Necessary
Ends by Tina Whittle highlights Tai Randolph and Trey
Seaver, detective partners and partners in life. Whittle’s
writing style pulls readers into the story from page one.
This novel combines an action-packed plot with great banter
dialogue and a psychological aspect.
Whittle
noted, “My very close friend has TBI. Watching him negotiate
his life afterwards was profoundly inspiring. Every day he
requires a dose of courage. Another friend of mine, after
reading the first book, told me she had it. She explained
that when she returned to her house the first time she felt
it belonged to someone else. I saw how it is really challenging
for the loved ones. One of the questions I try to explore
is, what makes us who we are? The brain is the great unchartered
world of science. We can explain more about the universe than
what goes on in our own skulls. I think the psychological
aspect in my books runs hand in hand with the mystery.”
Trey Seaver is haunted by the one that got away, a murder
of a Hollywood producer’s wife in Atlanta during a filming.
Now, about four years later it appears someone wants the producer,
Nick Talbot dead. Trey is asked to investigate since he was
one of the officers at the crime scene and now is working
for a corporate security firm. He tries to use all the skills
learned as a former SWAT officer with the Atlanta Police Department.
Forced into retirement by a horrific car crash that gave him
TBI he now has a new skill, being able to detect someone lying
with a high degree of accuracy. His girlfriend, Tai, an amateur
sleuth and a gun shop owner is helping him solve the mystery.
Believing in a pragmatic approach to guns, “I wrote
how one of my characters, Tai, considers guns to be tools,
yet she also says, ‘Some people poured all their crazy
into whatever they touched, and a gun sopped up crazy like
a sponge.’ I show Tai training regularly because I see
what happens to those who do not. I am personally a gun owner
and I do support the Second Amendment. I hope to show in this
series what responsible guns owners look like versus those
who are not. In a scene from this book, Tai knew the woman
was buying it for her boyfriend who was waiting in the car
outside. She emphasizes that as a responsible person who follows
the law, she is not going to sell a gun to that person.”
This series explores what happens to someone with TBI. Since
Trey has frontal lobe damage his cognitive impairments include
language processing and executive function, the control center
of the personality There is also an exploration of PTSD which
Tai has after being kidnapped and almost killed. At night
she experiences nightmares, an increase in her heart rate,
and becomes delirious. Readers will learn about re-enactment
therapy, dissociation, a psychological reaction to overwhelming
stress, and decompensation.
All of this plays out in the Southern setting. The characters
must navigate lies, lust, and betrayals to find who is behind
the original killing and the attempted murder. The powerful
theme of vengeance, justice, and playing by the rules keeps
the intensity of the plot.
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