Reviewed by Jenna
Retro Review by Annika
TITLE: Catch a Ghost
SERIES: Hell or High Water #1
AUTHOR: SE Jakes
NARRATOR: Adam North
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 8 hours, 3 minutes
BLURB:
Everyone knows that Prophet — former Navy SEAL, former CIA spook, full-time pain in the ass — works alone. But his boss at Extreme Escapes, Ltd. has just assigned Proph a new partner and a case haunted by ghosts from Proph’s past. Suddenly, he has to confront both head-on.
Tom Boudreaux — failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full-time believer in bad luck — is wondering why the head of a private contracting firm has hunted him down to offer him a job. Still, he’s determined to succeed this time, despite being partnered with Prophet, EE’s most successful, lethal, and annoying operative, on a case that resurrects his own painful past.
Together, Prophet and Tom must find a way to take down killers in the dangerous world of underground cage matches while fighting their own dangerous attraction. When they find themselves caught in the crossfire, these two loners must trust each other and work together to escape their ghosts . . . or pay the price.
RETRO REVIEW:
Going into this book (and I’m guessing series) you might have one of two mind sets. Thinking you are in for an insane ride, without a lot of credibility to it. Or hoping for a procedural wanting the events to be believable or close to what would happen in reality. If you are looking for the second you are bound for disappointment there are very few things in this book that are believable. However, if you are looking to be entertained and for an insane ride with a lot of fights and action (both the fighting and sexual kind) this is definitely a book to try. It also seems like this might be a book you either love or hate – which the previous two reviews show. I’m firmly in the middle camp for now. I’m intrigued, entertained and look forward to see what the next book brings. Adam North was engaging to listen to, not flawless but still worth the while.
RETRO RATING:
REVIEW:
The story begins when Prophet, a badass former CIA guy gets a new partner, Tom. Tom seems interesting. He has piercings and tattoos and appears a little more rough and tough than Prophet. Shortly after they begin investigating a case, they become romantically involved. However, there is a lot of tension between them and they both end up getting themselves in trouble when they encounter some bad guys from Prophet’s past.
I have to say that though I had high expectations for this book, it definitely wasn’t for me. The first thing that threw me off was that Prophet and Tom seemed so alike and the viewpoint switched so often that I wasn’t able to sort out who was who until the fifty percent point. I believe this was also due to the book being mostly told and narrated, which made it hard to follow. There was also a point where there was so much sex that I forgot about their initial investigation. The story eventually goes back to their case, but there didn’t appear to be any conclusion in that respect. Then the couple was getting along fine, but out of the blue they got into a fight over nothing at all. In addition to disliking the plot and the author’s writing style, the characters never grew on me. Prophet and Tom were introduced as manly badasses, but I had trouble imagining they were rough and tough guys with how they bickered, fussed, and carried on. Finally, the book ends in a cliffhanger with nothing resolved and everything in the story still up in the air. Despite being mostly disappointed, I enjoyed the fight scenes and I liked the sexual tension between Prophet and Tom.
With respect to the audio portion, when I first started listening, I wasn’t sure if the audio was turning me off to the book or if it was the other way around. However, I came to the conclusion that it was both. What bothered me the most was that the voices the narrator used didn’t seem to match the characters. For example, Prophet was supposed to be a dangerous moody guy, but the voice used for him sounded very submissive. Though Tom was in the submissive role in most of the sex scenes, the voice for him was very rough and gruff which made me think of a lumberman with a big beard. Lastly, there was a Middle Eastern character and the narrator used a thick Spanish accent. The narrator seemed to do great with all other aspects, but listening instead of reading just made it harder for me to get into this book.
RATING:
BUY LINKS:
To show how opinions can be different the book was reviewed when it released in 2013 with a 4.5 star review by one of the reviewers.