Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Cross

SERIES:  The Formicary #2

AUTHOR:  S.E. Harmon

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  299 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 3, 2021

BLURB:

I thought getting shot, losing my memory, and being hunted by people I didn’t know for reasons I couldn’t remember was rock bottom. Turns out I was wrong. I found a shovel, dug a little deeper, and found a whole new sublevel of suck.

Apparently, I took something from the Formicary that doesn’t belong to me. The boss, Petar Dobroslav, is willing to do just about anything to get it back. Making an enemy of a super-secret organization of assassins might seem like a bad idea and…well, it absolutely is.

To be honest, it was inevitable that Grayson Laurie would get dragged into my mess. In my line of work, love is a luxury, a vulnerability I can’t afford. But I couldn’t stay away, and now we’re both paying the price.

But I can fix this. I will fix this. Everyone knows the Formicary is a formidable adversary. It’s time to remind them that so is Christian Cross.

REVIEW:

This review of Cross contains extensive spoilers for book one, Chyrsalis. (You can read my review of Chrysalis here.) Don’t proceed with this review if you haven’t yet read Chrysalis. The following review does NOT contain spoilers for Cross.  

My heart doesn’t know how to beat without you.” I leaned down and kissed him softly, just a brush of my lips against his. “That’s as simple as it gets.” 

Chrysalis was one of the best books I’ve read this year – I fell in love with wry, courageous Christian and sweet, caring Gray, the love of his life. I couldn’t wait to discover how they would overcome the most insurmountable circumstances to find their happiness. Well, Cross doesn’t disappoint. It, too, is a superb action/thriller romance that seamlessly continues the compelling story of Christian and Gray. 

This book begins with a prologue looking back at the events that set the course for the rest of Christian’s life when he was seventeen years old. It’s not pretty. If you haven’t already cried buckets of sympathy for Christian, you might start now. When the story picks up in the present day, we’re reminded of how Chrysalis ended. Both Christian and Gray were being held captive at the Formicary by evil mastermind, Petar Dobroslav. Christian had tried to leave the Formicary once to live an honest life with Gray, but he’s the property of Dobroslav who won’t let him walk away again. He wants the serum and flash drive back so he can continue with his Superhuman Enhancement Project to create Super Soldiers. He plans to produce an army of soldiers with enhanced strength, speed, hearing, eyesight, agility and more.  

Because of his amnesia from when Dobroslav’s bodyguard, Chaos, shot him in the head in a failed murder attempt, Christian didn’t remember that he was one of these genetically altered assassins. Gray was crushed and shocked to his core when he learned this fact.  

Cross continues with Christian making a deal with Dr. Frankenstein…er, Dobroslav, that he’ll track down Dr. Granger and get the serum and flash drive if he safely releases Gray. If you think Christian should trust Dobroslav, raise your hand. No takers? Me neither, but Christian has no other choice. He’ll risk everything, including his own life, to save Gray. Gray is his weakness and Dobroslav plans to exploit it. Soon, the fast-paced action begins when Christian, Gray, and a long-time friend of Christian’s who was also abducted are in a race against time to find Dr. Granger. The mission made my heart pound. By the 75% mark, I was ready for the epilogue so I would know if everyone survived. 

Poor Gray is the utmost of sympathetic characters. He continues to grapple with a question he posed in Chrysalis: 

I’ve known you for a long time, Chris. And I’ve loved you for most of that time. But it turns out that part of you, I never knew at all.” He shook his head. “And can you truly love someone you don’t know?” 

This is one of the central themes in the book. Can Gray come to terms with the Christian he knows now? He’s beginning to see that when put in such dire circumstances, there’s a fine line between what’s acceptable behavior and what’s not. That realization might impact his forgiveness of Christian’s lies. Another point that arises: is everything Christian knows about himself a lie? And more importantly, does it matter? 

Despite the life-or-death situation, Christian is always a cheeky fellow. He maintains his sarcastic humor throughout the book with the most amusing parts the thoughts in his head. “Over here in Screwed-Ville, we were still a population of four.” The snarky bickering between Christian, Chaos, Gray, and Christian’s friend provides welcome comic relief to the nail-biting suspense. Although the circumstances are vastly different, the team effort to destroy the bad guy in Cross reminds me of the camaraderie among the criminals in Ocean’s Eleven. The character development is fantastic; even Choas is a multi-layered guy. According to Christian, “He was so stone-faced he could make a gargoyle jealous.” 

Cross is a fantastic novel in ever way – action, suspense, a bit of comedy, villains you love to hate, and above all, the romance. Lovers since college, Christian and Gray are destined for one another, and the path to their hard-fought, well-deserved happy ending is exciting to watch. This is a must read for all those who enjoyed Chrysalis, of course, and I highly recommend the pair of books for all MM romance readers keen on an intriguing story with a sci-fi element and scorching sexy times.  

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

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