The Torching by Kerry Peresta ~ Review

Mysterious fires. A haunting past. A secret file.

Three years ago, Olivia Callahan endured an assault that resulted in a devastating brain injury. She survived, but she couldn’t remember anything about her life or who she was. Now, she’s determined to build a bridge between the past she lost and the life she must reclaim.

When Olivia crosses paths with PI Tom Stark, she is drawn to the investigative field, and becomes his intern. She finds a heavily redacted, forty-five-year-old file locked in his desk drawer that mentions her mother as a young woman. Why had her mentor hidden the file from her, and why had he never mentioned a case involving her mother?

As Olivia moves forward with her fledgling career, a string of mysterious fires moves through the community, puzzling the Baltimore Arson Investigative Unit. One of the fires strikes Olivia’s beloved farmhouse in rural Maryland. Now, in addition to uncovering the secrets bound within the redacted file, she becomes convinced that the fires happening around the area are disturbing calling cards…and they’re meant for her.

Genre: Traditional mystery or Suspense
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: March 2023
Number of Pages: 323

Get Your Copy: Amazon | Goodreads

The Torching is the third book in the Olivia Callahan Suspense series by Kerry Peresta. While each book can be a standalone read — after finishing this one, I immediately procured the first two books in the series and can not wait to go back and start from the beginning!!! The story can definitely be its own tale, but you get hints of back stories that I just have to dive into to get all the nitty gritty details!!!

This story starts out on an exciting note with a mysterious fire in Olivia Callahan’s home, and it keeps your adrenaline pumping for the rest of the book! How did the fire start? Was it intentional? Could there be an arsonist putting her and those around her in danger? If so, who and why? Those questions will keep you turning page after page as you meet suspicious new characters and peel back the layers of their well thought out stories — stories that just might all connect somehow — in this outstanding mystery thriller!

I instantly fell in love with Olivia and her family, close friends, mentors, and… possible lover?!? The sense of camaraderie through hard times is STRONG in this book, and each supporting character had enough of a backstory to really allow you to fall in love with them,too! I love it when a plot leads a female character to find her inner strength, push through a past of pain and grief, and come out the other end, a changed and more capable woman. Kerry Peresta definitely delivered on that vibe and then some! I also love when mysteries can be figured out but aren’t given away too easily. Peresta definitely makes you work for it as you try to figure out who the culprits are right alongside Olivia Callahan and her team. I’m proud to say I figured out part of the conclusion but was pleasantly surprised with another layer of it!

I’m adding Kerry Peresta to my list of authors to follow as I will now read anything she writes!

My Review of: The Deadening (Book 1)

My Review of: The Rising (Book 2)

Kerry Peresta is the author of the Olivia Callahan Suspense series. “The Torching,” book three, releases March, 2023, and books four and five in 2024 and 2025. Her standalone suspense thriller, “Back Before Dawn,” releases May, 2023. Additional writing credits include a popular newspaper and e-zine humor column, “The Lighter Side,” (2009—2011); the short story “The Day the Migraine Died,” published in Rock, Roll, and Ruin: A Triangle Sisters in Crime Anthology, articles published in Local Life Magazine, The Bluffton Breeze, Lady Lowcountry, and Island Events Magazine. She is past chapter president of the Maryland Writers’ Association and a current member and presenter of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, Hilton Head Island Writers’ Network, South Carolina Writers Association, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Kerry is the mother of four adult children, and spent thirty years in advertising as an account manager, creative director, copywriter, and editor. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her working out, riding her bike or kayaking, enjoying the beaches of Hilton Head Island, or cuddling her two cats, Agnes and Felix. She and her husband moved to Hilton Head Island in 2015.