Full of suspense and action

I really enjoyed these books.

Book 1 - Kathmandu

This was a good mix of both predictable and unpredicted or unexpected. That is to say there were some things that I totally saw coming well in advance, but also enough unexpected turns to keep it interesting. More importantly, for those things that you were able to predict happening, it felt like this was intentional - like the author wanted you to conclude that was the direction that particular situation was heading because even though you see it coming, it is presented in such a way that you still can't stop reading and have to see it through to the conclusion.

The story jumps around a bit to different storylines and you start to wonder who these other characters are and how they could possibly fit into the story when they seem so random and unrelated but, eventually, all the pieces fit together and you find out where everyone belongs in the grand scheme of things.

Book 2 - Hong Kong

This was my favourite book of the series so far.

There is so much going on here that you will find it hard to put down.

I prefer not to just reiterate the plot in a review - you can get that info from the blurb about the book, so I tend to talk about how I felt about the book instead.

As with the first book (Kathmandu), there are multiple story threads running through this book that will eventually collide for the fast-paced thrill ride portion of this story and just when you think it is done.....wait, there's more.

It was so hard to fix in your mind who were the real villains here and who were the real victims in this piece as every new bit of information revealed shifted your thoughts and opinions on different characters until you're no longer sure who the bad guys (or perhaps, for some of the characters, in their own ways they are both the bad guy and the victim)

Book 3 - Berlin

This was my least favourite book of the series so far.

I found this one a little too confusing and disjointed to easily follow and some of the situations and people a bit too stereotypical to 'real'. I also did not like the absence of Allissa for most of the book.

What I did like was the opportunity Leo had to step outside his comfort zone and grow into himself (which, ironically, wouldn't have been able to happen with Allissa being absent). I also liked learning more about the pasts and personal relationships of both Leo and Allissa.

So, in short, good character development but a little 'tv-melodrama' in the plot.

I listened to the Audio version of these books, which are narrated by the author himself and I will take a moment to talk about this. I listen to a lot of Audiobooks, most of which are voiced by professional voice actors and my honest opinion is that a good or bad narrator will either make or break the book for you. For some authors, choosing to narrate their own work is down to a financial decision; for others it can simply be a case of thinking they are the best person to narrate the book because they know more than anyone how they meant to portray characters and situations. The simple fact, however, is that being a narrator is a completely different skill set than being a writer (and, for the record, I am not, nor am I related to, a voice actor of any kind). I didn't find Luke to be a bad narrator, but, I do truly believe the books would be even better if performed by the right voice actor, rather than just read by the author.

Am I glad I read it - yes, I enjoyed it
Was it a waste of my time - no
Would I sit down and read it all over again - yes
Would I read more by this author based on this book - I am definitely planning to

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!