-school Cuban beliefs, including connections to Santeria.

The push/pull relationship between Mari and Detective Garcia is intense. Not only is there a natural sense of mistrust because Mari is a reporter, but the case requires Garcia to rely on evidence that is out of the ordinary. Both characters are strong and intensely protective of their families, which is demonstrated when the serial killer targets Mari’s sister.

Mari’s determination to seek closure for those impacted by the current murders is fueled by a decade of not having answers regarding her mother’s murder. She races to put the pieces together and discovers an unexpected culprit. As an interesting twist, the author leaves a cliffhanger behind, indicating a trip to Cuba is in the works as a way to seek justice in her mother’s case.

All the Broken Girls delivers a high level of suspense with a fascinating storyline. Mari steals the spotlight as a disgraced television reporter determined to comfort the motherless teenagers…something she never received after her own mother’s murder.

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About The Author By day, Linda Hurtado Bond is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist. By night, she’s an author of James Bond like adventures and heart-stopping thrillers. Linda met her husband Jorge on assignment in Cuba, twenty-some years later they’ve raised a doctor, a nurse, a pilot, a paramedic firefighter, and an aspiring psychologist. A breast cancer survivor, she’s active in the Tampa community raising money and awareness. When not working she finds time for her passions, her husband Jorge, world travel, classic movies, and solving a good mystery.