Pushed Too Far (Val Ryker #1) by Ann Voss Peterson

Pushed Too Far (Val Ryker #1) Reviews

• 
  Reggie_Love

  I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked it, but was confused over a lot of the author's choices. I still don't understand the hand numbness. I mean I understand the disease, but I don't get why it was needed in the story. Also, when I first started the book I kept thinking I had missed a previous story because I thought I was already suppose to know what was happening with the hand. Another issue I had was the twist. I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that I took a break between reading this or what, but by the time it came to reveal who was doing what, I didn't remember who was who or understand all of the connections. I didn't think the "romance" made any sense either. It felt thrown in. All that being said, this book has one of the best deaths EVER. That is probably what redeemed it for me. Overall, it was an alright book that wasn't life changing.
• 
  Lynda Kelly

  I jacked this in at 38% in the end. It was too confusing and was just beginning to irritate me, then one mistake too many ensured I deleted it.
  In the plaudits right at the start the title was written as Pushed To Far which should've tipped me off. Pretty appalling to get the title wrong before we even begin.
  Then she kept referring back near the start to only having 48 hours available to them while never explaining why that was the case. Again with a remark made to Val at one time about a crime happening next door to where she lived. It was cryptic and meant nothing to me whatsoever. I find it hard to believe Val was wanting to flirt with one of her chief suspects as well. A little farfetched.
  She has an irritating habit of slinging made-up words in such as squicked or slapbrush, bizarrely.
  There were misplaced apostrophes, missing commas and fullstops and I packed in it when somebody was asked if they wanted to wave their right to an attorney......enough.
• 
  NicholeReadsWithCats

  The story is predictable and over the top. Relationship between two of the main characters felt forced just for the sake of writing a sexual element into the book. I doubt I will read another by this author.
• 
  SeaGrace

  Caution: Slight spoiler ahead...
  
  For a free Kindle read, I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The part I liked most was the way the heroine's "disability" was realistically portrayed. Because I have family members with the same disease, I guessed what Val's problem was early on. I thought the denial aspect and Val's actions were spot on.
  
  The part I didn't like was the romance, the attraction seemed awkward and forced. Also, because the story didn't end with a HEA (happily ever after) it should not be considered as a romance, but as suspense with romantic elements (although I didn't feel it was realistic romance either.)
  
  This book contains some gruesome violence but those scenes were written without too much graphic language.
  
  All in all, the book kept my attention throughout and was a chilling, interesting read.
• 
  No One

  David Lund is a firefighter in the tiny town of Lake Loyal. He lost his wife two years ago after being murdered and the murder covered up in a fire and hasn’t really stopped grieving. He is called to a scene at the lake in the little town where he lives. He suits up, faces the freezing cold, finds the woman, turns her over – and it is his dead wife.
  
  Imagine again, how happy this makes the man who was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison. Sure enough, when the woman he didn’t murder turns up dead and he has a really good alibi, the court lets him go. This is not good for those involved in his conviction.
  
  A woman with incredible personal challenges, Val Ryker is the current chief of police in the little town of Lake Loyal. She had been lead investigator of the original murder. The previous chief had retired after the conviction of the man wrongfully sent to prison and she had been promoted. She has her hands full after the release, and is suspended with pay, and the previous chief returns. Just because she isn’t a cop anymore doesn’t mean she won’t stop investigating. And what she finds is a horror no one ever expected.
  
  This book had me holding my breath at times. I love books that do that for me. The creepy factor in this book kept me up until midnight so I could finish. The ending just blew me away. I did not see THAT coming! As this is a trilogy, with two shorts: one in between book 1 and one after book 3, I am eagerly into book two. I am getting these with Kindle Unlimited.
• 
  Angela

  5 Stars
  
  Pushed Too Far is the first book in the Val Ryker series by Ann Voss Peterson. It is a thrilling mystery, with plenty of suspense, and a little romance. I recently discovered Ms. Voss Peterson’s books and loved what I found- so since then I have been making my way through her back catalogue.
  This story is told from several POV’s giving the reader quite a lot of information to think about. There are a LOT of characters, all playing their part to build the tension and move the story along. I really love the way Ms. Voss Peterson deftly weaves so many intriguing elements into her stories, always leaving me guessing, and completely caught up in the story. And this one is no different.
  The book opens on a murder scene, and as the story progresses, the body count climbs ever higher. We hunt for a devious killer in an exciting game of cat and mouse- with plenty of puzzles to try to figure out along the way.
  Another great read from this talented author!
  
