The Deadly Shallows

– Dani Pettrey –

Coastal Guardians #3

Bethany House Publishers

Published 5 July 2022

♥♥♥♥

I didn’t even know I was in the mood for a good suspense novel when I started Deadly Shallows but that’s exactly what I got.


Noah and his CGIS team are called to the scene of a mass shooting on the Coast Guard base. He is dismayed to realise that Brooke, his sister’s friend and the woman he’d so dearly love to call more than friend, is a witness. As she races to help the other medics to tend the wounded, Noah and his team begin their investigation into who is behind the attack. When the sole surviving gunman shares something with Brooke, it puts a target on her back and soon the whole CGIS team are racing to piece together the threads of a case that just seems to get bigger and bigger.

I really enjoyed the investigation that drives the plot of this book. The body count and emotional toll is high but there is never a dull moment and the author does well to fit two romances, a whole lot of awesome team work and two very serious investigations into the story without anything feeling rushed or contrived. The suspense is great and left me quickly flipping the pages.

At first the romance seemed a little instant. I think that’s because many of the relationships start in the previous novels in the series and it’s been a while since I read the last book, so I had forgotten the characters and the lead-in to the relationships. But it makes sense for the plot. The characters already have a good relationship so them building that and falling deeply in love makes more sense in terms of what’s going on, including a massive investigation into a mass shooting, continuing connected murders, kidnapping and some pretty serious scenes. And by the end we have solid relationships with awesome chemistry between the characters. We also have two romances in this book, Noah and Brooke and Caleb and Austin. There are also pieces of a building romance between Logan and Em, so that is sure to feature in the next book.

I’d definitely recommend reading the Coastal Guardians in series order, just to keep all the characters straight and to get the most out of the development of the romantic relationships. I’m looking forward to the next book.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Adult fiction.

Genre: Christian suspense

Themes: Coast Guard, military, mass shootings, murder, investigations,

Advisory: Mass shootings, injury, death, murder, torture.

Published: 5 July 2022 by Bethany House Publishers

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook.

ISBN: 9780764230868

Find it on Goodreads