Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Deadly Lover 
SERIES: Exit Strategy #1
AUTHOR: Jocelynn Drake
NARRATOR: Kenneth Obi
PUBLISHER: Self Published
RELEASE DATE: January 14, 2019
LENGTH: 6 hours, 52 minutes
BLURB:
Justin Mallory has years of bad decisions to make up for, starting with agreeing to join the CIA after being recruited out of the Marines. Now he chooses the jobs and he works alone. It’s safer that way, and he can make sure the good guy always wins.
But this job…he can’t do alone. Two pharmaceutical researchers are dead and a dangerous drug is on the cusp of winning FDA approval if he doesn’t track down the culprit behind the lies and murders.
Gabriel Prescott is a well-trained, efficient, and cold-blooded killer. After a brutal betrayal left his lover dead, Gabriel is out only for himself. But when this lucrative contract lands in his lap, he can’t pass it up. Even if it means working with the unpredictable and insane Justin Mallory.
Dodging bullets and secret meetings find them depending on each other. And one hot, frantic night together leads to a hidden sweetness…and questions of whether they could possibly have something more
REVIEW:
Reading the blurb (something that I missed with the previous book I listened to and it caused some confusion on my part), and looking at the cover, I expected something a bit different from this book. I expected murder and mayhem, something on the grittier side, and most definitely more mystery and suspense. I mean look at that cover – doesn’t that scream darkness and danger to you? Alas, expectations…
Justin Mallory and Gabriel Prescott, alike yet so different. They run in the same circles, and not. What they are certain about is that they do not do partners – in any meaning of the word. Still, the job they are hired to do is not a one man job, so they are forced to a very reluctant partnership. There’s a new cancer drug that’s about to hit the market, promising fewer side effects than the current ones. What FDA does not know is that the drug has a dark side, fatal flaws that Big Pharma will, and have gone to great lengths to hide – murdering two of their own. So the reluctant duo is tasked to stop the drug and expose the secrets before it’s too late.
So, back to expectations, from this you might expect a lot of action, spying and covert operations. Sure there was that but it was not the main focus of the book rather the romance aspect was. So if you are looking for a steamy read this might be your next read, but if you are looking for action of another kind you might want to reconsider.
Also, considering that this book took place only over a short period of time and the level of trust Justin and Gabe developed didn’t quite fit. I don’t mean instant trust don’t exist, I’m just not believing that people in their professions trust easily –or at all. I did like that they were both scarred and had issues. I like my heroes flawed and troubled. It gives them that edge that I’m so fond of. In the end though, the pieces of this story and the characters didn’t quite fit for me.
There’s something about Kenneth Obi’s narration that don’t quite do it for me, and I can’t really put my finger on why. I mean, he has what I usually look for in a narrator. The different voices for the different characters and he adds some feeling to the narration as well. And in this book he even does accents. What else can a listener want for? But for some reason I still find myself spacing out more often than not. There’s just something that makes it feel uninspiring. I’m never engaged. I’m also fully aware that this is just my subjective feelings and I do recognise that Obi is a good and talented narrator. So in the end I think this will be a case of “it not you, it’s me”. I also urge you that if you do enjoy Obi’s narration I do believe you’ll enjoy this book as well, so don’t write it off on my account.
The story isn’t over when this book ended. Sure the mystery such as it was is resolved but there are many lose ends to tie up, not the least how Justin and Gabriel intend to move forward – do they get out of the life and start anew together, or do they continue as before with danger lurking around every corner?
RATING: 
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