Saturday, May 14, 2016

Hell and High Water Review

When homicide detective Dexter J. Daley’s testimony helps send his partner away for murder, the consequences—and the media frenzy—aren’t far behind. He soon finds himself sans boyfriend, sans friends, and, after an unpleasant encounter in a parking garage after the trial, he’s lucky he doesn’t find himself sans teeth. Dex fears he’ll get transferred from the Human Police Force’s Sixth Precinct, or worse, get dismissed. Instead, his adoptive father—a sergeant at the Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron otherwise known as the THIRDS—pulls a few strings, and Dex gets recruited as a Defense Agent.

Dex is determined to get his life back on track and eager to get started in his new job. But his first meeting with Team Leader Sloane Brodie, who also happens to be his new jaguar Therian partner, turns disastrous. When the team is called to investigate the murders of three HumaniTherian activists, it soon becomes clear to Dex that getting his partner and the rest of the tightknit team to accept him will be a lot harder than catching the killer—and every bit as dangerous.


My Review:
5 stars

I loved this book! The characters, the writing style, the plot, everything! To start with, all of the characters, from Dex and Sloane down to all the secondary characters, were well-written and engaging. I felt like I was entering their world, they were so lifelike and three-dimensional. All the characters had their own personalities and quirks which might have been too much going on in the wrong author’s hands. However, Cochet weaves them together well, introducing a fascinating team dynamic that made the entire book such a joy to read.

Out of all the characters though, Dex stole the show and my heart. He’s a smartass who’s not afraid to say what needs to be said or do what needs to be done. Plus, he has some of the best quotes ever. “What’s Sparta, and please tell me there are guys in togas. “I don’t want you getting caught up in the gravitational pull of my awesomeness.” And he makes random fandom references! I could go on and on. He has so many hysterical moments, it’s just perfect. Plus I have finally met someone with a bigger music addiction than me. All in all, Dex summed himself up perfectly…“It’s dangerous having this much game.”

On par with all Dex’s quotes was the story telling. I love Cochet’s writing style, how she manages to slip in little funny bits that fit the story and let you learn more about the characters without having an infodump or dialogue, which is how you typically learn about characters. For example, “There were hot, sweaty guys beating the crap out of each other in the same room, and Cael was playing around online. Dex was going to have a serious talk with his brother.” Fun little tidbits that just made the story that much more enjoyable, and helped counteract the serious issues and sadness that arose from the murders and mystery going on.

As for the mystery, the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. I did not see the ending coming, which says a lot. I couldn’t stop reading all the way till the end, and even then I wanted to go back and re-read the book all over again…no, scratch that, I wanted to read the sequel and then go back and re-read both books. Yes, the story does end with a cliffhanger, which is why I put off reading the series for so long, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. We tie up the mystery and introduce the villain for book 2. Kind of like how Captain America ended his first movie being frozen in ice and then waking up in New York, setting him up for his inclusion in The Avengers. So I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would.

And don’t even get me started on all the world-building going on. I loved the world that Charlie has created here with The Thirds. I could tell she put a lot of thought and effort into it just by reading the book, and it was phenomenal. I am just going to leave it at that because otherwise this will turn into an exceptionally long review.

All in all though, I cannot recommend this book enough. I loved it so much, that I am already through book 2 (which I will add my review for later) and on to book 3. To basically sum up my review…What are you waiting for? READ THE DANG BOOK!!

Amazon     |     Dreamspinner Press

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