REVIEW BY: Christie
TITLE: Tempest
SERIES: Playing the Fool #3
AUTHOR: Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 5h 22m
RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2016
BLURB:
Something wicked this way comes.
FBI Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness and con man Henry Page are on the run again. This time they’re headed back to where it all began: Altona, Indiana. Population: some goats. Henry’s not happy about lying low at the McGuinness family farm, but they’ve got nowhere else to go.
While Mac fights to clear his name and Henry struggles with whose side he’s really on, a ghost from the past threatens to destroy everything. And those aren’t the only storms on the radar. Cut off from both sides of the law, Mac and Henry must rely on their tenuous partnership to survive.
If Henry can convince himself to let Mac see the man behind the disguises, they’ll stand a chance of beating the forces that conspire against them. The course of true love never did run smooth, but for the two of them, it might be their only hope.
REVIEW:
I started listening to this book, curious as to whether it can be read/ listened to as a stand alone. Five minutes into it, I decided that it most definitely cannot. So, I bought both The Two Gentlemen of Altona, and The Merchant of Death. After listening to both of the preceding books, I confirmed that if you have not yet read the first two books in the series, then Tempest will most certainly be lost on you.
**Please note that if you have not actually read The Two Gentlemen of Altona, and The Merchant of Death, this review absolutely contains spoilers and should be avoided at all cost until you have checked the first two books in the series out.
That being said, on to the meat of the review.
Someone out there does not like Mac, and set him up BIG time. Internal Affairs somehow gets an erroneous tip that Mac is a dirty cop with a penchant for cocaine. Not only that, but they find some in his office! Well, obviously this is a load of hooey and Mac would never do this in a million years. But the thing is, Mac needs to get out of town before anything else happens.
So, he, Henry, and Viola rush to the McGuinness family farm where the twins get to meet Mac’s parents. I know what you’re thinking: “Oh boy, this is going to get quite interesting.” And yes, it really did. Mac’s niece is staying with his parents for a while, and she and Viola hit it off famously. Poor Henry likes the idea, but is a little thrown off balance by it. Mac’s parents are very nice, but a little reticent to make Henry’s acquaintance. Y’know, because he can come off a bit… Strong? Insincere? You’ve read the other two books, so I’ll let you insert your own word there.
Well, the book follows many twists and turns, betrayals, and even a couple murders, all just to both cover up the truth, and flesh it out. It wasn’t a bad story, but I have read/ listened to better ones. For me, there were several plot holes, and I basically figured out who the mastermind behind all the chaos and framing was, about a quarter of the way thru the book. But honestly, that’s just me. It’s way too easy for me to figure this out, having been raised by a father who made a game out of finding out “who done it” in a movie or book before everyone else did. But, I digress…
Lisa Henry did a commendable job writing Tempest, and Nick J. Russo performed it with his usual excellence. I just was rather “meh” about the book. The entire series, for that matter. The thing is, I’m not a big fan of when an author intentionally teases their readers. In this case, you must know that I’m talking about how many times Mac & Henry almost had sex in book one but got interrupted. Yes, once or twice is fine. If finessed just right, maybe, just maybe, a third time can be hot. But, to tease and tease and tease some more, then leave your reader hanging at the end of the book is, to me, unacceptable. Then, when the “big event” happened in book two, it was lost on me. “Oh look, a sex scene. They’re finally doing it. Yay.” said in total deadpan, was basically me when it happened. I lost interest in the series by the end of book 1, and had signed up to do a review on book three!
It was a bit of a chore to listen to the last two books after losing interest, but Nick J. Russo’s narration is definitely what carried me thru to the end. Well done, Nick! And, thank you very much for a job well done.
AUDIO BOOK RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Totally disagree with you about the series, but your assessment of the audio is fine. Nick Russo was amazing.
Sometimes life and books are not about instant gratification, so some us did not have a problem with the teasing in series or how it was written. Frankly, I’ve grown a bit tired of instant hook ups in mm books. Not all of us think only with our dicks. I’m glad to see a gradual relationship develop.
In all honesty, I absolutely adore slow build ups to a relationship. There are a great many instant gratification books out there, and frankly I have probably read way too many of them. My personal problem was with the teasing. But, again I have read going on 160 books so far this year alone. And, have seen teasing done *much* better in at least 10 of those books. However, this is most certainly only my opinion, based off of my past reading experiences as compared to this one.
Regardless of our differing opinions, thank you so very much for commenting with yours. I appreciate it more than words can express. 🙂