Pre-release Review & GIVEAWAY: Catch a Ghost by S. E. Jakes (Spotlight)

Reviewed by Jennifer B.

TITLE: Catch a Ghost
SERIES: Hell or High Water #1
AUTHOR: S. E. Jakes
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 300 pages
BLURB: Everyone knows that Prophet—former Navy SEAL, former CIA spook, full-time pain in the ass—works alone and thinks only about the trouble he can cause. But his boss, Phil Butler of Extreme Escapes, LTD., has just assigned Proph not only a new partner but also a case haunted by ghosts from Proph’s past. Suddenly, he’s got to confront them both head on.

Tom Boudreaux—failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full time believer in bad luck—is wondering why the head of a private contracting firm has hunted him down to offer him a job.  Still he’s determined to succeed this time, despite being partnered with Prophet, EE, LTD’s most successful, lethal, and annoying operative, and even though the case is also resurrecting his own painful past.

Together, Prophet and Tom must find a way to take down killers in the dangerous world of underground cage matches, while fighting their own dangerous attraction. And when they find themselves caught in the crossfire, these two loners are forced to trust each other and work together to escape their ghosts . . . or pay the price.

REVIEW:

I will start by saying that I have loved Prophet from his very first appearance in the Men of Honor series.  He was mysterious but could always be counted on to get the job done and provide whatever support was necessary.  We never actually got very much detail about him; just enough to give a slow build up to this story.  Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.

This book could easily be read as a stand-alone and start to a hot new series.  However, I am a fan of the slow burn, and even though I have zero patience for waiting.  That’s exactly how it felt up to this point.  I’m glad I had the background of the Men of Honor series behind me before reading this.  That’s also why I didn’t feel lost or confused when this story began with a mysterious video.

When we see Prophet this time, he is on forced recovery with two broken wrists.  He is also suffering from a degenerative something or other with his eyes that can only negatively affect his current career in a matter of time.  In addition, he is being forced to take on a new partner, as well as his continual grooming to take over as head of EE, Ltd. (Extreme Escapes).

Prophet has many issues, not the least of which was his time as a POW.  This man can handle torture like nobody’s business, although his body seems to be taking a more permanent dislike to the treatment.  He is a bit unstable because of that, coupled with the other duties he has had to carry out over the years, which is, of course, why I love him so.  He works best alone, has resigned himself to the fact he will always be alone, personally and professionally, and makes no excuses.  He is also haunted by dreams and the ghost of his good friend/lover.

Tom has a few issues of his own.  He’s a bit of a hot mess with his temper issues and the bad mojo that has followed his hot, tattooed, pierced self from his previous jobs.  The current job appears to be a last chance for him, and though the deck seems to be stacked against him from the start, there always seems to be a bigger plan in effect.

Prophet and Tom – talk about hot stuff.  Both fighters, strong and dominant, yet both damaged and vulnerable.  As they investigate their first case, they spend as much time trying to figure each other out.  They fight, joke, take care of one another and tear up the sheets, all while keeping secrets from each other.

The story starts out with the anonymously sent video, but as the story progresses, it becomes about the current investigation, one that is a bit personal for Prophet.  Things come full circle though, and eventually ties all together in one way or another.  As things unfold, Tom and Prophet continue to jockey around having some kind of relationship.  Prophet never makes things easy though, and Tom quickly realizes he is also competing with a ghost.

There is a lot of action in this story, and I was on the edge of my seat through most of it.  While some may disagree, I loved that there was no HEA yet for Prophet or Tom.  Even though I was cursing the Kindle, I was happy there wasn’t even a HFN.  Prophet still has so many issues, and Tom has a few as well.  I never expected things to be easy for them and believe it will be all the more better for it in the end when it does happen, so I’m very thankful the author has taken this route.  The characters are written with so much room for growth, even though they seem to have come such a long way already.

There is a bit of a love triangle here.  While there isn’t any cheating, per se (they aren’t actually in a committed relationship after all), there is other flirting between Prophet and Cillian.  Speaking of the super sexy and mysterious downstairs spook neighbor, Cillian, he and Prophet text and IM, and even flirt quite a bit, but have never actually met until later on in the story.  There seems there could be a whole other story for Cillian, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed (and will gladly beg) that we get it.

A lot of choices are made at the end of this book, leaving me on the edge, dangling with questions and begging for more.  The next book cannot come out fast enough for me, and I’m glad it won’t be too long a wait.  I believe this was the best story yet in this series (I’m including Men of Honor) and certainly am not ready to see the last of any of these characters.

Jennifer’s Rating:

PRE-ORDER: Riptide

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Jennifer B. is one of the newest official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: JENNIFER B’S REVIEWS
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So, here’s the deal for the contest.  S. E. Jakes is giving away three prizes.  The first, the grand prize, is a Kindle Paperwhite. Second prize is a $25 Amazon gift certificate and third prize is a $10 Amazon gift certificate.  You can have multiple entries at multiple places and they will all count.  Below are the ways to enter:

* Leave a comment here today on this post and let the author know what books you bought today, last book you read, etc.

* Leave a comment on any and all blog tour stops (see the list below) – each comment puts your name in the hat another time

* Put a link to the contest on your Twitter or your Facebook and link back to Jakes (either include the author’s twitter handle or highlight her name on FB so she can easily find your post and include it.

So basically, you can get your name in a lot for a chance to win!

Link to the Blog Tour page: Riptide – Catch a Ghost Blog Tour