2-3-4 Challenge discussion

Lucy Kincaid was introduced in the No Evil Trilogy so we decided to start there. However, we realized while reading that trilogy that many other characters from earlier trilogies appear throughout. Therefore, we decided to read the earlier trilogies before continuing to Lucy Kincaid. We will finished the No Evil Trilogy in July 2019 and returned to the beginning in published order. We will read one book a month until we reach completion.

About the Series
Predator Trilogy
This trilogy focuses on three separate serial killers with specific agendas.

No Evil Trilogy
This trilogy introduces the Kincaid family. Lucy’s primary story is in the third book.

Prison Break Trilogy
This trilogy centers around dangerous convicts who have managed to break out of prison. These are three unique stories.

FBI Trilogy
This trilogy involves cases handled by FBI agents. Again, three unique stories.

Lucy Kincaid
It’s been nine years since Lucy Kincaid was kidnapped from her high school graduation, raped and nearly killed while thousands of people watched on the Internet. Though the journey hasn’t been easy, she’s has always had the support of her large, Irish-Cuban family. She graduated from Georgetown with a Masters degree in criminal psychology. Though she had been a dancer and swimmer while growing up, after her kidnapping everything changed and she was determined to become an FBI Agent. She interned in several positions during and after college, including a year with the U.S. Senate and a year with the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office. After initially being denied admittance into the FBI Academy, she finally was accepted and graduated and has been assigned to the San Antonio Field Office. The youngest of seven, she was raised in San Diego and is romantically involved with private investigator Sean Rogan.

Lucy has a small role in Speak No Evil and See No Evil, but she’s a major character in Fear No Evil when she’s kidnapped on her high school graduation and her brother Dillon is the primary character in bringing her home. “Still, I don’t consider that the first book in her series,” says Allison Brennan.

Max Revere
Maxine Revere has dedicated her life to investigating murders that the police have long since given up any hope of solving. A nationally renowned investigative reporter with her own TV show and a tough-as-nails reputation, Max tackles cold cases from across the country and every walk of life.

The fourth book in the series features Lucy Kincaid in a major crossover storyline. So, we will pause reading the Lucy Kincaid series at #12 and shift to this one.

About the Author
Allison Brennan believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five children and writes three books a year. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison is now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than three dozen thrillers and numerous short stories. Reviewers have called her “a master of suspense” and RT Book Reviews said her books are “mesmerizing” and “complex.” She’s been nominated for multiple awards, including the Thriller, RWA’s Best Romantic Suspense (five times), and twice won the Daphne du Maurier award. She currently writes two series—the Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan thrillers and the Maxine Revere cold case mysteries.

Author’s Website: https://www.allisonbrennan.com/

Reading Schedule
Predator Trilogy***COMPLETE***
1. The Prey - August 2019 Book Discussion
2. The Hunt - September 2019 Book Discussion
3. The Kill - October 2019 Book Discussion

No Evil Trilogy***COMPLETE***
1. Speak No Evil - May 2019 Book Discussion
2. See No Evil - June 2019 Book Discussion
3. Fear No Evil - July 2019 Book Discussion

Prison Break Trilogy***COMPLETE***
1. Killing Fear - November 2019 Book Discussion
2. Tempting Evil - December 2019 Book Discussion
3. Playing Dead - January 2020 Book Discussion

FBI Trilogy***COMPLETE***
1. Sudden Death - February 2020 Book Discussion
2. Fatal Secrets - March 2020 Book Discussion
3. Cutting Edge - April 2020 Book Discussion

Lucy Kincaid
.5. Love Is Murder - May 2020 Book Discussion
1. Love Me to Death - June 2020 Book Discussion
2. Kiss Me, Kill Me - July 2020 Book Discussion
3. If I Should Die - August 2020 Book Discussion
4. Silenced - September 2020 Book Discussion
*4.5. Vacation Interrupted & in the anthology Love Is Murder - October 2020 Book Discussion
5. Stalked - October 2020 Book Discussion
5.5. Reckless - November 2020 Book Discussion
6. Stolen - December 2020 Book Discussion
7. Cold Snap - January 2021 Book Discussion
8. Dead Heat - February 2021 Book Discussion
9. Best Laid Plans - March 2021 Book Discussion
10. No Good Deed - April 2021 Book Discussion
11. The Lost Girls - May 2021 Book Discussion
12. Make Them Pay - June 2021 Book Discussion

