AUTHOR: MADELEINE
URBAN & ABIGAIL ROUX
Pages: 376
Date: 27/08/2013
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 1 Cut & Run
Own / Kindle
The blurb:
“A series of murders in New York City has stymied
the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer
sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to
the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the
case.
Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliché: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.
Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again – this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.”
Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliché: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.
Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again – this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.”
Let me start with
saying that I need a new series to fall in love with like I need a hole in the
head. And yet, I allowed friends to convince me that I should really read this
book. And I did in the full knowledge that if I did like “Cut & Run” there would
be at least another six books I want to read. And - since I have friends with
good taste - I find myself loving the story and the characters in it and
frantically looking for ways I can convince myself that buying the sequels is
actually a necessity rather than a luxury and therefore not only allowed but
required.
And boy did I love
this book. From the moment I picked it up I was hooked. Ty Grady and Zane
Garrett had my attention from the moment they appeared on the page. Even while
they were hating each other and exchanging one rude remark for another the
chemistry between Ty and Zane is palpable while at the same time they made me
smile and at times laugh out loud. Once the hate turns into something else –
something neither of them is willing to name or fully acknowledge – the story
really kicks off. And that is just the romantic part of this story. The
suspense part is equally fascinating and addictive. The combination of the
reluctant attraction between these two men and the constant threat they’re facing
makes this an adrenaline filled read, near impossible to put down.
Usually when I read
“Romantic Suspense” I get impatient with either the romantic or the suspenseful
part of the story because I just want to know how the other part is going to
conclude. Not so in this book. I was just as eager to find out who is trying to
kill Zane and Ty as I was to see their volatile relationship develop.
What I really
admired in this book is that the authors didn’t go for miracle solutions for
either the relationship or the mystery. This relationship between two men who
each have enough issues to break a person down completely, was never going to
be smooth or easy and, thankfully, the authors didn’t give the story some
unconvincing twist to facilitate an unrealistic happily ever after. And the
same can be said for the mystery Ty and Zane are trying to solve. While they
did stumble on part of the solution by accident, it happened in a convincing
way and didn’t come with a sudden transformation from “completely clueless” to “full
insight”.
I loved that we get
this story from both Ty and Zane’s point of view. We can see both men struggle
with each other and with themselves. I liked that while both men had
heterosexual relationships in their pasts, there was no belly-aching over this
attraction to each other. While both of them had great difficulty sharing their
feelings with the other, or even acknowledging them to themselves, they just went
with their attraction and turned it into something beautiful and very erotic.
And, I can’t help feeling that the dynamics between these two men will only get
more intriguing and a lot hotter as the stories continue.
So, it may be clear
from what I wrote above that I loved this book. Then why, I hear you ask, did I
“only” grade it 4.5? There are a few reasons.
First of all I had
the killer pegged from the moment he entered the story. I was hoping it would
turn out to be somebody else but I turned out to be right. And while you might
think I’d relish the fact that I got it right in one go, I am in fact always a
bit disappointed when the big reveal doesn’t surprise me.
Secondly, I wasn’t
entirely convinced by the sudden change in character Ty and Zane went through
in the middle of the book. It certainly was intriguing but really didn’t make a
whole lot of sense even if more or less plausible reasons were provided.
My last and main
reason though is that I have been reliably informed that the books in this
series only get better. Rating this book 4.5 rather than 5 means that I will be
able to raise the score if it turns out that I indeed end up loving these books
and these characters more with every subsequent title.
Of course, falling
in love with a series of books this much leaves me in a bit of a quandary. As
much as I would love to read the next six books back to back I’ve committed to
too many reviews to give in to that urge. While I fully expect to read these
books in rather quick succession in the near future, those prior commitments
force me to take it slow. That is not altogether bad though; I know myself well
enough to realize that I’m going to be heartbroken when I finish reading the
last available title. So maybe I should be grateful that I don’t have a choice
but to take it slowly. After all, every successful relationship requires
patience.
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