Tag Archives: thriller

False Front Illicit intent

Book Review: False Front & Illicit Intent, by Debbie Baldwin

I first came across the Bishop Security Series, by Debbie Baldwin, when I posted a Book Blitz on Sadie’s Spotlight. When I realized she’s a local-to-me author I mentioned it on Instagram and she contacted me asking if I’d be interested in reviewing the book. Thus, here we are.

False Front

Description from Goodreads:

Emma Porter is not real. She is an accomplished young woman, living a fulfilling life in New York City, working for an online news agency, and striving toward normalcy. The truth, however, is something else. She was once Emily Webster, a child of privilege, and the twenty-first century Lindbergh Baby. Her high-profile, unexplained abduction and subsequent rescue led to a childhood of paranoia and preparedness, as her kidnapper remained at large and still on the hunt. With her father’s guidance and resources, Emily became Emma Porter, living each day in her new identity, vigilant and unattached. Unattached but for the seemingly unbreakable tether that connects her to the man who, as a young boy, lived next door.

Like Emma, Nathan Bishop is not what he seems. Preparing to helm his family’s defense contracting company, Nathan is better known for his womanizing and reckless behavior than his business acumen. His striking image peppers the pages of society tabloids and police blotters, but beneath the facade of a rake, lurks a warrior. When an arms dealer procures a lethal bioweapon and is rumored to be selling it on U.S. soil, Nathan and his team must use every resource at their disposal to stop the threat.

With danger closing in, fate, once again, puts Emma in Nathan’s path, and the two must determine if the weathered bond between them is enough to find the truth behind their false fronts.

Review:

I’m of two minds about this book. On one hand the writing is sharp and it’s a rollicking good time of a read. On the other, there are quite a few elements included that, while common to the genre, I personally dislike in a book and, thus, had to pointedly look over. The Rich, Pretty-Pretty Princess Who Everyone Adores is a heroine I can’t come close to relating to. The Rich, Playboy Who Treats Women as Commodities But Every Woman Still Wants always just seems like an asshole to me and I don’t understand the appeal. (Baldwin played this off as not the real Bishop, but it’s real enough when he first meets Emma. It’s real enough to all those women he beds. His behavior is real enough.)

I thought the long standing love the two characters had for each other wasn’t all “AWW, they’re soulmates”which I recognize is how it’s supposed to read and can appreciate itbut instead it just felt obsessive and creepy, very unhealthy (especially on Emma’s part). Surely one of the many therapists would point that out. The innocent platonic love of SMALL children shouldn’t so easily turn to lust, IMO. The inclusion of a minor villain being a scorned woman is cliched to the point of irritation, and the fact that the book wrapped up QUICKLY in marriage and babies is BEYOND cliched and, in fact, felt tacked on. (I don’t consider that a spoiler because these sorts of books ALWAYS end this way…and that’s part of my complaint. Like Baldwin had to go, “Oh, people won’t consider it a real HEA if I don’t include this last bit.)

But those are all just personal complaints, not objective ones. Objectively, this fits the genre and is well written. Other than one minor inconstancy (a gift that seems to have been opened twice) this reads well and wraps up in a satisfyingly circular, if questionably serendipitous, manner. I’m looking forward to reading book two.


Illicit IntentDescription from Goodreads:

Calliope Garland’s newsdesk assignment was fairly straightforward—dig up the dirt on the sketchy CEO of a Wall Street hedge fund. But when the man is murdered and valuable data destroyed, a simple investigation turns deadly. Calliope is unwittingly in possession of vital financial information and a priceless work of art; either of which may get her killed. With an ever-growing list of people who want to harm her, Calliope must set aside her reservations and turn to the one man she knows can trust.

Miller “Tox” Buchanan is a study in contradictions: kind but lethal, passionate but distant, self-possessed yet hesitant. He knows he should keep his distance, but when Calliope is hurled into danger, Tox will stop at nothing to protect her.

…Her first instinct wasn’t to dial 911 but rather to call a certain Navy SEAL. She forced down the antiquated damsel in distress fantasy floating around in her head and rationalized the police would surely ask questions she was unwilling or unable to answer. She brought up her contacts. At the bottom, she touched the entry labeled, Tox, and the call rang through. A grizzly bear answered.
“This better be good.”
“Tox?”
“Calliope?”
“I need your help…”

Review:

In having reached the end of this book, I have to make a decision pertaining to reviewing it. (Well, these books. I could have said the same thing at the end of book one.) Do I review and rate it based on my own likes/dislikes or how it fits the requirements of it’s genre? Because while I read and enjoy certain parts of this genre, there are some aspects of it I seriously dislike and Bladwin adheres to them.

But how do I weight them, as personal pet peeves or as genre expectations? Example (and I don’t consider this a spoiler because of the aforementioned genre expectations. Anyone who doesn’t know how this book ends probably doesn’t read many in this genre.) The book ends with a big diamond ring, wedding bells, and a baby. (As did the last one and sooooo many others.) I expect many readers really do read with barely suppressed excitement, thinking, “Yes, give me those culturally mandated feel-good moments.” While I approach the end of such books with an increasing sense of dread, wondering when I’ll be disappointed by that same culturally cliched predictability. I promise there are other kinds of happily-ever-afters for women than swollen bellies and baby booties. I PROMISE. But can I really fault Baldwin for writing what the genre expects? I don’t know, but I want to. I get so BORED with the same endings. I always hope I’ll be surprised on this matter. I rarely am. And they’re so often tacked on after the main thriller/suspense plot has come to a natural conclusion.

