“NAME: Steele
“CODENAME: Azrael—“Angel
of Death”—because he goes places where even angels fear to tread
“SPECIALTY: One shot,
one kill
“WEAKNESSES: Women in
high heels, freedom under siege, and eBay
“PROFILE: Prefers to
work alone—except in the bedroom
“MISSION: Kill the
bad guy, save the world, and hopefully end up with the girl
“New York Times
bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has created a major buzz with her stories
about the sexy heroes of the Bureau of American Defense. Now, she presents her first full-length novel
featuring the agents of BAD—a story of unforgettable characters and
heart-stopping romantic suspense.
“BAD agent Sydney Westbrook must find the perfect sniper for
a risky counter-terrorism mission. The
assignment is simple: find and kill a
hired assassin before he kills a high-profile world leader during a peace
conference on American soil. JD Steele,
a trained military sniper whose attitude problem landed him in prison, seems a
good candidate for the job since he doesn’t have many other options. But it turns out Steele doesn’t take orders
easily—not even when they come from an intriguing agent who has his number down
pat. As they’re dragged deep into a
secret world of freelance killers, Sydney begins to discover the man of honor
and passion hidden beneath Steele’s arrogant façade. It’s a man even Steele didn’t know he could
be. But how can he fulfill his duties
when doing so will risk the life of the only woman he’s ever really cared for?”
I’ve been reading a lot of new (to me) authors lately and I
wanted a fun read by an old favorite. I
couldn’t locate the next book in Kenyon’s Dark
Hunter series (yes, I’m still pacing myself and slowly re-reading that
series), so I thought I’d start something new.
I’ve seen a few of her BAD (Bureau of American Defense) books here and
there at bookstores, online, and at the local library. Anyone who glances at my reading history
knows I lean away from “modern romances,” especially ones set in the United
States. Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series is a bit of an exception because it contains so
many historical and paranormal aspects that it breaks me out of the norm. BAD is borderline. It is a modern series surrounding a secret
branch of American agents who have access to incredible technology, possess
amazing abilities and talents, and come from varied backgrounds. At the heart of it, these agents are still
just people. Still, I wanted to give
this series a shot. This book is
supposed to be the first in the BAD series, but I quickly got the sense that I
was missing something. It was mentioned
that two agents were on vacation together, which gave me the impression that
theirs was, perhaps, a novella or short story that I hadn’t yet read. I noted on FantasticFiction.com that there is
a collection of stories for this series, but it’s not listed first in the
reading order. Maybe this solves my
issue? I don’t think my enjoyment
suffered because I felt like I wasn’t reading the stories in order, but the
perfectionist in me doesn’t like doing this (even by accident).
We’re introduced to Steele when he’s still overseas. His best friend and spotter has just been
killed and he’s struggling to come to terms with the loss, as well as the pain
and anger everyone else is taking out on him, the survivor. It isn’t until later that he discovers that
his CO (commanding officer) is covering up the mission and shoddy intelligence
he used to send Steele and Brian out into danger. The CO blames them for getting lost and
making foolish decisions, ending in the loss of Brian’s life. Steele, blinded by anger and pain, does
something very stupid in retaliation and, in turn, he winds up tried and
sentenced to twenty-five years in prison back in the States. This results in his military-oriented family
disowning him and Steele finds himself more alone than ever.
Two years into his sentence, he’s approached by a strange
man and two women. There’s something
very different about the trio and his training instantly tells him that these
are no ordinary individuals. Their
mannerisms and controlled expressions tell him they’re well trained and a part
of something very dangerous. The kicker
is that they want to draft him into a very dangerous mission, dangling the
carrot of freedom and an expunged record if he complies and succeeds. Clearly there’s only one choice for Steele to
make.
We quickly learn the intricacies of the secret agency, BAD,
and the hidden role it plays in the security of the United States. Headquartered in Nashville, TN, they have
access to the entire country, seemingly limitless technological resources, and
licenses to do things other agencies would deem unsavory. They’re comprised of past criminals, loose
cannons, and those who struggle with following the rules and rigid authority. It’s the perfect environment for Steele.
Other than his talent and his past, Steele was chosen for
this mission because he was also approached by APS, another secret agency BAD
has been attempting to infiltrate, but has yet been unsuccessful. They need Steele to pretend to accept the
position at APS in order to uncover top secret information and, perhaps,
prevent another World War. This, of
course, lands both Steele and Sydney in more danger than BAD predicted. They soon find themselves on the run in a
life-or-death game of cat and mouse.
Only if they survive do they stand a chance of stopping an assassination
that could cause history to repeat itself.
