Because she was raped by a relative seven years prior to the beginning of this story, Trooper Linda Baldwin seeks to bring perpetrators to justice by any means possible. When she isn’t performing her State Police duties, she spends her off hours nailing sexual predators by working undercover portraying a teen.

When she received a disturbing-the-peace call, she found a group of teens cavorting at a cabin in the woods. Little did she know the rape of an underage teen she witnessed in an upstairs bedroom would end up a political hot potato and threaten her career.

Filled with a simmering deep-seated rage from a painful past, and in spite of numerous warnings from her State Police higher-ups and several fellow troopers, Linda continued her campaign to bring sexual predators to justice. Along the way she learned she must also contend with a corrupt judge, influential town leaders and a Russian mob enforcer.

Temporarily removed from her position pending an investigation into counter charges regarding the rape investigation, Linda finds herself working on an insurance fraud case that has unexpected ties to the current rape case. While Linda tries to sort everything out in her personal and professional life, she finds herself the victim of a stalker bent on doing her grave bodily harm.

Caused & Effect is the debut novel by author Bernie Bourdeau. Relying on past career experience, the author’s knowledge of insurance fraud and understanding of the difficulty in prosecuting sex crimes brings a gritty realism to the story.

The first few chapters of the novel were a little tough to follow as the author covered a lot of ground and introduced quite a number of characters. But, once the story got going it was difficult to set it down.

Bourdeau has written a fast-paced entertaining novel that shows a seedier side of life than to what most of us are exposed. Personally, I struggled to get past the main characters constant anger, but I am so glad I persevered.

Despite the emotionally heavy topic, Caused & Effect is a satisfying read and one I highly recommend.

Rumor has it that Mr. Bourdeau is currently working on a sequel and I hope that is true. I would gladly read more about Trooper Linda Baldwin and her future adventures.

A special thank you goes to Bernie Bourdeau for providing a complimentary copy of Caused & Effect for review. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, it is available at Amazon.com.