Super Smart heroine. Actiony military hero who is badass and very devoted to her. Foreign intrigue. Treason and murdering assholes. Lots o' explosionsSuper Smart heroine. Actiony military hero who is badass and very devoted to her. Foreign intrigue. Treason and murdering assholes. Lots o' explosions and taking out bad guys. Excellent climactic scene where bad guy gets their comeuppance. Surprising not as sexy-sexy as some of her other stuff, more on the action suspense side which was fine. I liked the plot....more
New to me author. I like her writing style. Always on the lookout for good military romance.
This is a short but well packed novella.
The heroine is KaNew to me author. I like her writing style. Always on the lookout for good military romance.
This is a short but well packed novella.
The heroine is Kaylea an CIA operative whose cover is as a diplomatic attache. The hero is Carlos a Green beret. They are both in Djibouti. Kaylea needs a date, preferably one with muscles, firepower and skills for a fancy party given by a man who is a person of interest in some terrorist activities. They've been discreetly eyeing each other for years. Kaylea jumps at the opportunity to tap Carlos as her date. They both jump at the opportunity to jump each others' bones as well.
But they stumble upon a big plan set in motion that would cost many locals their lives whule placing the blame squarely on the US. They team up to thwart their enemies.
Lots of action and sexy times. The hero and heroine are both card carrying badasses who are good at what they do. A short read that didn't feel short. Also I didn't feel shortchanged by the romance either....more
Ok the first half was a bit fraught. In fact the book almost felt like two different books.
In the first half, our intrepid heroinThis book was so FUN!
Ok the first half was a bit fraught. In fact the book almost felt like two different books.
In the first half, our intrepid heroine Tracy Whitney is living her best life. She is about to marry into a Main Line old money Philadelphia family. She is in love, she is pregnant and she has a great job in a bank.
Things take a downward spiral... like waaaaay down and she's lost everything in almost the blink of an eye. Railroaded into jail she is at the nadir of her life until a series of (I'll admit somewhat implausible) twists and turns, our heroine gets a pardon and is free.
Yeah, free for some payback, bitches!
She gets her very satisfactory revenge and then she's at a loss of what to do with her life.
What to do...? What to do...?
Well, Duh! Become a master thief!
The second half of the book is basically clever heists, cons, and more clever heists as our intrepid heroine gallivants across the major cities of Europe stealing and getting dolla, dolla billz! Add in a great dash of romance with a sexy rival thief and a relentless nemesis, her own personal Javert, who becomes obsessed both with her and with capturing her and we have the ingredients for a fun romp. ...more
Read by the always wonderful Kate Reading, the listening experience was very well done.
I usually really enjoy this sort of adventurous military fantasRead by the always wonderful Kate Reading, the listening experience was very well done.
I usually really enjoy this sort of adventurous military fantasy. I especially love it when an author can create equally a sense of derring-do and exciting decisive battles while also crafting root worthy characters and a comraderie amongst the band of brothers (and sisters) in the military.
I think this book maybe succeeded halfway here. The world building was great and while I enjoyed Josette and Bernat and all the rest of the crew, I didn't get immersed in the story or the characters like I usually like. There were lots of battles, but instead of the descriptions getting me pumped, they got a bit mired in some tedious details and in places I just skimmed over.
I liked the vibe of the book and I enjoyed the story when it moved away from the long, overly descriptive passages of the airship. I wanted to hang out with more of the crew and get to know how they really feel about each other and Josette and not have to see them only in snippets during a battle and being told how they probably feel about Josette from the scarily perceptive Bernat. Ad I wanted to feel how high the stakes of the battles were for them as well, nt just for Josette and Bernat.
So it was good, just not what I really wanted to this reading experience to be....more
I got it ages ago and started reading it and loved the beginning. But somewhere in the middle it fizzed. AI've had this book on my kindle FOR. EV. ER.
