Tara Taylor Quinn has crafted a dynamic series with The Chapman Files. Her latest release, The Third Secret, proves it.

I admit I was skeptical upon learning the narrative is a blend of first and third person. It's difficult to master this type of presentation and I've not read too many books where I could say it was accomplished successfully. But that was before I read The Third Secret.

My admiration for Ms. Quinn's latest release goes far beyond her commendable use of narratives. She has managed to tell the individual stories of Kelly Chapman, Erin Morgan and Rick Thomas simultaneously while weaving their lives together at selected points of intersection. The result is a tightly written story that never feels too busy. It's almost as if you are reading an anthology yet it is brilliantly written so each scene connects like a puzzle and moves the story forward.

Kelly Chapman is a psychologist. Her good friend, defense attorney Erin Morgan, seeks her advice when she takes on a client with a secretive past. Kelly's scenes are told in first person. We learn she has custody of a fourteen year old girl who has been used by her mother as a drug mule and sexually exploited by one of the town's model citizens. Kelly is questioning her parental skills as a single mom of a troubled teenager. As she counsels Erin, her own doubts regarding her choices began to mirror those of her friend. The old saying, "Doctor, heal thyself" proves easier said than done.

Erin's fiancée died in a fire five years ago. She remained in contact with his parents and is now integrated as part of the family. When Caylee, the youngest daughter, is awarded a scholarship to Yale, she seeks Erin's advice on how to tell her parents. They're adamant she attend a local college. Erin tries to remain non-committal to keep from angering Caylee's parents. She secretly fears they might oust her from the family if she challenges their decision. The struggle between what she wants to do and what she feels she must do is having a devastating effect on her decision making ability.

In the midst of her internal struggles with her adoptive family, Erin agrees to defend a mysterious man. Rick Thomas has been accused of murder. Instinctively, she believes he is innocent of the charges but the evidence seems to be piling up against him. The more deeply she is drawn into his life, the more Erin worries that she is allowing a physical attraction to override her logic. It's not like her to compromise professional ethics but she's never had a client like Rick Thomas.

Rick is hiding something - a secret life as a drug dealer, gun smuggler, and international spy. Using the alias Tom Watkins, Rick has spent two decades working undercover for a covert special ops team. He wants nothing more than to retire and put that life behind him but suddenly people start dying. People connected to his past missions. Now he must determine if they are coming after him or Tom Watkins.

After Rick is framed for murder, he hires beautiful Erin Morgan as his attorney. She's a looker alright but he's spent his entire life ignoring emotions and staying clear of relationships. Still, he finds her gritty determination to prove his innocence refreshing. As things turn progressively worse, Rick must rely on Erin's investigative skills to help him find the person dead set on ruining his life. He grudgingly begins to trust her with bits and pieces of his past but Rick soon discovers it's not her loyalty and brains that keeps him awake at night. The woman is like an itch he won't allow himself to scratch.

As Kelly, Erin and Rick's lives intertwine, I found myself savoring each scene and looking forward to the next. Ms. Quinn has developed her characters with depth and realism, using sensory details to draw the reader in. Each character has a fascinating secondary story that affects how they deal with the dangerous elements around them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The fast paced, multi-faceted style kept me turning pages long after I should have called it a night.

Reviewed by: Deb