It’s a good thing Gabe Bristow lives and breathes the Navy SEAL credo, "the only easy day was yesterday,” because today, his life is unrecognizable. When his prestigious career comes to a crashing halt, he’s left with a bum leg and few prospects for employment that don’t include a desk.
That is, until he’s offered the chance to command a private hostage rescue team and free a wealthy American businessman from Colombian paramilitary rebels. It seems like a good deal -- until he meets his new team: a drunk Cajun linguist, a boy-genius CIA threat analyst, an FBI negotiator with mob ties, a cowboy medic, and an EOD expert as volatile as the bombs he defuses. Oh, and who could forget the sexy, frustratingly impulsive Audrey Van Amee? She’s determined to help rescue her brother -- or drive Gabe crazy. Whichever comes first.
As the death toll rises, Gabe’s team of delinquents must figure out how to work together long enough to save the day. Or, at least, not get themselves killed. Because Gabe’s finally found something worth living for, and God help him if he can’t bring her brother back alive.
This book sucked me in from the beginning and didn't let go until I'd turned the last page. The book opens with the kidnapping of an American businessman in Columbia, setting up the mission for the soon-to-be-formed hostage rescue team. The story then shifts to Gabe, who is floundering with what to do now that he can no longer be a SEAL. I liked this introduction to Gabe as we get the first insights into what makes him who he is. I loved Gabe's brother Raffi. He obviously knows Gabe very well and how to get Gabe headed in the right direction. Raffi made me laugh with his over-the-top actions, but I also loved his confidence in himself and willingness to go after his own dreams. Gabe loves his brother and also has a great deal of respect for him, so he does listen to what Raffi has to say. The conversation with his friend Quinn a short time later, and the introduction to the man funding the new team, showed exactly why Gabe is the leader they want.
This team is unlike any other I've encountered in similar books. They are a group of misfits, each one having reasons for leaving their previous occupations. Their sniping at each other gets on Gabe's nerves very quickly, and I could understand his frustration. If he can't get them to work together, they won't have much of a chance at rescuing Bryson. I liked seeing these men learn to respect each other and trust each other's capabilities. Not to say it was easy. There were definitely some tense moments as they push their boundaries with each other and with Gabe. There were also some pretty funny moments, especially once Audrey was added to the mix.
Audrey is Bryson's sister and was on the phone with him when he was taken. She was the instigator of getting the FBI involved, but she also gets frustrated with their inaction. She is an artist, feisty and independent, and a bit of a free spirit. When she isn't happy with the FBI's actions, she takes matters into her own hands and goes to Colombia herself, where she promptly collides with Gabe and his team. The team's issues with working as a team are highlighted in this encounter, where Audrey nearly gets the best of them. Unwilling to leave her behind and in danger, they take her back to the safe house, where she flatly refuses to go home before her brother is rescued. The confrontation between Audrey and Gabe is pretty funny, as he desperately needs her ability to speak the language and is just as desperately determined to keep her far away from him.
The sparks between Gabe and Audrey are immediate and combustible. Gabe is determined to resist because getting involved with her would be unprofessional. Too bad for him that she's not on the same page. When they end up separated from the others, they are forced to rely on each other. The intense danger that they are in ramps up the intensity of the chemistry between them. There are some excellent scenes of the combustibility between them. There is also plenty of evidence that what they have is more than just chemistry. As willingly as Audrey accepts her feelings for Gabe, he is a harder nut to crack. The depth of his feelings for her scares him, and when the mission is over, he runs. I thoroughly enjoyed his misery, as he brought it on himself, and it takes something of an intervention by Quinn to wake him up to his idiocy. I liked his big moment, which had a decent amount of groveling.
The suspense of the story was great. This was not your well-trained super team going after the bad guy. These guys all have their issues, but each one is very good at what he does. But they have quite a few challenges to carrying out their mission, from lack of equipment to attitude problems. It was easy to feel their frustration at the initial difficulty of coming up with any leads. Audrey's arrival and the information she had gave them somewhere to start. Things got really intense when Gabe and Audrey were taken by guerillas and ended up in the middle of a confrontation between two groups. There are quite a few twists and turns before they get out of that mess. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is still looking for Bryson. The rescue mission is quite intense, with things not quite going to plan (they rarely do). There's still one twist left to deal with, and that is who was behind the kidnapping in the first place. The conclusion was exciting and intense, and Audrey was fantastic. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
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