  Thank you, Ms. Voss Peterson!
  
• 
  Elaine Lucky

  I picked up this book because the author writes books with JA Konrath. This book has a short stint with a crossover character (Jack Daniels). This is a kickoff to the Val Ryker series. Val is police chief in a small town. A killer that she put away has been released since the body of the person he was accused of killing has just been found dead in the lake. This sets off an explosion of events that pits Val against a cunning killer, more murders, job suspension, and surprising suspects as she tries to find the real killer while trying to stay alive herself. I will continue with this series
• 
  Kitty

  This was a fun fast-paced thriller set right here in Wisconsin! Val Stryker is a small town police chief in southern Wisconsin. She got the top job after putting a killer behind bars, but when a body is found on a frozen lake a couple years later, the guy is released from prison..and turns out he's got some major grudges. This has twists and turns, violence, a little romance, and a lot of references to Middleton, Madison, and even Sauk City. Not great literature, but a fun ride. I already downloaded the next book in the series.
• 
  Ann

  3.5 stars.
  
  I have mixed feelings about this one. There were times that I felt this should have been book two instead of the first in the series. There seemed to be a lot of gaps in the storyline for both the past and the present day. I found myself wondering if I had missed part of the story somehow. Some of the issues were partly resolved as the story unfolded; others, not so much.
  
  I actually got book 2 first, then realized it was a series so I went back and got this one. I will end up reading the second book eventually. It wasn’t a bad read and I may like the next one more since I know more about the key players now.
• 
  Pat

  This book started with an interesting idea. Firefighters pull the body of a woman from a frozen lake. The boss firefighter recognises it as his wife. The only problem is she died two years ago and her body was burnt in a barrel. How can this be? No, the original investigation didn't just assume it was her, mitochondrial DNA showed the body to be from the wife's maternal line and she was the only living female left in that line.
  
  Val Ryker is the police chief of the small Wisconsin town who got the Chief's position on the back of arresting Dixon Hess for the wife's murder. He is languishing in jail and, while there is no doubt he's a very nasty man, he clearly didn't commit the murder he was convicted of so will soon be released.
  
  So who is the burnt body? And who killed her? And did the husband have something to do with it after all? It is Val's job to find out. But she is hampered in her quest as when Hess is released he goes on a killing spree, vowing vengeance on anybody who had anything to do with his wrongful conviction. It gets a bit yucky as he cuts a swathe through the local justice system. Val is surely on the list. As you can guess there may be a dramatic showdown at the end.
  
  It was a solid thriller but not inspiring. It did seem a little melodramatic to me and the budding romance between Val and the fireman seemed inappropriate and unnecessary. Nevertheless, its the first in a series and I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and have a start book 2 eventually.
• 
  rameau

  Read this:
  http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2012/05...
  
  and download
  free from Amazon right now.
• 
  Ronald Keeler

  We see many novels promoted by comparing the work to other successful, talented writers. It is easy to compare Pushed Too Far by Ann Voss Peterson with novels by Blake Crouch and J. A. Konrath. Peterson has co-written spy thrillers with Konrath. She thanks J. A. Konrath, Maria Konrath and Blake Crouch in her acknowledgments. Were the claim of similarity made, it would be truth in advertising. Which is almost an oxymoron, but I digress.
  
  This excellent thriller will appeal to readers who like to see a feminist protagonist overcome serious challenges. Val Ryker has many of those. A small-town police chief in Wisconsin, she obtained her position in advance of seniority rights by a successful prosecution of a serial killer. Fame allowed her to claim the position over an assumed successor after the retirement of Chief Schneider. Val had considered Schneider a valuable mentor and, in a town where everyone knew everyone, his support meant much to the town citizens.
  
