Year: 2017

Synopsis: The way things are coming apart at home with Sean Meyer, she welcomes the chance to get away.

Tasked as security advisor to the specialist team at the centre of relief efforts, Charlie knows it won’t be easy. The team members are willing to put themselves in constant danger as a matter of course. But what kind of other risks are they prepared to take?

As Charlie soon discovers, it’s not just the ground beneath her feet that cannot be relied on. Her predecessor died conveniently while investigating rumours that the team were on the take, Charlie’s been instructed to quietly uncover whether his death was as accidental as the official verdict suggests. If it was an accident, why are they so obviously lying to her?

Charlie must move with care through a shifting landscape to find the answers before there are more than just earthquake victims buried in the rubble. And when disaster strikes she will learn not only whom she can trust, but whether she can she survive the darkness that comes with a total absence of light.

Kat’s Rating: 4/5

Kat’s Review: I’m not actually that keen on short stories or novellas, however at 218 pages I didn’t feel short changed. Book 10 in the series Die Easy was published in 2012 and this novella in 2013. Hence the reason I waited so long to read them as book 12 has just been released 4 years later (cue ridiculous excitement levels). Charlie has been sent out as part of a specialist team that are part of the relief efforts following a devastating earthquake in South America. Only it’s not as straightforward as that as she delves within the team to find out what really happened to her predecessor on this job. Was his death an accident or more involved? That’s where Charlie comes in and as usual she does it in her usual tactless but fearsome way.

There are many questions remaining from Die Easy regarding Charlie and her partner Sean. Although what has happened in the interim is addressed it just leaves the readers (or maybe just me) literally salivating at what will happen in the next book. The other element of the story regarding the death of her predecessor and the team working on the ground was really gripping. For what seems like the first time, we see Charlie at the mercy of something she can’t control…Mother Nature.

This book albeit shorter than her normal ones was no less satisfying and it has just left me desperate to see what happens with Sean in book 12. Although this could be read as a standalone there is absolutely no way or reason why anybody wouldn’t want to start at the beginning. A fantastic series which I am thrilled to see the return of!

Synopsis: ‘Sean didn’t remember finding out that I wasn’t to blame for ruining both our careers – that I’d nearly died for him. He certainly didn’t know that I’d killed for him.’

In the sweating heat of Louisiana, former Special Forces soldier turned bodyguard, Charlie Fox, faces her toughest challenge yet.

One thing’s for sure—no matter how overwhelming the odds stacked against her, Charlie Fox is never going to die easy …

Kat’s Rating: 4/5

***I have to assume that you have no plans to read the series in order from the beginning as this will inevitably contain spoilers*** 

Kat’s Review: So having finished book 9, I dove straight into this one and knew things would not have been easy for Charlie in the interim. Sean (her colleague and partner) has now returned to work with Charlie as a Close Protection Agent (aka Bodyguard) and Charlie just isn’t sure he is ready. Not only is he still recovering from a serious head injury that put him in a coma, but he still has a loss of memory for a few years in his past and that has a severe impact on Charlie. Their latest job is supposedly an easy one, however as with most things involving Charlie Fox nothing is ‘easy’.

Blake Dyer is their client and Charlie and Sean are employed to ensure his safety during a benefit in New Orleans to raise funds for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. The first quarter of the book does nothing but highlight the problems that Charlie is up against as Sean seems to have reverted back to his time in the Military and all of his finesse and business savvy seems to have gone out the window along with his memory. Once the real action gets underway it almost has an action movie feel to it as many people are taken hostage in the worst possible place!

This book was a lot more fast paced than the last one and I found myself feeling like it was a much pacier and more exciting read than the last one. The reader gets to see Charlie at her absolute best and all I can say is that I wouldn’t want to annoy this woman as she is a force to be reckoned with. There’s also an ongoing story thread that gets continued in this book relating to an assault on Charlie many years before. It seemed like the action, trouble and death defying things continued chapter by chapter right up to the very end. This book was one that you didn’t want to put down and as the story continued I felt myself disliking Sean more and more as time went on. By the end of the book, the epilogue just seemed to put the icing on the cake with lots of possibilities for the next book. The follow on to this is the Novella Absence of Light. Keep your eyes peeled as this I am already reading with a view to picking up book 12 VERY soon!!!!

**PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT continue to read the review if you plan on reading the series in order as it will inevitably contain spoilers**

Synopsis: The only thing more terrifying than fighting for your life is fighting for someone else’s… Bodyguard and ex-Special Forces soldier Charlie Fox would do anything to take her mind off her partner; shot, left for dead and now lying in a coma. So concentrating on a new assignment seemed like the perfect way to escape the pain, and her own empty apartment. The job looked simple: to protect the naive daughter of an investment banker from a ruthless gang of kidnappers. But when her instincts lead Charlie to suspect an inside job, she finds out that not everyone who mingles with the jet-set is what they seem – and the idle rich can be as ruthless as any criminal… An electrifying tale of cross and double-cross, Fifth Victim will keep you firmly on the edge of your seat.

Kat’s Rating: 4/5

Kat’s Review: At the end of the last book, I think most readers and fans were in shock (me included) as Charlie’s partner was shot and left for dead and who knew what would happen. What actually happened is worse than I expected as Sean now lays critically ill in a coma, unresponsive and looking like no change will happen anytime soon. With Sean critically ill Charlie finds solace in her work as she takes her latest assignment to protect Dina the daughter of a wealth investment banker named Caroline Willner.

Charlie immerses herself in the job as she struggles to accept the fact that Sean’s condition is out of her hands. Although Charlie can adept to many situations she hadn’t banked on being drawn into a world where twenty something Dina runs with the wealth party crowd. Thankfully Dina has a softer side and we see Charlie work her magic and start to understand Dina a little more whilst making her safety her number on priority. It becomes clear early on that the kidnapping threat is a real one to the wealthy crowd and before long Charlie starts to uncover that some other of Dina’s friends had recently been kidnapped and lived to tell the tale. As she gets to know more of Dina’s friends it becomes apparent that all is not as it seems on the surface.

The storyline was a good one but seeing Charlie interact with her boss Parker and her personal struggle with her emotions over Sean was the real hook for me in this book. Parker is a great character and frankly I wondered whether the outcome of this book may be slightly different with regards to him (damn you Zoe Sharp)!  Zoe Sharp doing what she does best meant the ending of this book leaves an “OH NO… what now” kind of moment. Of course, that equates in the real world to me just moving straight on to book 10 in the series (there are SOME benefits to being slightly behind with a series after all) and not having to wait for the next release.

I literally turned the last page and am now nearly done with book 10 and about to go on to book 11 which is a Novella. I can’t quite explain why I love this series so much but I truly do. I think this along with the Ryan Lock Series by Sean Black are my two favorite long standing series. Zoe Sharp also doesn’t like to do what readers expect which I love. Forget assumption with this author, she won’t necessarily go for the happy ending that’s for sure. What I can tell you is that this series is gripping, with characters I love and I would hugely recommend it to anyone.