At an electrifying pace from tribal ritual drums and flutes to the beat of the modern pop music scene Native American pop singer, Karina Salvo prepares to emerge from her reclusive cocoon to her first concert on a national stage.
Having written and performed her songs as a recording artist Salvo’s agent Petra Sullivan has prepared the singer to meet her adoring public for the first time in the heart of Appalachia, a small theatre in Bryson City, North Carolina. The concert is sold out and the local Sheriff appoints Deputy Steven Hawk to handle all security issues. Hawk’s preparation for the concert reveals that Salvo’s delayed introduction to the public has been because of her reluctance to have her private life peered into by journalists and paparazzi as she has a secret. Her father is in jail for killing her mother when Salvo was barely eight years old, and he has been released from jail the week of the concert and is considered to be behind the death threats that the young singer has been receiving in the form of hate mail for several months.
Salvo had been raised on the reservation by her mother’s people on the Taos Pueblo along the plains of New Mexico and is the first of her tribe to be recognized for her musical talent. It is to her aunt’s house that Salvo runs, needing a place to hide after the attempt on her life at the concert that has left her petrified and estranged from her manager, and has left Deputy Hawk injured in his attempt to protect her from a malicious Native American presence at the concert, the appearance of her uncle, Taima. Was he there in spirit or in person? Witnesses at the reservation swear he was on their land at the time of the attack but neither Salvo nor Hawk are convinced and as they heal, her spiritually and he physically, they conduct their own investigation from the confines of her aunt’s home.
Is it her revengeful father, the ghostly appearances of her uncle or the tribal drum beat itself that sound the death knell for Salvo and will Hawk, in Ledford’s second in a trilogy featuring the young African American deputy from North Carolina, be up to the task to protect Salvo from the snare he has inadvertently placed her in by bring her home to the Taos Pueblo?
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Snare was a very fast paced, fun read. It had solid characters that did things I wasn't expecting. Now I can only hope that there might be another Steven Hawk title in the future. ( )

First Line: Katina's eyes locked on the straight-back chair she had wedged under the doorknob.

Katina Salvo has come a long way from her abusive childhood. The reclusive Native American singer/songwriter's music sells very well, even though she's never made a personal appearance or given a concert. Her manager feels that it's time to change all that and have Katina move another step up the ladder, so a concert is booked in a small North Carolina theater where Deputy Steven Hawk will be put in charge of the singer's security.

Something goes terribly wrong at the concert, and Katina and Hawk are attacked. No one is quite sure of the assailant's identity, so the singer and the deputy regroup in familiar territory for Katina: the Taos Pueblo Indian Reservation in New Mexico. Hawk is determined to find this mysterious attacker before he can get close enough to kill the talented young woman.

Snare was so good that I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy of Ledford's first book in the series, Staccato. The pacing kept the story moving at a fast clip, and the plot-- after giving readers two viable suspects-- kept me trying to guess the right one. (I guessed wrong, by the way.)

Ledford has created a compelling story where the main characters are all members of minorities. (I love it when the Lone Ranger doesn't show up and the day is saved anyway.) She's also very adept at adding small details that can pack a big emotional punch-- as when the very young Katina is hiding in her bedroom and marking time on her Hello Kitty alarm clock.

The scenes revolving around the concert-- both doublechecking the security set-up, the concert itself, and the near-riot and attack-- moved lightning quick, were frightening, and felt almost as though I were watching a video. Everything was crystal clear in my mind's eye. Also much appreciated were the details of Taos Pueblo life and culture during the scenes taking place in New Mexico.

All in all, I found Snare to be a very good read, and I'm hoping Deputy Hawk has a good long run of many books to come. ( )

Review by Judy Nickles

Deborah J. Ledford’s second novel, Snare (Second Wind Publishing), qualifies as a bonafide thriller. The author has mastered the art of changing the POVs of her well-developed characters from chapter to chapter without losing the thread of their individual importance within the story. While many writing gurus caution against multiple points of view, Ms Ledford has used them skillfully.

Mingling the potential victim’s American Indian heritage with her current world adds not only to the suspense but the general interest as well. While I enjoyed the somewhat lengthy descriptive passages scattered throughout the book, I felt they slowed the action somewhat. That said, I think removing them altogether would take away from the overall mood of the story.

Native American pop singer/songwriter Katina Salvo’s career is about to take off. There’s one problem: someone wants to kill her. Katina and her bodyguard, Deputy Steven Hawk, are attacked during an altercation at her first live concert. Could the assailant be a mysterious, dangerous man from her youth? Or her estranged father recently released from prison for killing her mother?

The action spins from California to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and finally to the Taos Pueblo Indian Reservation in New Mexico in a relatively short amount of time. The author demonstrates an excellent brevity in the telling of Katina’s back story, which sets the stage for the chilling events to come. When the resolution careens onto the pages, with stunning, hard-hitting suddenness, it is both surprising and satisfying.

Snare is Book Two of the Steven Hawk/Inola Walela Thriller Series. Fans of the genre will want to pick up Book One, Staccato, and watch for Book Three to come.

http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2011/03/review-snare-by-deborah-j-ledford.html ( )