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A review by bookish_notes
Where Death Meets the Devil by L.J. Hayward
5.0
This review is also posted on my blog.
I love this book so much. This book is absolutely brilliant and I don't think I appreciated the story as much the first time I read this. The story is told from one POV, but in alternating chapters of "Now" and "Then". The two timelines are only a year apart, so there is a sense that everything's going to turn out okay eventually when you're reading the chapters set in the past, but there's a thrilling mystery that makes you question HOW. This book is full of intrigue and murder, love and betrayal. There are luxury cars, a camel named Sheila, a half-Indian MC, and a cinnamon roll assassin. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT.
Trigger warnings for violence, mentions of sex trafficking, mentions of child abuse, mentions of drug use, and a fight scene where dingoes are shot and killed.
This book keeps you on your toes. There's a lot of moving parts but I really love how the two timelines play off one another. There's stuff that happens in the past that shows up in the next chapter in the present. There isn't really a huge clue to the whodunit mystery reveal at the end, but there is a lot of mystery surrounding who the main character can trust. And that leaves you guessing throughout the story.
This book is told solely from one POV - Jack Reardon. He's former SAS (Special Air Service Regiment in Australia) and was recruited into a top-secret intelligence organization, simply known as "the Office". Jack got sent last-minute, and with a hasty debrief, into an assignment. At the start of this book, the chapters set in the past are on his 35th birthday and he's been working undercover for 15 months for a Mr. Valadian. Everything about his mission has come apart and this is when he first meets world renown assassin Ethan Blade.
Present-day, Jack's boss questions his loyalty after his last mission, but at least he's back home. Just when Jack thinks he'll never see Ethan again, Ethan shows up in the lobby of the Office asking for Jack, a place no one should know about and certainly not that Jack works there.
This is m/m romantic suspense at its best and I loved every second of this book. Ethan is intense, but strangely soft. I like that this story questions Jack and Ethan's morals and their job. Sure, Jack works for the government and kills who he's told to kill, but does that give him the moral high ground to Ethan, a man who chooses who he kills and gets paid very handsomely to do so? This is enemies-to-lovers, in a way. The two men have their own agendas, and trust is something that must be earned.
As intense as some scenes are in this story, and not knowing if Ethan is trustworthy or not, there's levity between the characters that really helps ease the tension. Some of my favorite tropes are in this book and I am weak for all of it:
-soft cinnamon roll badass who love animals and just wants to be complimented and praised
-sick character needs looking after
-forced proximity
-character who has a death wish by arguing with someone who could very well kill him and argues with said character anyway
This book is fun and there's a LOT packed into this story. The ending is rather abrupt, but the author has written an epilogue of sorts (the "Coda") that's available for free and picks up immediately after this book ends. It does leave this first book in the series with a much more satisfying ending. I do wish there was an audiobook for this story, because I would buy it in a heartbeat so I can re-read this over-and-over again. <3
I love this book so much. This book is absolutely brilliant and I don't think I appreciated the story as much the first time I read this. The story is told from one POV, but in alternating chapters of "Now" and "Then". The two timelines are only a year apart, so there is a sense that everything's going to turn out okay eventually when you're reading the chapters set in the past, but there's a thrilling mystery that makes you question HOW. This book is full of intrigue and murder, love and betrayal. There are luxury cars, a camel named Sheila, a half-Indian MC, and a cinnamon roll assassin. WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT.
Trigger warnings for violence, mentions of sex trafficking, mentions of child abuse, mentions of drug use, and a fight scene where dingoes are shot and killed.
This book keeps you on your toes. There's a lot of moving parts but I really love how the two timelines play off one another. There's stuff that happens in the past that shows up in the next chapter in the present. There isn't really a huge clue to the whodunit mystery reveal at the end, but there is a lot of mystery surrounding who the main character can trust. And that leaves you guessing throughout the story.
This book is told solely from one POV - Jack Reardon. He's former SAS (Special Air Service Regiment in Australia) and was recruited into a top-secret intelligence organization, simply known as "the Office". Jack got sent last-minute, and with a hasty debrief, into an assignment. At the start of this book, the chapters set in the past are on his 35th birthday and he's been working undercover for 15 months for a Mr. Valadian. Everything about his mission has come apart and this is when he first meets world renown assassin Ethan Blade.
Present-day, Jack's boss questions his loyalty after his last mission, but at least he's back home. Just when Jack thinks he'll never see Ethan again, Ethan shows up in the lobby of the Office asking for Jack, a place no one should know about and certainly not that Jack works there.
This is m/m romantic suspense at its best and I loved every second of this book. Ethan is intense, but strangely soft. I like that this story questions Jack and Ethan's morals and their job. Sure, Jack works for the government and kills who he's told to kill, but does that give him the moral high ground to Ethan, a man who chooses who he kills and gets paid very handsomely to do so? This is enemies-to-lovers, in a way. The two men have their own agendas, and trust is something that must be earned.
As intense as some scenes are in this story, and not knowing if Ethan is trustworthy or not, there's levity between the characters that really helps ease the tension. Some of my favorite tropes are in this book and I am weak for all of it:
-soft cinnamon roll badass who love animals and just wants to be complimented and praised
-sick character needs looking after
-forced proximity
-character who has a death wish by arguing with someone who could very well kill him and argues with said character anyway
This book is fun and there's a LOT packed into this story. The ending is rather abrupt, but the author has written an epilogue of sorts (the "Coda") that's available for free and picks up immediately after this book ends. It does leave this first book in the series with a much more satisfying ending. I do wish there was an audiobook for this story, because I would buy it in a heartbeat so I can re-read this over-and-over again. <3