Secret Agent Under Fire Review

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Secret Agent Under Fire by Geri Krotow is a Romantic Suspense novel published by Harlequin and I really wanted to love it since my grandma gave it to me as a gift a few days before I returned home from Cozumel, Mexico, instead it was simply okay. I think the biggest issue I had with the book was that I was a little lost since it’s the last part of what I assume is a long-running series called SILVER VALLEY P.D. Normally a romance series isn’t quite the same as most book series since most of the time the “series” is a set of stand alones that follow the love stories of a particular family or town. Unfortunately, SILVER VALLEY P.D. is an exception to this rule since there are several plots being continued from the previous book, as a result I felt like I was starting a story at the beginning of its third act.

The story follows a retired FBI agent and arson expert, Abigail Redland who’s just moved to a small town in the Appalachian mountains for one final case, not for the FBI , but an underground agency called the Trail Hikers ,although she’s posing as a simple case consultant. The Silver Valley P.D. is investigating a string of arsons possibly tied to a cult called New Thought whose previous incarnations have been threatening the town for several years. This is when I started to get a little lost; I got even more lost when Abi meets the hero of the book, Keith Paruso on the first crime scene she investigates. Keith is the head of the fire department and was apparently the subject of a scandal a few books back before his name was cleared and his desire to solve the case stems entirely from this. Their meet cute isn’t that sweet since he practically runs into her while she’s chasing a suspect. Of course he doesn’t know she’s a Trail Hiker, so he assumes she’s simply interfering too much in scene.

After that the other heroes and heroines from the previous books show up , but unlike most romance novels, they actually play a major part in the story, which I would have appreciated a lot more if I’d read their stories first . These supporting characters include: Rio-head of police and the Trail Hikers. Kayla-his wife and Keith’s Sister. Claudia- a former marine and Trail Hiker who actually goes undercover in the cult later in the story and Clay, Claudia’s fiancé and fellow Trail Hiker. I loved them all, but giving them all major subplots and passages in their point of view along with a villain’s made the story a touch overcrowded and took focus away from Keith and Abi; as a result I didn’t get to know the protagonists as well as I would have liked.

Thankfully, the only angst Keith and Abi have in their relationship besides Abi’s secret status as a Trail Hiker is her wanting to keep the relationship professional and Keith not wanting to for reasons that aren’t really gone into too deeply besides him being sexually attracted to her. The former issue is resolved when they kiss on a crime scene (personally, I wouldn’t be turned on when I’m investigating a fire in an empty school, but I digress) and the latter is resolved at about the halfway point when (spoiler incoming) Keith is made into a Trail hiker himself. Not really a spoiler since it has little to do with the plot, but towards the end, Keith suddenly gets thrown the conflict ball and decides he doesn’t want to get into a relationship because his job is dangerous and he doesn’t want Abi to worry about him when he’s not home. Again, this is resolved really quickly and felt completely unnecessary after the excellent climax at the end of , which I won’t spoil, but trust me it’s awesome. As a final note before I give my grade this story does contain teen girls in peril ,you can guess why since the villains of the story are an extremely religious cult headed by a misogynistic male, if that doesn’t bother you I’d read this book for the climax alone, just read the rest of the series’ first, I know I plan to. All and all Secret Agent Under Fire by Geri Krotow is Good Certified.