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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
The Ultimatum on Books On Track
I mistakenly thought that this book was a standalone until I reached the end and there were too many loose ends left hanging...
It is the story of Bianca, a very skilled thief among other things, who loses her father on one of their missions. A lot of people are still looking for him and she tries to keep herself out of their crosshairs, and finally starts looking for answers about the past that she's forgotten and the parts of her father's life that she knew nothing about.
In the end it is revealed that
Spoiler
he isn't really dead and she isn't really his biological daughter. She is the result and only survivor of a top secret project to create super soldiers, and he was an agent who rescued her and defected.That explains how she was so good at everything and why he trained her as he did, which ended up saving both of their lives, as well as the lives of his wife and young daughter that Bianca believed was her sister
There is no real romance in this part of the story which left me quite disgruntled, but there was some chemistry between Bianca and Mickey, the undercover agent whom she encounters a handful of times during her adventures.
The series continues with [b:The Moscow Deception|35272474|The Moscow Deception (The Guardian, #2)|Karen Robards|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524518342l/35272474._SY75_.jpg|56631343], where Bianca's life will likely be a lot more complicated...
In a small, one story house on the shore of Lake Michigan. On a cold October night a man was there to kill everyone who lived in the house. Mother Issa was waiting for husband to come home and four-year-old Beth was excited that daddy was coming home. A man set fire to their house and then blew Thayer's head off when he got out of his car. The man's mission had been completed he had killed everyone who had lived in the house.
Bianca is smart, talented and beautiful. She's also a high-end thief, a master manipulator, a card shark and a genius of disguise. A female Robin Hood running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole and giving it back to those who should rightfully have it. Her father has prepared her well to carry on the family business, and now the prodigy has surpassed the master.
But her latest mission didn't go to plan - millions of dollars and top secret government documents went missing, and her father was supposedly killed. But not everyone believes in his death, including US government. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives , a target who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world. Even if it means using Bianca as bait.
With only a criminal backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened and set it right, before it's too late.
Bianca is smart, talented and beautiful. She's also a high-end thief, a master manipulator, a card shark and a genius of disguise. A female Robin Hood running a multinational firm with her father, she makes a living swindling con men out of money they stole and giving it back to those who should rightfully have it. Her father has prepared her well to carry on the family business, and now the prodigy has surpassed the master.
But her latest mission didn't go to plan - millions of dollars and top secret government documents went missing, and her father was supposedly killed. But not everyone believes in his death, including US government. They'll stop at nothing to capture Richard St. Ives , a target who has been on most-wanted lists all over the world. Even if it means using Bianca as bait.
With only a criminal backup and her life on the line, it's up to Bianca to uncover the terrifying truth behind what really happened and set it right, before it's too late.
The Ultimatum is the first book in The Guardian series which promises to be a good one. Bianca is a thief who works with her father to pull off very elaborate cons and steal valuable items. Near the beginning of the book, Bianca's father is killed in the middle of a job, so Bianca opens a security business in Savannah, Georgia and tries to live a somewhat normal life. It isn't long though, before her past comes back to haunt her. Bianca has left open several avenues of communication in the faint hope that her father is still alive. One of them has been breached by someone offering him a job. Bianca pulls the job in hopes of finding her father, but in the process, finds out more about herself and her father than she had planned. She also has several encounters with an attractive but mysterious stranger that keeps popping up in her business and making it tough for her to forget about him.
By the end of the book, I enjoyed the story very much and am looking forward to the next installment of the series. My only complaint was that so much time was spent at the beginning of the book detailing the job in which Bianca's father died, that very little time was left for what turned out to be the meat of the story. As a result, a lot of the details and character development were left unexplored. I'm hoping for more in the next book in the series. Overall, a very good beginning to what could be a very intriguing series.
By the end of the book, I enjoyed the story very much and am looking forward to the next installment of the series. My only complaint was that so much time was spent at the beginning of the book detailing the job in which Bianca's father died, that very little time was left for what turned out to be the meat of the story. As a result, a lot of the details and character development were left unexplored. I'm hoping for more in the next book in the series. Overall, a very good beginning to what could be a very intriguing series.
Really 4.5 stars, do to a slow section in the first third of the book and typo/formatting issues that will hopefully be fixed in the final version. I've decided that the slow section is background for additional books that will be in the series.
This book was a great vacation read. The plot was good. The use of a strong female that I could like was refreshing. I couldn't put the book down in the last hundred pages, which I flew through. The ending is great and I look forward to the next installment.
I have recommended that my husband read this book. We'll see if he can accept a strong female character. He doesn't normally like them even though he's married to one.
I won't be surprised if this story is a future action movie.
Disclosure: I received this advanced copy as a Goodreads Giveaway and it in no way influenced my review.
This book was a great vacation read. The plot was good. The use of a strong female that I could like was refreshing. I couldn't put the book down in the last hundred pages, which I flew through. The ending is great and I look forward to the next installment.
I have recommended that my husband read this book. We'll see if he can accept a strong female character. He doesn't normally like them even though he's married to one.