Max Revere
.5. Maximum Exposure - July 2021 Book Discussion
1. Notorious - August 2021 Book Discussion
2. Compulsion - September 2021 Book Discussion
3. Poisonous - October 2021 Book Discussion
4. Shattered - November 2021 Book Discussion

Lucy Kincaid
12.5. Two to Die For - December 2021 Book Discussion
13. Breaking Point - January 2022 Book Discussion

Max Revere
5. Abandoned - February 2022 Book Discussion

Lucy Kincaid
14. Too Far Gone - March 2022 Book Discussion
14.5. Storm Warning - April 2022 Book Discussion
15. Nothing to Hide - May 2022 Book Discussion
16. Cut and Run - June 2022 Book Discussion
16.5. No Way Out - July 2022 Book Discussion
17. Cold as Ice - August 2022 Book Discussion
17.5 A Deeper Fear - September 2022 Book Discussion

Our next mystery series is Lucy Kincaid! We will begin the series in June.

I do have a question for you. The background story on what shaped Lucy is the third book in the No Evil series, Fear No Evil. The author doesn’t consider it the first book in this series but it deserves a mention. We could read it in May, later revisit this or follow the author’s guidance. Let me know what you’d like to do.

I think you should start with it. It really shapes who Lucy is and you will meet her family if you haven’t read any of her books before.
It is also a really good book.

Thanks for weighing in, Laura. I’d planned to read it no matter what.

I read the No Evil Trilogy back in 2014 and just never continued with the Lucy Kincaid Series. I can't wait to start. I have read and loved several Allison Brennan books. Should be fun!

Jonetta wrote: "Our next mystery series is Lucy Kincaid! We will begin the series in June.

I do have a question for you. The background story on what shaped Lucy is the third book in the No Evil series, [book:Fe..."

I'll join you in May for the Fear No Evil read.

Great! I'll set up the discussion topic.

I'd love to join you for this! I've never participated here - do we discuss here or in another group? I've seen mention of two other book discussion groups connected to this one and I'm a little confused as to what goes on and where, lol.

We use another group to have the book discussions. When I open the topic here for the books, I also include a link to the discussion location.

We ran out of folder room in the first group so we created a second group, which we will use for this series.

Links to both groups are found on the group home page. Here is the link to the group for this series:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Here is the link to the other group we used for our previous series reading. It's still active for the Gaslight Mystery series until it ends in October.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Great that you'll be joining in, Tara!

Tara wrote: "I'd love to join you for this! I've never participated here - do we discuss here or in another group? I've seen mention of two other book discussion groups connected to this one and I'm a little co..."

Also, you'll find more info about those groups here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thank you so much for the information! I'm off to read the "instruction manual" :)

Jonetta wrote: "Our next mystery series is Lucy Kincaid! We will begin the series in June.

I do have a question for you. The background story on what shaped Lucy is the third book in the No Evil series, [book:Fe..."

I'll join you for this one too.

That’s wonderful, Karen!

I've been meaning to hop on with a series read with y'all for so long and I just always seem to miss the start and can't catch up. So I'm working on getting these books on my agenda for this time!! Hope I can make it work finally!

Apparently Shattered is a crossover book, don't know if you want to add it to the schedule.

(I just saw this in the librarians group: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)

Looking forward to it. I will try to read the first two evil books first and then continue with the third with the group in May.

Berls wrote: "I've been meaning to hop on with a series read with y'all for so long and I just always seem to miss the start and can't catch up. So I'm working on getting these books on my agenda for this time!!..."

Great to hear from you, Berls! I certainly hope you can.

Lieke wrote: "Apparently Shattered is a crossover book, don't know if you want to add it to the schedule.

(I just saw this in the librarians group: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...-..."

I’m not quite sure what to do with this as the author doesn’t address it and I haven’t a clue if it moves the timeline in this story. But, when you read the description, Lucy definitely has a major role in the story.

I’m going to reach out to Brennan.

Lauren wrote: "Looking forward to it. I will try to read the first two evil books first and then continue with the third with the group in May."

I’m probably going to read all three, too. You know me about reading out of order. I already own the books.

Jonetta wrote: "You know me about reading out of order..."

I do!
And so must I :)

I read Shattered because I've read the Max Revere series. I learned a lot about Lucy because she was a new character to me but it didn't propel her character forward at all for me. The book did have forward movement on Maxine's character. She grows quite a bit over her series. I'd recommended leaving Shattered out of the Lucy Kincaid reading plan but you can always add the Maxine Revere series afterwards.

Thank you SO much for weighing in!

