5-STAR REVIEW: THE CRUSHING by Kerry Peresta

Olivia Callahan Suspense: Book 4
Publication Date: October 15, 2024

The victim of a vicious assault six years ago that resulted in a traumatic brain injury, Olivia Callahan is now a private investigator with her own firm. The assault that almost took her life resulted in a spectacular metamorphosis. No longer the shy, passive introvert she once was, she’s become a driving and determined force. However, the lack of impulse control caused by her rewired brain causes her to run toward trouble instead of away from it.

When Olivia sends her colleague, Sherry, to the Florida panhandle to find a missing friend, Hannah; the search takes Sherry into the dark heart of an abusive, hostage situation. The man Hannah married is cruel, dangerous, and well-connected. Olivia reels in her favorite cop—Sergeant Hunter Faraday—for a discreet assist, and it soon becomes clear that Hannah’s new husband is adept at waging war against anything that blocks his way.

While rescuing Hannah is Olivia’s primary goal, her incarcerated ex-husband has other plans. He’s collected friends who support his obsessive need to punish her for her role in his murder conviction, and a time bomb is ticking.

As Olivia and Sherry battle to save Hannah, try to neutralize the fiendish plan of an ex bent on revenge, and endure a terrifying race for their lives through the Florida wetlands; a final betrayal waits patiently in the dark. Smiling.

Olivia Callahan has turned her life around since being the victim of a terrible attack and operates her own private investigator business.

Author Kerry Peresta delivers the fourth installment of the series featuring Olivia in The Crushing. Although it can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the books in sequence. Olivia’s character growth is significant as the series progresses.

She and her friends suspect something has happened to a fellow friend who abruptly got married and moved to Florida without introducing her new husband to them. Sherry, the firm’s newest PI, is ready to test her skills and offers to check on Hannah.

What ensues is a suspenseful set of events packed with danger. As with previous installments, Olivia’s past rises to haunt her at the most inopportune times. Sgt. Hunter Faraday once again comes to the rescue. The psychological suspense meter is off the charts for the unexpected twists.

The Crushing delivers another action-packed thriller featuring Olivia Callahan and her quest to escape the past.

 c

Kerry Peresta is a suspense novelist, and her releases include The Deadening, The Rising, The Torching, and The Crushing, books one-four in the Olivia Callahan Suspense series; and Back Before Dawn, a standalone thriller, all published by Level Best Books Publishing. Her magazine articles have appeared in Hilton Head’s Local Life Magazine, The Bluffton Breeze, Lady Lowcountry, and Island Events Magazine. She spent twenty-five years in advertising as an account manager, creative director, editor, and copywriter. She is past chapter president of the Maryland Writers’ Association and a current member and presenter of Hilton Head Island Writers’ Network, South Carolina Writers Association,, Pat Conroy Literary Center, International Thriller Writers, and the Sisters in Crime organization. Kerry is the mother of four adult kids, a flock of grandkids, and three cats. She and her husband moved to Hilton Head Island in 2015.

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