I won't be surprised if this story is a future action movie.
Disclosure: I received this advanced copy as a Goodreads Giveaway and it in no way influenced my review.
Read for 2018 PopSugar: A book involving a heist
I got an ARC at the ALA conference last year.
This is a pretty typical crime thriller. A fun read, although not very believable at times. Although there are reasons for that (and it turns out to be a similar reason to another book read shortly after this). I do wish that the whole romance between St. Ives and her pursuer had not been in there. That really annoyed me.
I got an ARC at the ALA conference last year.
This is a pretty typical crime thriller. A fun read, although not very believable at times. Although there are reasons for that (and it turns out to be a similar reason to another book read shortly after this). I do wish that the whole romance between St. Ives and her pursuer had not been in there. That really annoyed me.
I am already looking forward to reading the next book in the series! Bianca is the perfect heroine.
I really thought I was going to like this more than I did.
Given that this book was supposed to be about a kick-ass secret-laden, grifter-cum-scammer woman, I expected that the book would be fast-paced, suspenseful, dramatic excitement with no-holds-barred. Instead, it felt very slow and it just didn't hold my attention enough for me to want to finish it.
It wasn't bad, exactly. I liked Bianca. I even liked the supporting characters. The story was well written and well plotted with some interesting things going on. I think it just missed the mark for me because I was expecting one thing and I got something totally different.
Given that this book was supposed to be about a kick-ass secret-laden, grifter-cum-scammer woman, I expected that the book would be fast-paced, suspenseful, dramatic excitement with no-holds-barred. Instead, it felt very slow and it just didn't hold my attention enough for me to want to finish it.
It wasn't bad, exactly. I liked Bianca. I even liked the supporting characters. The story was well written and well plotted with some interesting things going on. I think it just missed the mark for me because I was expecting one thing and I got something totally different.
I won an advance copy of this book and was really excited because I enjoy the author. The book was enjoyable and I did get into it. I didn't realize it was a series until I finished the book which was disappointing because now I have to wait for the next book. Which brings me to my biggest problem with the book, I can buy into being a super agile, smart, tricky thief (it's a work of fiction) but then to find out Bianca was genetically engineered to be a "super" human, I am not quite sure why the plot had to go there. I will probably read the second book when it comes out just because I do like the author and have read the majority of her books.
This book was AMAZING!!! I mean I usually go for paranormal/sci-fi stuff, but sometimes that gets to be overwhelming and too much. Karen did such a great job writing this story and Bianca's character that I felt like a bad ass just reading it. I really enjoyed how Bianca is not your average female protagonist, she isn't some damsel, she can take care of herself. I also enjoyed the spy/con-artist/action side of it and how Karen did such a good job describing those parts of the book it was almost like I was watching it on a screen or I was seeing it play out right in front of me. One part that was also really empowering from a female perspective is that there was no forced love interest/interaction ( yes there is a man with which she has some chemistry, but in this book it isn't like she is forced but her "female wills" to immediately start an unhealthy relationship or jump on the guy for no apparent reason ).
Towards the end there is a twist that had me unable to put the book down and my mouth gapped with surprise. You can kind of understand it but you definitely do not expect it in this type of book, I cannot say I am mad.
I am feverishly waiting for the second one to come out, and I am sure I won't be able to put that one down either.
Towards the end there is a twist that had me unable to put the book down and my mouth gapped with surprise. You can kind of understand it but you definitely do not expect it in this type of book, I cannot say I am mad.
I am feverishly waiting for the second one to come out, and I am sure I won't be able to put that one down either.
The first hundred pages flew by! I only meant to read 1 chapter before bed or something like that but I was pulled in by the action-packed thrilling heist/escape venture. The middle felt like that middle flat-line & so slow but the last 50 was again suspenseful and James Bonds-esque.
Bianca St. Ives knows her stuff. She's been trained very well by her father but when he unexpectedly died, she drew back to live life like a normal woman. Others at play, however, do not believe her father's death and keen to bring him out to the open. And Bianca was drawn into this life and death game only to discover her father is not who she thought he was, that she's not who she thought she was.
A complete page-turner and I think in a normal situation, I would've given it a lot more stars but I am finding it a little hard to read these days and this didn't really grabbed my attention as I thought it would've. Plus, I just get sooo impatient with action-y books because what could be a 5 second film clip would take me at least 2 minutes to read although all that descriptions are important to set the scene. Also, I expected some romance and that was kinda missing :/
Bianca St. Ives knows her stuff. She's been trained very well by her father but when he unexpectedly died, she drew back to live life like a normal woman. Others at play, however, do not believe her father's death and keen to bring him out to the open. And Bianca was drawn into this life and death game only to discover her father is not who she thought he was, that she's not who she thought she was.
A complete page-turner and I think in a normal situation, I would've given it a lot more stars but I am finding it a little hard to read these days and this didn't really grabbed my attention as I thought it would've. Plus, I just get sooo impatient with action-y books because what could be a 5 second film clip would take me at least 2 minutes to read although all that descriptions are important to set the scene. Also, I expected some romance and that was kinda missing :/