Suggestion....

Would it serve us better if we delayed starting Lucy Kincaid to allow for first reading the No Evil Trilogy first?

I’m willing to do what the group prefers.

I've ordered the 3rd in the No Evil series from the library. If the group changes its mind, I'll wait until this one, in order to be on target for our actual series voted on!

I've read the No Evil Trilogy and recommend you read them first. They introduce Lucy as a kid sister. The books feature her older siblings. They are great books.

I dislike reading series out of order, so I wouldn't mind reading the No Evil Trilogy first.

Anita wrote: "I've read the No Evil Trilogy and recommend you read them first. They introduce Lucy as a kid sister. The books feature her older siblings. They are great books."

I loved that trilogy too.

I am so excited that we are reading this series. I just started reading this series so this is perfect!

I believe it’s reasonable to read that trilogy first. For those of you that have already read the No Evil series, thank you for your feedback and hope you won’t mind waiting a couple of months to start Lucy Kincaid.

We should do this right and my apologies for not realizing Lucy was introduced in an earlier series. I’ll adjust the schedule now.

Thanks everyone!

Thank you, Jonetta!
Including the No Evil trilogy is perfect. I've just started reading book #1. It's pretty good so far.

Oh, that’s great Lauren!

I'd never heard of this series or author before, but I'm excited to jump in on the read. I just bought Fear No Evil on Kindle. The first book was pretty cheap.

Anita Reads wrote: "I'd never heard of this series or author before, but I'm excited to jump in on the read. I just bought Fear No Evil on Kindle. The first book was pretty cheap."

That’s great, Anita! Just want to make sure you noted we’re reading the entire No Evil Trilogy, the first book being Speak No Evil.

I read the first two books in the evil series, a long time ago, I enjoyed them very much. Will try to reread them and join in.

Thanks, Viki!

I decided to read the trilogy, too.

Yay!

Jonetta wrote: "Anita Reads wrote: "I'd never heard of this series or author before, but I'm excited to jump in on the read. I just bought Fear No Evil on Kindle. The first book was pretty cheap."

That’s great, A..."

That's the one I meant. Even if I said the other title. I got the first from the trilogy.

Wonderful!

I can't get myself to read series out of order. Even if they are only companions.

Me, either. I was already making adjustments to fit in the trilogy😏

I'm excited to see that we'll be reading the Lucy Kincaid series. I've read the No Evil series and thought it was very good. I didn't realize that there were so many books in the Lucy Kincaid series. I better go find the ones I'm missing.

Jonetta wrote: "Me, either. I was already making adjustments to fit in the trilogy😏"

Me too! Glad I don't have to do too much re-organizing :)

I've finished the first book in the "No Evil" series and it was pretty good. I had one or two issues with it, but nothing series enough to impair my enjoyment of the story and the romance.

Looking forward to the discussion.

Robin wrote: "I'm excited to see that we'll be reading the Lucy Kincaid series. I've read the No Evil series and thought it was very good. I didn't realize that there were so many books in the Lucy Kincaid serie..."

Glad to see you joining in, Robin!

So glad we're starting with the No Evil series, I was going to try and read all three in May because I struggle reading out of order.

That helps me not feel so guilty about the change. I’m rather manic about reading in order and was hoping not to force this group into my neurosis😍 Looks like I wasn’t alone here.

Plus, we should get the most out of the Lucy Kincaid character since we’re in for at least a year.

I heard back from Allison Brennan regarding Shattered, the 4th book in the Max Revere series. Here’s her response:

“SHATTERED is part of the Max Revere series, however it's a crossover title. It features both Max and Lucy, and it resolves a central question in Lucy's life (what happened to her nephew 20 years ago). It doesn't have to be read within the Lucy series, but many include it between MAKE THEM PAY and BREAKING POINT. Thanks so much for writing!”

That would be between books #12 & #13. Normally, I’d be all over that. But it’s the 4th book in the Max Revere series and that gives me pause.

Three other solutions come to mind.

1. We could incorporate the two series together (creating a universal list like we did for the Harry Bosch series).
2. We could commit to beginning the Max Revere series after #12 and return to Lucy Kincaid.
3. Lastly, we could just leave the list as is.

Here’s the link to the Max Revere series:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/1181...

Thoughts? Opinions?

I'm so excited! I went to the local used bookstore today and got See No Evil (the only one I'm missing from the trilogy) and the first 8 books in the Lucy Kincaid series for less than $20!

Wow, Melissa! That’s fantastic.