Kristian Clark and the Agency Trap: The Bachelor Missions (Jes Drew) – Review

Posted 4 November 2017 by Katie in Christian Fiction, Contemporary, New Releases, Review, Romance, Suspense / 0 Comments

~ About the Book ~

The good-guys, the bad-guys, and the wild card- it’s the ultimate game of cloak and dagger…

Kristian Clark, private eye, thought his days as a special agent were behind him, but when he’s drafted into action, he finds himself reunited with his old team—and painful memories of why they broke up in the first place. But as he plunges into mission after mission—from a ‘holy heist’ to babysitting a young hacker to going undercover in a cult—Kristian finds that everything he tried to leave behind is coming back to haunt him with a vengeance, and then some.

First there’s the mysterious woman who knows more about Kristian—and his past—than makes sense while using science fiction weapons that don’t make sense period. Then there are the shady powers-that-be who are responsible for drafting him back into this world to satisfy their own nefarious agendas. It’s all Kristian can do to keep from being pulled into their games as he tries to figure out who to trust and what to fight for, even as the trap put in place to destroy him is set with a ticking clock.

When did espionage get so complicated?
Series: #1 Kristian Clark Series
Genre:  Christian Speculative Spy Fiction (New Adult)
Release date:  4 September 2017
Pages:  351
Publisher:  Boo’s Books

Amazon US // Amazon AU // Goodreads

~ Excerpt ~

“You don’t even have to come up with the plans.”
I shake my head to try and stop the words from echoing in my mind as I shove my hands into the pockets of my nineteen fifties vintage coat—to compliment my matching brown suit, though not my more modern boots—that I wear both to satiate my childhood affection for that particular decade and to ward off the autumn chill.
You won’t even have to come up with the plans. What a nice way Liam had of telling me I wasn’t even in charge of my own team anymore. The team I founded. The team I dismantled.
The team I’m being called back to—but not as the leader.
And that’s not even the worst part.
Grabbing my revolver, I take it out of my left pocket and aim it. I shoot two bullets, one in each of the back tires of the Maserati speeding away from me.
Such a shame.
The gorgeous car continues forward a few yards before skidding to a stop. Then I stride forward to the shotgun seat. Just in time to hear a different kind of shotgun going off.
“Blast,” I mutter, dropping to the ground to avoid being hit and rolling underneath the car to the other side. Then I climb up and shoot around it at my target’s accomplice.
The accomplice shooting at me panics and takes off running, and I let him go—I’ll let the man waiting just around the corner take care of him. The cops like to do the arresting anyway.
Then I stride back to the driver’s side.
The window rolls down, and a golden-haired dame leans out it, smoking a cigarette. “How’d you know it was me, Clark?”
“I’ve known for a while,” I answer, opening the door for her so I can escort her to the heat myself. “I just got a tighter time window.”
“Oh?”
I tip my stringy bin fedora at her before taking her arm in mine. “Been drafted into duty.”
“But there’s no war going on.”
“Not that kind of duty, I’m afraid. Not that kind.”

~ Review ~

Well, this is definitely one of the quirkier books I’ve read this year. In fact, I was a little unsure what to make of it at first. The hero definitely had a retro feel to him (with shades of Sam Spade), but then there were other things that put this book firmly in the present, and others yet that took it into the speculative realm (like freeze guns, memory imbibers, and even some references to the spiritual realm toward the end). I get the feeling that I would be able to make better sense of the opening chapters of the book if I went back and read them again now that I’ve finished the book, but at the time I did feel a little lost as to who was who and what was going on. Nevertheless, I read on.

I hope I’m not speaking amiss when I say I came to the conclusion that this story is partly spoofing the spy/suspense genre—or having fun with it at the very least. The comedy is dry enough and subtle enough that it may go over some readers’ heads, but once I cottoned on, it significantly increased my enjoyment of the story. The one thing that really detracted for me was the lack of proof reading, with basic grammatical, punctuation, and word-use errors cropping up with annoying regularity—the kind the spell-check doesn’t pick up.

But on to the story, which centres on Kristian Clark, a private eye who thought his agent days were over—until he was drafted into a new team that he describes as a multi-purpose team: a new branch of the CSI, FBI, and CIA. The team handles a variety of assignments over the course of the story, but it seems that their arch nemesis is a group called the Neos: a ‘strange, anarchist band who’ve made it their mission to topple capitalism with their own brand of mixed fascism, Marxism, and about every other ism that never worked.’ And thanks to some direct insights the reader gets into the Neos’ agenda, it seems they’re also intent on toppling Kristian himself. Though for what reason, we are yet to discover.

Kristian himself was a likeable collection of contradictions. He’s a highly competent agent—able to carry on conversations while taking down several opponents at once—but much less confident when it comes to relationships; especially when it comes to the lady who unknowingly owns his heart. And kids. He’s also notoriously bad with names! Through the course of the novel he grapples with matters of faith, his guilt over the loss of a teammate who was like a brother, and a hero complex that seems to have every woman but the one he loves throwing themselves at him.

It’s a tough life for this reluctant agent (have I mentioned how much he hates undercover work?!), and it’s not about to change any time soon, with ‘The Boss Man’ shaking his fist at the end of this novel much like Dr. Claw of Inspector Gadget fame: “I’ll get you next time, Kristian. Next time!” I’m also curious to know how Kristian handles the impromptu family he’s managed to acquire. He might be an introvert, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be enjoying the quiet life any time soon!

I received a copy of this novel through Celebrate Lit. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

~ Guest Post ~

I began writing at a very young age. I don’t think I even started school yet when I came out with my first children’s titles. The Swan Princess and Flamingo Queen was followed by a sequel The Duck Prince and Unicorn King (because I thought it was unfair that only the mom and sister had to go through transformations), and Julian and Juliette had many reprints- all carefully printed and illustrated by myself before moving to their final destination: safekeeping in my mom’s possession.

Years later, I resumed my writing craft near the end of elementary school with two series of chapter books I wrote and then read aloud to my family. However, it was not until I watched Marvel’s Avengers that I found my true muse (Captain America, obviously). The story was so enthralling, I could do nothing but pick up the pen and compose my first published trilogy: The Ninja and Hunter Series published when I was sixteen. This was followed by the tree books of The Howling Twenties two years later.

But, no longer a ‘young adult’ I’ve moved on beyond that genre to the next age group: New Adult. That genre infamously known for its many vices and sins. However, we as Christians are called to “Take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5b), and a genre targeted toward twenty-somethings should be no exception.

So this is my first release in the New Adult genre. Kristian Clark might be a secret-agent-turned-private-investigator-turned-secret-agent again, but he still deals with the same problems all twenty-somethings face: adapting to a career, longing for a soul mate, and searching for deeper meaning in all the noise. With a little intrigue and cool gadgets on the side because, well, he is a secret-agent-turned-private-investigator-turned-secret-agent after all.

~ Giveway ~

To celebrate her tour, Jes is giving away a Grand Prize of the Howling Twenties trilogy, signed, and a fifteen dollar Amazon gift card and a 1st Place Prize of The Time I Saved the Day, also signed, and a ten dollar Amazon gift card!!

Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c31b

~ About the Author ~

Jes Drew lives with her mom, dad, younger sister (the illustrious Nicki Chapelway), four younger brothers (yes, four), and two dogs. She is the author of both the Ninja and Hunter trilogy and the Howling Twenty trilogy. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, daydreaming, and her day job. There is also a possibility that she may or may not be a secret agent, but that’s classified. You can contact her at http://pausefortales.blogspot.com/