Format: Mass Market, 432 pages
Release Date: December 30, 2014
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense / Mystery
The first in New York Times bestseller Allison Brennan's thrilling new series featuring investigative reporter Max Revere
Maxine Revere, a nationally renowned investigative reporter with her own
TV show and a tough-as-nails reputation, tackles cold cases from across
the country. But the one murder that still haunts her is a case from
her own past.
When Max was in high school, one of her best
friends was strangled and another, Kevin O'Neal, accused of the crime.
Max stood by Kevin, until she found out he lied about his alibi. Though
his guilt was never proven, their relationship crumbled.
Now
Kevin has committed suicide, and Max is home for his funeral. But
Kevin's sister insists that he didn't kill himself. Max isn't interested
in digging around Kevin's troubled life, but she agrees to. And she
soon finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies that hit far too
close to home.
Allison Brennan's Notorious is the first installment in the authors Max Revere series. Maxine (Max) Revere is a freelance investigative journalist who has her own True Crime Show. Max is inspired by the disappearance and presumed murder of her college roommate years ago during Spring break. She travels the country to investigate cases of missing persons or unsolved murders and shed light on them. In this episode, Max returns home to Atherton, California for the first time in years.
The occasion is the funeral of her estranged friend Kevin O’Neal who committed suicide. Back in high school, Kevin was a close friend to Max. When he was accused of killing her best friend, Lindy Ames, Max defended him against everyone else, even her family. But Max also found out that he lied to her which caused a permanent end to their friendship. Kevin was never able to recover from the stigma of being accused of Lindy's murder, so he'd drank and drugged himself into oblivion in the ensuing years.
But he'd also been doing some digging into the murder when the police wouldn't do anymore, but not before leaving scattered breadcrumbs for Max to follow. An investigation that puts Max at odds with the original detective on the case. Max promises the sister of her late best friend, Jodi O'Neal, that she will look into his suicide death, because something just does not sit right, there is more to the story and she is determined to get to the bottom of it, no matter who or what tries to get in her way.
As Max explores, she’s drawn back into the mystery of who killed her best friend, Lindy Ames, in their senior year of high school, which deepens the wedge between her and her family. But that's not the only thing that she has on her plate At the airport, an elderly couple approaches her and asks if she would look into the murder of their grandson, Jason Hoffman, who was killed on the campus of her high school Alma mater, Atherton Prep.
She agrees to do so solely because of where he was killed. While Max had every intention of only attending the funeral of Kevin and immediately returning to New York, her investigation of Jason Hoffman’s murder led down paths that put her squarely into those of family and acquaintances. Her probing of Kevin’s suicide just reopened old wounds that needed to be re-examined. Max is a character who doesn't give a damn whose feelings she hurts. Not her families. Especially not the Detective who continues to try to stop her investigation.
Even though she grew up rich and privileged, she was the black sheep of the family since her flighty mother dropped her off to live with her grandparents when she was ten years old. Her family certainly wasn't happy when Max sided with her friend Kevin, the boy accused of killing Lindy, and they sure the hell are not happy that Max is digging up old memories that could destroy the families reputation. The only two people Max can rely on are her bodyguard/assistant David who is off spending time with his daughter, and Detective Nick Santini who eventually comes to realize that the original Detective is a dirt bag who needs to be brought down a peg or three.
I definitely want to continue this series to see how Brennan susses out Max as a character. I am definitely encouraged that Max isn't a sheep walking the same path as everyone else. Doing everything everyone else does because it is expected. She's daring, brave, pushy at times, and really puts her family in their place because she knows she doesn't need their approval any longer. She's made a place in the world, and that place is to bring justice to the lost.
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