Concrete Evidence

Evidence Series, Book 1

By: Rachel Grant

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Greg Tremblay

She wants revenge. He wants her.

Blackballed from underwater archaeology after accusations of artifact trafficking, Erica Kesling has a new job and a new life on the other side of the country and is working to clear her name. She's closing in on her goal when she's distracted by a sexy, charismatic intern who makes her want something other than revenge. But Lee Scott is no intern. He's looking for the lead conspirator in an international artifact smuggling scheme, and Erica is his prime suspect. He'll do whatever it takes to win her trust and get her to reveal her secrets, even seduce her.

©2013 Rachel Grant (P)2021 Rachel Grant

Critic reviews

"A first rate romantic suspense debut that combines pulse pounding action with...pulse pounding romance!" (Manda Collins, author of the Studies in Scandal series)

"Full of secrets, deadly intrigue and steamy romance. A must read." (Elisabeth Naughton, New York Times best-selling author)

good but older

I bought this immediately as I love Rachel grant and didn't realize it was an old book of hers until I got into it. but the story is interesting and the performance is great! it's a little long but overall if you love Rachel grant it's worth a listen.

Choices, lies and redemption

I loved, loved Erica and Lee’s exciting suspenseful romance with a side of secrets and betrayal. I fell directly into this story on the first page and only looked up after the last word. It was unputdownable. All of the unexpected plot twists made for a suspenseful mystery trying to guess what was going to happen next for the MCs and who were the bad guys. This story has a wonderful balance between the suspense, the intrigue, the mystery, and the swoony romance. All are crucial to the ebb and flow of the story. Erica trained as an underwater archeologist but a terrible choice and an evil man last year destroyed her career and feeling of safety. She is now using her other degree and working at Talon & Drake while trying to rebuild her life, find redemption, and exact revenge on the man who destroyed her old life. Lee is under cover as an intern at Talon & Drake looking for the person selling ancient artifacts through the company. Erica is his supervisor at the company and also a suspect. There is instant connection and attraction between the two but knowing they each have a hidden agenda and concealed pasts, they are both treading lightly. Nevertheless, their chemistry sizzled off the page and it pulled them together no matter how hard they tried to resist. The book has a little bit of everything just like you would expect from this genre - sweet moments, strong friendships, spicy times, real life issues, imperfect characters, dangerous moments, mystery, uber protective men, secrets, plot twists, painful pasts, evil actors, and love. The story included engaging dialogue, three dimensional characters who grow, and a captivating storyline. I cannot wait to read more in this series.

Nicol Zanzarella and Greg Tremblay did a phenomenal job narrating the stories and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite convincingly.

Secrets and love…

Disgraced underwater archeologist, Erica, is struggling to make ends meet and rebuild her reputation. She intends to expose her former boss, and lover, for selling stolen artifacts, if she can just not get involved with the hot intern at her new job. Lee is working undercover at his former stepfather’s company to discover who has been using the company to smuggle stolen artifacts. His prime suspect is Erica.., he just has to resist falling for her. Secrets, lies, espionage..and love. You get it all in this fast paced story. Looking forward to more in the series.

Great story!

Hard to stop listening. I like the references to actual historical data and factual basis.

excellent political thriller

Well written, great characters, exciting with lots of action.

Highly recommend if you like romantic suspense.

Excellent narration - Nicol and Greg were great together

Fast-Paced, Chaotic, and Great

Rachel Grant is a goddess when it comes to romantic suspense stories. I always seem to enjoy her reads. This one is an older story and shows that she's always been good, but she's even better now.

I loved the main characters here. Erica is whip-smart, great at her job, and weighed down with the ghosts of the past. Lee is so much brighter than he acts at first, loyal, and wonderfully complex. Together their chemistry has the atomic weight of plutonium, making them the poster children for sexual tension. But as much fun as that is, both Lee and Erica are so much more than raging hormones. They are each driven to find the smugglers of stolen antiquities and feel it's their duty. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances, neither is prone to trust the other, therefore communication is just not happening. *shrug* That's what happens when you set up a web of lies.

While I found this to be a fun and exciting read, I did feel at one point that both Lee and Erica should have come clean about their histories and their agendas. Their entire relationship was based on lies predicated by the necessity for secrecy. Understood. But I felt like they missed their moment to open up and admit who they were when it would have done the least amount of damage. But as the story continued, it all made sense... okay, it made as much sense as anything does in a romantic thriller. Consider the genre. Readers aren't really in it for the believability factor.

So. If you're a fan of romantic thrillers and enjoy a story with strong sexual tension, this is a great read with lots of nice plot twists. You'll see some coming. But you won't see them all. If you're already a Rachel Grant fan, you'll be able to see the growth this author shows over the years. It gives a good perspective to her newer works.

Meticulous research in every book

I love the Evidence Series by Rachel Grant. I have both copies of this audiobook. The first was narrated by Meredith Mitchell, which was good but the second one was narrated by Nicole and Greg and it is fantastic. Erica and Lee draw you in from the beginning and you cannot help but hope for them to have their happily ever after. You get attached to other characters and wait for them to get their book.
I have listened to this series numerous times. Rachel is an amazing researcher and the meticulous attention to detail is noticeable in every book she has written. Numerous times I have had to to do an Internet search to check on details. I’m always blown away by how immersive the stories are due to the research, details and accuracy in her writing.
I feel like I could have a conversation with any of her characters. I feel like I know them. I get personally invested in their stories. That is how well developed her characters, the narrative and the meticulous attention to detail is. I feel that that is what makes her such a talented writer.
If you have not listened to one of Rachel Grant’s books, you are missing out. Her books are connected and that is one of the other things that I absolutely love about them.

Too Much...Too Many

Although this is a good story with lots of interesting details, wh8ch is well written and documented, twists. it suffers from too much and too many. Too many plot twists and turns , too many stupid assertions and actions of female protagonists, too many lapses of common sense of the male protagonist and in general too much and many of the repetetive reasons too extendtge story. Write less, and it will read better.

Ten thrillling, edge-of-the-seat stars!

This was such a riveting audiobook--the perfect escapist treat! Concrete Evidence is an absolute thrill ride in which a blackballed underwater archaeologist becomes a prime suspect in a case involving stolen artifacts. She must race to clear her and catch the real culprit. Chock full of great characters and jaw-dropping plot twists—I couldn’t stop listening!!

I especially loved the chemistry between Erica and Lee, and the narrators really bring this to life. Their banter had me grinning through each and every chapter.

I also loved the way the author wove so much fascinating history into the story, and gave us enough information about archeology to understand the plot. I found it just so enjoyable all the way through!!

The perfect listen!

An incredible debut. A perfect blend of romance and suspense with a shocking twist. I couldn’t stop listening and really enjoyed the story.