Having said all of that, Baldwin does also subvert several problematic tropes in enjoyable ways. Tox is basically an anti-alpha-asshole. He has all those same brutish, possessive tendencies that fill books of this sort, but he’s aware of them and making concerted efforts to counter them. Calliope is so flighty and carefree as to seem child-like (and infantilizing female characters, especially in romance irritates the heck out of me). But she’s also forward, assertive, and not content to sit home folding laundry in the end. There are several examples of the classic ‘dead parent’ trope. But the number of loving and supportive non-biological families fill the void.

I did find the the circuitous nature and the suspense aspect of the book more compelling than the romance. I liked both characters and even liked them together. But I think the romance was shown to be fairly focused on lust and we’re told that is love. I also got a little bored with the ‘he’s so BIG (everywhere).” Sexual dimorphism is a thing, sure, but  I don’t really consider it a turn on and the everywhere aspect of if just seemed like it should be painful.

All in all, I didn’t find this personally faultless. But I do think the writing is eminently readable, editing clean, cast of characters every growing but interesting, and the series well worth pursuing further.

false front illicit intent

faith against the wolves

Book Review: Faith Against the Wolves, by Jonathan Chateau

faith against the wolves cover

I picked up a free Audible code for Jonathan Chateau‘s Faith Against the Wolves somewhere around the internet. Though it doesn’t seem to be available for purchase anymore.

about the book

A professional transporter of supernatural goods has his faith tested when given a chest that contains something allegedly touched by God.

Meet Travis Rail, a professional transporter of supernatural goods. Aside from his martial arts proficiency, skill behind the wheel and solid track record of deliveries, what makes him qualified to do what he does is that he doesn’t believe in the supernatural claims of his clients – which keeps him objective, honest and detached.

Or so he thought.

When his latest client has him transport a chest containing something allegedly touched by Jesus, his world gets turned upside down. Not twenty minutes into the delivery the Rift show up – an underground cult hell-bent on collecting all of the treasures of God. However, it turns out that not only were they after the chest, they were after Travis as well.

“Who exactly are the Rift? Why do they want him dead? And is what he’s transporting truly of Jesus?”

In his quest for answers, Travis is reluctantly thrust into another delivery, transporting yet another one of God’s treasures. And the closer he gets to completing this delivery, the more he learns that what he’s delivering might just be bigger than the package itself.

my review

When I started this, the first thing I heard was, “This is Faith Against the Wolves, a supernatural thriller.” It’s quite insistent about being a SUPERNATURAL thriller, insistent enough to put it in the tile of the Audible tract. Which is all well and good, except that it isn’t just a supernatural thriller. It’s a Christian thriller, maybe a Christian supernatural thriller or supernatural Christian thriller, but that Christian really can’t be left out and maintain honesty. I’ve read plenty of books that use religious material as plot fodder and plenty more that have subtle (and not so subtle) religious themes. This is neither of those. This is a flat out religious book. I would go so far as to call it a homily on prayer even. I mean, an angel (among others) comes to Earth to lecture the main character on how to properly pray, for goodness sake.

And I have no problem with it Christian stories generally. But I’m not a fan of proselytizing on the best day and I’m really not a fan of the sneak attack. If an author wants to write religious fiction, fine, but be honest about what it is!

Outside of my annoyance about it not being honest with it’s sub-genre, I thought it was an OK read (listen). An awful lot of it consists of Travis getting beat up and I might quibble with the oh-so-cliched use of a woman using her sexuality as a weapon as a villain. But it has a story that moves along nicely and I appreciate that, for religious fiction, it at least acknowledged Christianity’s bloody past. Chris Rice did a fine job with the narration, though I noticed a few grammatical mistakes. Hard to tell who those fall on though, the author or narrator, but there you have it.

All in all, I’d call this a fine, but not outstanding read for me, personally. Your mileage may vary.

arctic chill

Book Review of Arctic Chill, by Arnaldur Indriðason

I borrowed a copy of Arnaldur Indriðason‘s Arctic Chill from the Little Free Library. I was completely thrilled to see a book by an author whose name started with the letter I. I do an alphabet challenge every year and an ‘I’ author is one of the hardest to come up with.

Description from Goodreads:

The Reykjavik police are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Erlendur and his team embark on their investigation and soon unearth tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland’s outwardly liberal, multicultural society.

In this new extraordinary thriller from Gold Dagger Award winner Arnaldur Indridason, the Reykjavik police are called on an icy January day to a garden where a body has been found: a young, dark-skinned boy is frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Erlendur and his team embark on their investigation and soon unearth tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland’s outwardly liberal, multicultural society. Meanwhile, the boy’s murder forces Erlendur to confront the tragedy in his own past. Soon, facts are emerging from the snow-filled darkness that are more chilling even than the Arctic night.

Review:

I thought this was interesting in some respects and a little dull in others. Being a book translated from Icelandic, reading the culture from an insider perspective was a treat. So was the atmosphere of the book, all bleak and cold like the environment. Similarly, I felt like (as an American reading an Icelandic book) this isn’t a book an American could write. Certainly we, as a people, struggle with some of the same issues brought up in the book. The immigration arguments could have shown up on any right-wing media outlet here, for example. But the fact that the investigation so quickly and strongly focused on the child’s race would never have passed muster in American fiction, I think. It addresses racism too starkly. Again, interesting.

But at the same time, the vast majority of this book is the detectives going around and asking various people the same questions and getting largely the same answers. It was slow going until a sudden break led to solving the case at the end. All in all, I’d read another Inspector Erlendur book, but I’m not rushing out to do it.