I got it ages ago and started reading it and loved the beginning. But somewhere in the middle it fizzed. And then I'd put it down. Then I'd notice it was still there hovering at the 40% mark, and then I'd read some more but it would not keep me engaged so I'd put it down. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
I adore heist books and long cons and capers and thieves etc. So this book was way up my alley! This book started with a bang and was both fun and angsty. There is a great heist that goes wrong and we have a great main character in Bianca.
But then something unfortunate happens somewhere in the middle-- the momentum gets lost, the story kinda stalls, some plot elements felt rather predictable and I lost interest in the main character. In fact I had a hard time concentrating on the book. So I'd put it down for long stretches, only to remember I hadn't finished it and would pick it up again. To be fair there were some twists and some left turns I was not expecting... and yet it could not keep me wholly engaged so at times to keep reading felt like a chore.
Finally I just got sick of seeing it sitting there stalled. I truly did not want to DNF this because I did want to see what happened, so soldiered through hoping it'd spark for me again.
And then the totally unacceptable happens.... it ends on a cliffhanger. I really dislike cliffhanger endings!
So this was great in places but did not work wholly for me....more
I've had this book forever and read it the same day I got it. But I had a very hard time writing a review for it because honestly, I think I would jusI've had this book forever and read it the same day I got it. But I had a very hard time writing a review for it because honestly, I think I would just reiterate what I've said about the last three books in the series.
Which makes sense because this is a continuing narrative. It isn't just a series of sequels, this is one story that takes place over four volumes.
So I suppose I am going to give some thoughts about the series in general.
I loved this series. If you look at my shelves for it, you will see this book fits on just about every genre shelf minus fantasy or horror. I think part of my enjoyment is because the series is such a genre bender. I love that it was action and mystery and suspense and romance with a dash of that chick lit humor built around two incredibly fun and charismatic characters.
This book was a bit darker and felt a little out of sync with the rest of the books. But I realized that is because our heroine Island felt a little off kilter. Her personality and voice have been the barometer by which the mood in all the books in the series are measured. So having her not really herself made this book feel a little apart. But that was ok (if a teensy bit frustrating) because I was sure our adventure would work out in the end.
It does. And I loved it. Such a cool series and I enjoyed the mad roller-coaster ride of the whole thing!...more
I feel terrible.... that I can't give this five stars! But it ends on a humdinger of a cliffhanger ... I mean in the real sense with our intrepid heroI feel terrible.... that I can't give this five stars! But it ends on a humdinger of a cliffhanger ... I mean in the real sense with our intrepid heroes in mortal peril. Well, it probably won't be mortal, but still...
I inhaled this book in one day after I received it, but only now had the time to sit and write a real review for it.
But curiously I would only be parroting what I have already said about the first two books in this series: It is fun, funny as hell, lots of adventure, hard to categorize in one genre as it spans many. It is like if an OCD non-government sanctioned James Bond hooked up with a less neurotic, non-singing, but computer genius, Rebecca from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and went on globe trotting spy like adventures.
*** side note: I probably picture Rebecca from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as Island because just before I started this book I binged the entire first season so for some reason Island morphed into Rebecca. But it works ***
Anyway Island and March are on the run with her father Dries in this book, who for once isn't the ultimate bad guy but is being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Those three make for an awkward (putting it mildly) group. Dries is belatedly trying to assert fatherly rights while March and Island are trying to find a moment between bullets and bombings to finally bone. Good times!
Outside of all the adventuring and spy hijinks, Island and March remain the strongest draws to this series. March is still his unflappable, cool as ice self while Island...well, Island is Island. I mean, how could you not love a character that sends Facebook friend requests to the goons who are trying to kill her/capture her? What is more they accept! But that is the charm of this series.
So now the wait is on for the next book, while I nervously (...ok, not really) hope our heroes are ok.
***My copy of this work is an ARC provided by the author ****...more
This book is a great thriller/suspense spy novel with lots of twisty action. There is a romance and an HEA, but honestly the romance felt less developThis book is a great thriller/suspense spy novel with lots of twisty action. There is a romance and an HEA, but honestly the romance felt less developed than the rest of the plot.
Jamie Hunt is an NSA spy who has taken on the identity of a a murdered colleague to uncover the group responsible for drugging and kidnapping other NSA agents.
