Mike is a United States Marshall working at the DC courthouse. His job is to protect the members of the judicial system who uphold the laws of the nation. Federal Judged Tom Brewer is one of those members who falls under Mike’s protection. But there’s more to Tom than the black robes he wears. Together, Mike and Tom find love with each other and face down a threat that could tip the world into World War III.
Absolutely amazing. That was my first reaction once I started really getting into the story. I never have high expectations for thriller books, especially thrillers that deal with the federal government. There are so many little details that authors get wrong that make it hard to sink into the story and truly lose yourself. Tal Bauer, however, has a talent for details. His understanding of the federal government and the different agencies and personalities of those agencies was masterful. He incorporated little details that just brought the story to life and set down a solid foundation that once the dramatic, thrilling action happened, I could fully suspend all disbelief and enjoy the heck out of the plot. And oh my, what a plot this was – full of action, romance, mystery, with a wonderful dose of Russian/US politics thrown in.
Mike and Tom were such wonderful characters. They were fully developed with many different layers to their personalities. Tom was a bit too emotional for my tastes, and sometimes I felt that he was a bit emotionally weak for being a federal judge, but overall that didn’t detract from how much I ended up loving the two men as a couple. There’s a lot of sweet and tender romance between the two men, and I really enjoyed that. I also really enjoyed all the insight into a fictionalized version of Russia/US politics and schemes countries will go through in order to be on top. It’s all pretty dramatic, but so well done that I was gripped by the plot instead of rolling my eyes. I highly recommend this book.
Joel Leslie was a fabulous narrator for this book. His performance was spot on with the different voices he used for characters, and the energy he put into his voice. He narrated the action scenes with excitement and the romance scenes with tenderness. I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.