Steele was a good, typical “Kenyon” male lead: He’s angry, tortured, has a rocky past, and
doesn’t care for distractions or interferences.
She has an amazing knack for creating male leads who seem like
antiheroes, but they eventually discover that they have it in them to be real
heroes (very, very few of them remain antiheros – I can probably list them off
using the fingers on only one hand).
Their dark and twisty natures are always well-developed and unique. I hadn’t read a book of hers where the male
lead was once in the (modern) military and I definitely appreciated all of the
research she so obviously did. I felt
like I understood the mentality and the world that shaped them. In Steele’s case, it was his entire history
that helped make him the man he was when he met Sydney. By far my favorite part of his character was
his “bad attitude.” (Don’t you love it
when a title comes into play in a review?!
No? Maybe that’s just me.) His sarcasm was extreme and I loved how he
went out of his way to annoy absolutely everyone. His attitude was bad to the max. It’s easy to create a male lead with a
generic “bad” attitude, but Kenyon tweaked him enough through mannerisms and
comments that he was unique. I do have
some criticisms about him. The first
part of the synopsis indicates he’s a fan of eBay – I didn’t see this once in
the book, though it would have been an amusing quirk. I’ve learned from snippets here and there
(not just this book) that snipers do not, in fact, work alone. They have a spotter and work very, very
closely with them. They form a unique,
tight bond born of trust and danger. To
say that Steele prefers to work alone wouldn’t be entirely accurate. A sniper doesn’t really work alone. Now, if this is intended to say that he never
means to take another spotter/partner because it means risking someone else’s
life, then this might be more accurate.
Sydney, on the other hand, was less unique. We’re immediately introduced to her as a
slightly curvier, heavier, shorter Angelina Jolie lookalike. I don’t really care for such blatant comparisons
– it makes the characters feel less unique and more based off of impressions of
a real person known by everyone.
Granted, it makes it easier to picture a character by giving them a
blatant lookalike, but I find it less fun and it actually hurts my sense of
imagination. Personally, I then picture
the actress/actor’s mannerisms and speech patterns I’ve seen during interviews
or events or even as they act in films.
Maybe I’m the only one who has an issue with this, or maybe I’m just
being picky. I’m not used to Kenyon
making such blatant comparisons and I usually find her characters to be much
more unique. This is probably why I didn’t
find Sydney to be overly interesting.
She had a decent backstory and reason for wanting to be a part of BAD,
but that was about it. She, herself, had
a bad attitude and I didn’t feel like the reason was explained particularly
well (over and above her reason for refusing to date coworkers anymore). I did like her banter with Steele – they seemed
well-equipped to go toe-to-toe again and again and again. I kind of wanted to see her (quite literally)
kick his butt because she probably could have, but it was not to be. In the past, there hasn’t really been an
issue with Kenyon writing physically and mentally powerful women who can (and
do) kick men’s butts, but I wonder why she didn’t really use that here. It seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity
for this plot.
As far as the romance goes (because this is, at its heart,
still a romance novel), I found it less believable than in Kenyon’s Dark Hunter books. The scenarios are similar: man and woman are thrust together under dire
circumstances, they learn to work together as a well-matched team, they save
the world and fall in love in the process.
However, while I get that Steele has been celibate for a long time, I
don’t quite understand how he “clicked” with Sydney. He could have been attracted to her, but I
would have felt more convinced had he chosen to “scratch his itch” rather than
hold off. He didn’t know Sydney; by all
accounts, she could have never given in to his crude advances, why wait? On the flipside, I was more convinced by the
progression of Sydney’s growing feelings for Steele. Her sympathy felt genuine even if her
weakness for him did not.
Overall, this is a very different type of plot and brand of
storytelling than Kenyon’s wildly popular Dark
Hunter books – and there’s a reason those are so much more well-loved. Kenyon’s genius lies in the way she can craft
whole underworlds and histories, fantastic characters and captivating
otherworldly plots. BAD does this to a
small degree, but I don’t find it as successful. I still finished reading this book in less
than 24-hours, so that has to say something.
I still enjoyed it. Had I read
this before becoming such a fan of the Dark
Hunter books, then perhaps I would have been more enamored. Echoes of Kenyon’s talent ring throughout –
especially in her secondary characters (for those of you who know the world of
her Dark-Hunters, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say there are
shades of Acheron complexity in BAD’s director, John Q. Public; I also eagerly
await reading his story…because he so clearly has one coming). There was a nice spark between Steele and
Sydney, even if I didn’t always find it the most believable. They did have chemistry. The fast-paced plot and interesting story
kept me very interested and I enjoyed reading this in (almost) one
sitting. Even if I’m not in love with
the series thus far, Kenyon remains one of my favorite authors.
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