  Val’s problem was not that Dixon Hess was guilty of murder; there were implications of several murders he had committed. Hess was not charged with similar murders; he was charged and convicted of Kelly Lund’s murder. The state case against Hess was based on the identification of Kelly’s incinerated body found in a barrel. Although DNA identified the body as a Lund, it wasn’t Kelly. Two years after the murder occurred, Kelly’s body surfaced in a lake. She was dead a second time and the death was recent. Val’s position was in danger and a convicted murderer would soon be set free. Hess had his own idea of social justice, one that was extreme. For Hess, it was not an eye-for-an-eye; he believed in total, gruesome annihilation of everyone who had ever wronged him. Val, and everyone around her as well as everyone connected to the case, were in danger.
  
  As if Val’s professional life didn’t contain enough turbulence, her private life simmered at a low level with long-lasting problems. Cancer had killed her sister and Val stepped up to raise her sister’s teenage daughter, Melissa. Although Val did not feel burdened by the task, Melissa was a teenager with all problems that seem to be part of a teenager growing up. Val considered Melissa over-protective with her desire to become more involved in Val’s professional life and the re-opened case against Hess. Melissa became more aggressive with her insistence on helping Val after Melissa discovered a diagnosis of Val’s multiple sclerosis, a genetic disorder as Val informed Melissa.
  
  This is a fast-paced thriller which will motivate readers to continue to the end without stopping. Readers may want to schedule this for a weekend read so as not to show up for work bleary-eyed. As Dixon Hess pursues his course of exacting revenge against several people, the descriptions of torture may bother some but trigger warnings are not necessary. Pushed Too Far fits comfortably in a horror/thriller genre. Fans of the genre will not be offended. Sexual situations are extremely restrained as far as description.
  
  Ann Voss Peterson is a successful novelist with over thirty novels to her credit. This novel, published in 2012, is an additional affirmation of her talent. I look forward to reading more of her works in the Small Town Secrets. Pushed Too Far is USD 4.99 on Amazon and is free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. My rating is four plus Amazon stars.
  
• 
  Chris Norbury

  High-quality craft and a unique MC combined with a compelling storyline make this a winner. Nothing fancy about this book--it's a solid romantic suspense thriller about a small-town female cop who put away the wrong man (in more ways than one). Now he wants revenge and he's taking it out on her friends and loved ones, working his way up to her.
  
  No wasted words, crisp and taut, with a sustained tension that builds steadily. Also includes just the right amount of romance, especially when we find out her love interest is also a suspect in the latest murder.
  
  Remindful of the Kate Burkholder mysteries by Linda Castillo.
• 
  Gordon Johnston

  A good set up that doesn't quite deliver. One dimensional characters don't really deliver on a plot that promises more.
  
  Pushed Too Far starts with the discovery of a fresh body. The trouble is, someone was convicted of this murder several years ago. So small town police chief Val Ryker has a new case to solve, and a man about to come out of prison who is none too happy.
  
  Ryker doesn't know who to trust as she looks into the initial investigation again. There is some confusion around several key details, and several characters who appear to be introduced for later books in the series.
• 
  Beth Camp

  My first read of a thriller by Ann Voss Peterson, but it won't be my last. An interesting mix of an unresolved murder, a supposedly innocent man released from prison, and a sure sense by the police chief that her town was now in serious danger -- all these kept the tension high and the pacing of the story tight.
• 
  Mimi Davis Hopkins

  What would you do?
  
  We this readers are so very fortunate to have authors such as this one who pour their hearts into writing books that thrill, entertain, while enlightening us along the way.
• 
  Renee

  Was a decent quick read. Could have done without the Harlequin Romance detour, but not bad
• 
  Fiona Zakka

  Fast paced
  
  A fast paced thriller with good characters and a lot going on along the main story. A good read for thriller action lovers.
• 
  Robbie Quattrocchi

  I love Val Ryker as a character. It's not just because she's connected to the Jack Daniels. The revelation of what is going on with her is awesome.
• 
  terri j lange

  Val Ryker
  
  A suspenseful thrilling mystery.
  Great cast of characters.
  It's the twists and turns that keeps my interest.
  Surprising endings are the best.