Somehow everything goes awry. Jamie is on the run, not sure who to trust and in the company of an ex-FBI operative who seems to know an awful lot.
Lucas Goodman, ex-FBI agent needs to stick to Jamie like white on rice because she is the only connection he has to a young man gone missing. Lucas is good friends with the guy's mother and he is the only person she can turn to. Lucas thinks the man was recruited either by NSA or a terrorist sleeper cell or both.
So, yeah, this book is lots of running across country, guns a-blazing. tracking devices, very Jack Bauer-esuqe "Who do you work for?" moments, computer hacking, and people who may or may not be dead.
While all this is going on, Lucas and Jamie lust after each other. She doesn't get involved because she is all damaged and stuff. And it is too dangerous to get too close to people. And she has a sister who thinks she's dead but who much be protected at all costs! So typical spy heroine stuff.
Lucas is much more zen about stuff. He's all 'Hey there's more to life. Just because you're a super spy who is all damaged and stuff, doesn't mean you can't buy rugs and lamps for your house and relax a bit, dude."
I prefer my action/adventure spy stories when they are either diabolically clever or great fun or both. This wasn't either. It was a lot of overly complex plotting with drugs and anti-dotes and the type of super computer wizardry you really only see in movies or tv. Basically it was a Saturday matinee shoot 'em up CIA type thriller is book form but with more romance and a woman protagonist....more
Yet another fun installment in this series. Altho the supporting players are all there... Boyd, Willie, Jake etc. this was all on Nick and Kate mostlyYet another fun installment in this series. Altho the supporting players are all there... Boyd, Willie, Jake etc. this was all on Nick and Kate mostly. I love it when they come up against a megalomaniac monster who completely underestimates them. The comedy is there of course boosted by a new addition in the form of Kate's "assistant" who is hired by her bosses to keep her expenses in order. Also Kate and Nick finally succumb to their attraction toward each other. i admit I was a littler nervous as to how that would change their dynamic, but it kinda doesn't really and I like how that is handled in the book and it gives me confidence going forward.
Listened on audio and as usual, Scott Brick the narrator was excellent....more
Ah, another fun read. This is just book candy. Or ear candy since I am listening to these and Scott Brick the narrator is fabulous.
In this one, the ChAh, another fun read. This is just book candy. Or ear candy since I am listening to these and Scott Brick the narrator is fabulous.
In this one, the Chinese government wants back an artifact that has been on loan to the Smithsonian, so they are sending a high ranking official to collect it. Problem is, the one in the Smithsonian is a fake because the real one was stolen and nobody knows who has it. So Kate and Nick's impossible task -- in order -- 1) find the real Bird (I picture it to look like The Maltese Falcon) and 2) swap it with the fake before the Chinese government arrives to pick it up. Luckily Nick has connections. Unluckily the timeline changes dramatically the and the Chinese collect the bird before the swap is made.
But that is the least of Nick and Kate's problems, the bigger issue is who they have to cross in order to get the bird. The main villain of the story is a guy who in my imagination is a cross between Dick Cheney and Donald Trump. So in other words, a real piece of work. He is a super powerful, super rich ex-secretary of state who now runs a private security/military company called Black Water er, um, Black Rhino. He's smart and very quickly figures out what Kate and Nick did. He is quick to retaliate because he's evil and petulant.
This book is just as fun and breezy as the last book with Nick and Kate as really great anchors. I really enjoy the characterization of these two: Kate the no-nonsense ex-military FBI agent who has the appetite of a 14 year old boy. I love the descriptions of her favorite meals, In-and-Out burgers, tacos, pretzel and french fry sandwiches. And the fact that no matter where they travel -- be it to China, Indonesia, or Nashville - poor Kate will always end up in coach in a middle seat.
Meanwhile Nick is always thinking and scheming. He has more contacts than a phone book and his tastes are much more Dom Perignon and Caviar than Kate's. And no matter where they travel, Nick manages to fly first class, in seats equipped with a shiatsu massager and a five star meal. I also like that even though he is now working for the FBI to bring down criminals, Nick manages to still make money as a side venture by bilking them for his own gain in the course of the con as well. He's still a thief after all.
