Rise & Fall: THIRDS Book 4, Charlie Cochet

And now that we're finally getting some resolution, Dex goes off the deep end.  Is that bad?  Not totally, but I wish this had the power of the first book.  What I truly enjoyed was the evolution of the characters, that we're getting some of the shifter awesomeness in relation to claiming, and the elusive baddie is finally getting some page time.

Dex takes a drastic turn from the happy-go-lucky ridiculousness that we've come to know, love, and expect and has a whole slew of issues to work out all while Sloan is forced to sit on the sidelines and wonder what has consumed his partner.  I'm of two minds about this change.  I like the deeper, more complicated feelings we're getting with Dex, that he's not just a caricature or used as comic relief.  That really should have been more developed instead of one confrontational slap in the face.  That's the other side of the coin for me.  To have something so emotionally challenging be the driving force behind his actions thrown out there and not fully fleshed out was a disappointment.  Add in Dex's single-minded focus on being reckless and irresponsible and I'm wondering if the culmination is enough to free him.

Sloan is another story.  He struggled in a different way and we finally get absolutely everything from him.  For him to become the true partner Dex needs and deserves he had to come clean about everything and to lay it all on the line.  I'm so, so glad we got to this point!  How it plays out is equal parts frustrating, sexy as all get out, and so very tender.  I wish it weren't delivered in long emotional monologues, but I really liked that he finally put as much effort into the relationship as Dex has over the course of their journey.

So then there's the side characters.  The soap opera that ensues in this story is a bit overboard, I must say, and while it gives a lot of foundation for a few other stories that are coming, it really is so ... drama.  It feels a bit like high school, in fact, with feeling denials, hesitations, sexually-charged reactions, jealousy, and a good dose of immature pettiness.  I can't say I liked how everything was tossed into this one story when there's already so much good and bad going on with Dex, Dex and Sloan, and Team Alpha and Hogan.  It felt like a little too much to pack in here.

But even though I have issues with what's in the story, it's an overall feeling of "finally!!" and "wow..." that keep me coming back.  I'm glad we're going to take a break from the Dex and Sloan show so we can get some answers about a few other couples.  While I think it'd be good to fully wrap things with Sloan and Dex, I'm getting a little ... bored? ... with them.  Not that they're boring, just that it's now four books in and we're finally to a point where I'm seeing stability for them.  Some series can pull off that delayed pay-off, but in this one I feel like we could have had it earlier and it would have been preferable because there's so much other stuff going on that their emotional evolution was dragged out far too long.  I need a bit of a break from them as a couple driving the story and need a little fresh meat.  A Cael and Ash show is just what I think I need.

*$4.99 on Amazon

Action. Comedy. Romance. And that one weird guy.

After an attack by the Coalition leaves THIRDS Team Leader Sloane Brodie critically injured, agent Dexter J. Daley swears to make Beck Hogan pay for what he’s done. But Dex’s plans for retribution are short-lived. With Ash still on leave with his own injuries, Sloane in the hospital, and Destructive Delta in the Coalition’s crosshairs, Lieutenant Sparks isn’t taking any chances. Dex’s team is pulled from the case, with the investigation handed to Team Leader Sebastian Hobbs. Dex refuses to stand by while another team goes after Hogan, and decides to put his old HPF detective skills to work to find Hogan before Theta Destructive, no matter the cost.

With a lengthy and painful recovery ahead of him, the last thing Sloane needs is his partner out scouring the city, especially when the lies—however well intentioned—begin to spiral out of control. Sloane is all too familiar with the desire to retaliate, but some things are more important, like the man who’s pledged to stand beside him. As Dex starts down a dark path, it’s up to Sloane to show him what’s at stake, and finally put a name to what’s in his heart.