Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Job Hunt
SERIES: The Power of Zero #1
AUTHOR: Jackie Keswick
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 306 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2015
BLURB:
You don’t greet your new boss dressed like an underage rent boy. But when Jack Horwood—ace hacker and ex-MI6 operative—opens the door to Gareth Flynn, he’s too busy to worry over details like that. And anyway, his potential new boss is his former commanding officer – the same guy Jack has had a crush on since he was seventeen. So he should understand, right?
When he applied for the job in Nancarrow Mining’s corporate security division, Jack had hoped for peaceful days repelling cyber attacks. Maybe a bit of corporate espionage on the side. His plans didn’t include rescuing abused children, hunting pimps, or dealing with his overly protective and hot-as-hell boss, Gareth Flynn.
Walking away is not an option. Jack never takes the easy way out. More than that, meeting Gareth raises old ghosts that Jack needs to put to rest. Rescuing kids. Taking risks. Saving the day. Jack can do all that—but deciding what to do about his attraction to Gareth isn’t the sort of cloak-and-dagger game Jack plays well. Yet Gareth, strong and smart and always on hand when needed, might be Jack’s salvation.
REVIEW:
First and foremost, TRIGGERS. There’s not one in the blurb, but I don’t know if I missed it in the book or not. This deals a lot with abused, kidnapped, beaten children. Taken by a pimp, sold out to people. It deals with violence, flashbacks, that kind of stuff. If any of it is a trigger for you, PLEASE be careful.
For anyone else, holy shitballs. This is one HELL of a book. Damn. I’m still reeling from it. So so good.
For Jack, it’s time for a new job. He’s had enough of some of the crap he done in his careers and time time for a new start. But not without checking their security, of course. Being an IT whiz, Jack is able to work in and out of things before people blink sometimes. Also with being in several government agencies, unknown to him, people are trying to get him back. And not always for the best of intentions. He’s worked through a ton of information and decided he wants to give Nancarrow Mining a go. When he gets there, he’s in for a surprise. His old military boss and major crush, is a head there. Gareth Flynn.
Jack had decided to turn the job down, but Gareth is determined to have Jack work for him. What Jack also finds out, is there’s quite a few working there that are working for the government as well. And he’s not exactly happy. Gareth isn’t happy because Jack keeps putting himself out there when people ask for help and it’s wearing him down and pushing him into places he doesn’t want to remember. Especially with this latest one where Jack is trying to catch a pimp who is kidnapping and caging kids, while beating them so bad. But Jack refuses not to help, determined to get these kids to safety. He has a chance to rescue three. Unfortunately, one doesn’t make it and the other two are so terrified they won’t speak to anyone but Jack. Now Jack is in a race against time to stop this sicko and many more from abusing these boys still held while trying to stop some shady stuff at the company.
The stuff in Jack’s past is still kind of a mystery. You get hints of stuff here and there, especially when he’s speaking and consoling two boys he rescued and is protecting. And that past is not a pretty picture. And seeing how he runs himself ragged for things makes so much sense. I hate it because he does with so little sleep or eating, but he’s determined to make things right. And I admire that so much. And I just adore him. He’s worked hard to try to overcome his past. He’s still not completely over it. He has flashbacks, nightmares, but he does all he can to compartmentalize so he can survive, for one, but also so we can help the next person in trouble. Usually asshole pimps and such hurting kids. He’s so good at what he does. He can blend so well, you don’t remember he’s been there. And his computer talents lol. Damn. And after seeing stuff he’s done with those computers for the good? Some is very damn funny.
What makes Jack even better though, to me anyway, is Gareth. Not in a bad way. But Gareth is that strong silent support Jack didn’t even know he needed. He makes such he eats and tries to sleep. He tries to give him what he needs, even in the bedroom, to calm his mind amd chase the shadows away. Gareth is formidable is his own right. Being Jack’s boss in the military, he’s no stranger to Jack and his quirks. He used to Jack’s moods, even though it’s been seven years. He still gets Jack.
What amazes me, though, through this whole book, is how everyone doesn’t really quite know what there is to know about Jack and what his capabilities are. Gareth knows a lot, but even his closest ‘friends’, if you can call them that, have no clue. That’s how good Jack is.
The worst part is knowing every time Jack saves a child or goes after someone like that pimp, he has to relive his own childhood. It’s heartbreaking. But because of his past, he’s able to reach these kids in a way no one else can.
The story isn’t just about the kids, but it is a lot of it. It also deals with corporate underhandedness and some shady things going on with employees and greedy family members. It’s all a mystery to find out who and why. And as they dig, more shady people are coming out of the woodwork. Seeking Jack. And the motives are either not clear, or bad. So damn good!
RATING: 
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