Since Nick is working on the FBI's time, he refuses to use any of his criminal friends when they need to hire a crew. So he somehow manages to find civilians with an emotional stake in whatever con they are pulling. He recruits a new member for this one but he calls in a couple of old friends as well.
One of my favorites is Boyd the actor who is the bane of every director he has ever worked with. Boyd is a method actor and really needs to understand his part no matter how small or trivial. His scene as a pancake in a commercial had me in stitches. And I felt very sorry for his director in the toothpaste commercial because Boyd really needed to feel the despair in order to understand how changing toothpaste could change his life. Kate is always nervous with Boyd because she thinks he'll give them away. But Nick finds him a delight and has complete trust he'll pull off whatever they give him to do. And Nick is usually right because like Nick, Boyd completely commits!
Kate's dad makes a very welcome return as part of their crew and he's never met a weapon he didn't like to deploy. There is also Willie, the curvy blonde who can fly, drive or navigate any vehicle with an engine.
Still no real movement in the romance department, although Nick and Kate do get their flirt on quite a bit....more
This was like the book equivalent of sitting in a Saturday matinee, eating popcorn and having just an afternoon of mindless fun.
I love the tv show LevThis was like the book equivalent of sitting in a Saturday matinee, eating popcorn and having just an afternoon of mindless fun.
I love the tv show Leverage and this book is exactly in that vein. It is book that relies on the work of a long con to get the bad guys.
The main characters are Nick Fox and Kate O'Hare.
Nick is a handsome, charming thief who is always thinking ten moves ahead. He has perfected the art of the grift. Kate is the ex-military FBI agent who has been chasing Nick for years. He knows this and taunts her each time he slips away from her, not in a mean way but in a sexy "til the next time you almost catch me" way.
Kate finally catches him but in typical Nick fashion he oozes his way out of it. He convinces the FBI to use him as a way to catch even bigger, more elusive criminals. After all as the old adage says: it takes a thief to catch a thief. Kate is along as his beleaguered watcher and reluctant co-conspirator.
Their very first case is to catch a guy who embezzled half a billion dollars and escaped to parts unknown. They must find him, get him back on US soil and recover the money.
Like every self respecting con artist book, movie or tv show, they have to assemble a team of people with a different skill sets to help them pull this off. It was fun watching Nick pull in the crew and get to meet them.
The book is very light hearted and full of funny lines and great personalities. Kate and Nick couldn't be more different and I liked each one of them for different reasons. Kate is the no-nonsense person who loves being FBI. She's good with guns and hand-to-hand combat. I just adore the fact that petite Kate is basically the muscle. Whereas Nick is the twisty brains behind everything. He likes his luxury and creature comforts and even in a cave in the middle of an Island he manages to set a great table.
The supporting characters are great fun, but since this is a first book and we only meet them halfway through at first most of them tend to be background. I imagine as the series goes on we'll get to know them better. But of the crew I enjoyed Boyd, the method actor who really takes his part seriously and Kate's dad, Jake. Jake is also ex-military with a colorful, dangerous career that we only hear in bits an pieces.
This is all globe-trotting adventure with lots of banter and guns and fun character moments. Very little romance although Nick and Kate are very attracted to each other. Nick is down for it, obviously, he's a guy. But Kate still only sees him as her arch-nemesis, a criminal she is forced to work with. But I would guess at some point they'll get together. The signs are too glaring for it not to happen.
Edited to add: I listened to this in audio and the narrator was great. He has a nice rich voice and is good with accents. And he didn't do that really annoying thing that some male narrators do by doing a high falsetto when doing the female character voices....more
This book was over 1000 pages and it felt like I whipped right through it. Not once did I feel like I was being bogged down in words just for words' sThis book was over 1000 pages and it felt like I whipped right through it. Not once did I feel like I was being bogged down in words just for words' sake. I felt incredibly absorbed in the lives of some of the key characters. I have read 20k word novellas that have felt more of a slog than this book.
