Running for his life wasn’t exactly what Portland PI Jake Brand had in mind when he accepted his latest client—but that’s exactly what he and Sarah, his best friend and assistant, find themselves doing in this heart-pounding sequel to Angel’s Devil. Deception fueled by money begins when a beautiful woman throws down serious cash for Jake to find her missing boyfriend. Violence follows when Jake and Sarah discover the couple is connected to a hacker who colors outside the lines, a beautiful pharmaceutical sales rep, a slimy cop who can’t take a punch, and a federal agent bent on hiding the truth. They all know too much—and soon enough, so do Jake and Sarah. In the midst of the danger, Jake finds time to annoy his yoga instructor, and fall for the woman with more secrets than answers.
Review:
Not having read or heard Angel's Devil, I don't feel as if I've missed anything by jumping straight into the second novel. Jake is a pretty straight-forward character. He's a private investigator struggling to make ends meet from job to job. He has an assistant that pretty much runs the office, and him, with efficiency. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, Sarah winds up living with Jake - as friends only, no romance there peeps. Jake picks up a suspicious client which eventually has Jake and Sarah running for their lives under different identities. Whether or not they can return back to their "normal" lives is yet to be determined (well, that, or I'm just not telling you so as not to spoil it for you).
I had some issues with this story. At first, I was getting into it. The narrator's voice instantly took me to the old black-and-white noir film adaptation in my head - even the majority of the dialogue and how the female characters were portrayed supported that type of setting and mood. Until the narrator mentioned the internet and cell phones. It was a mental jerk that I didn't appreciate. It just didn't fit.
Jake was private investigator, yes, but he was formerly in the military and is currently taking jiu jitsu. With all of that background and training, Jake seemed too trusting and naive. If it wasn't every fight he was in, it was the majority, where he got his ass kicked yet he eventually succeeded in subduing the perp. And don't get me started on the women (who all seemed to have dark hair and blue eyes, by the way) - Every woman Jake came into contact with seemed to be instantly sexually attracted to Jake. Even towards the end of the story, it seemed that Sarah was hinting around at her feelings for Jake.
Apologies to the author, but I did not like this experience at all. Maybe it would've been better had I read the story instead of listening .... no ... I can't even say that. I still think I would've disliked this story. This only gets one star from me.
*This audiobook was downloaded for free from Audible.com in exchange for an honest review.