This isn't my first Sanderson book. One of the things that I learned from one of the first books of his that I read,Elantris is that he excels in creating a central character who has charisma to burn. Kaladin is that guy in this book.
One of my favorite tropes is the one where you have a single person, who by sheer force of their will and personality, can foment change. They come in with all kinds of odds stacked against them. They often have very few tangible resources. And yet, by the time the book is over, they have created a revolution. Sanderson has gone to that well before with great result, so maybe that is why I tend to gravitate toward his work. Kaladin, of course, is that guy. He is a man with a destiny and part of the enjoyment of this book is watching him as his feet find the path to that destiny.
Yeah, there were some draggy parts. Too many characters sometimes. There is a deep, deep history and a wide world scope that is sometimes a little dense to work through. But still I enjoyed the heck out of this and am glad I got the second book ready to go.
Still so, so very good!! This time I listened in audio
*********** Original Review
Sr. Chief Stan Wolchonok, SEAL team 16's own Mr. F***2020 re-read*****
Still so, so very good!! This time I listened in audio
*********** Original Review
Sr. Chief Stan Wolchonok, SEAL team 16's own Mr. Fix-It, witnesses Teri Howe (one of the best pilots in the Naval Reserves) being sexually harassed and wonders why she doesn't deck the guy? It turns out, Teri has a problem with assertiveness. So Stan takes it upon himself to work with Teri on assertiveness training. And even though he is madly in love/lust with her himself, he also undertakes to fix her up with a nice young man who can treat her well.
In the meantime, a group of terrorists, hijack a commercial airliner bound for Greece and instead force it to land in Kazbekistan. On the plane is Gina Vitagliano who becomes the one hostage through whom the terrorists communicate.
SEAL team 16 are deployed to rescue the hostages, with Sam Starrett running the op. The FBI sends in Max Baghat and his team, which includes Alyssa Locke, to either negotiate the safe release or stall the terrorists long enough for Sam and his team to rescue.
While in the steaming, hostile country affectionately called The Pit, Stan and Teri connect, Sam and Alyssa write another chapter in their stormy love story, Max and Gina are introduced and we learn a little back history about a WWII holocaust survivor.
This is one of my very favorite of the Troubleshooter series.
Stan/Teri: The main story of Stan and Teri is wonderful. Stan is not alpha dog material like Sam, but he still make a great hero. I love his inner dialogue about his feelings for Teri. Brockmann gives their story a light comic touch with Stan's attempts to set Teri up with the clueless Mike Muldoon while trying to suppress his own feelings for her. But she also tempers it with some gravitas when she allows Teri to open up to Stan about her past and why she has problems asserting herself.
Sam/Alyssa: This made my heart break. I can't deny that Sam and Alyssa's little dance is delicious to watch. The two of them spar words and snipe at each other and it doesn't seem contrived or cliche. This is because Brockmann has very clearly let the reader know that Sam and Alyssa's sniping is only "on" when they are in front of each other. Apart, the two of them are miserable in love. And then, when it looks like we are finally gonna get our happy ending -- BAM! something comes out of left field that makes it all kaput. That least scene with Alyssa all giddy and dressed up for Sam made me so sad. But in a weird way it crystallized my absolute love for Sam Starrett. Is his own macho asshole way, he is a wonderful, honorable man.
The Hijacking: As a main storyline this one can't be beat. We meet Gina for the first time. We delve into the character of Max. This is the nascent period of Brockmann's the second great long running romance arc, Max & Gina. I loved the scenes of the SEAL team as they drill tirelessly to board the plane using Alyssa, Jules and Teri as stand in terrorists. Sam's frustration at having to wait for the go ahead to board is palpable and his artistic and multiple uses of the word 'Fuck' is absolutely Homeric.
The WWII storyline: This was my least favorite of all the WWII storylines that pepper the series. I wasn't really involved in Helga's story very much. But I think that Brockmann did a great job in showing the character's confusion and disorientation as she begins showing the signs of Alzheimer's.
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