Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Anyone who spends most of his career getting in the way of bombs and bullets learns. It’s better to be lucky than good. Best to be both, but no one survives without luck.“

If you’re looking for a fully action-packed book with such a brilliant mystery to uncover, this book is exactly what you need to pick up. The amount of detail in this book is extraordinary and I read through it with intense feelings of excitement and nerves! I’m so pleased to be kicking off the blog tour for this fantastic book along with these other great book reviewers – keep an eye out for their reviews over the next week!

They were powerful and ruthless, but they made one mistake. His name is Breed.

Ex-Delta Force sniper Breed has spent most of his life at war and now he’s trying to make some time for peace. But when a veteran from his old unit is beheaded in El Paso, Breed feels duty-bound to bring the killer to justice. A feeling that only grows stronger when his friend’s widow and son are also murdered.

As he uses all his specialist skills to uncover the truth, Breed finds himself working with some unlikely allies – a devious CIA operative, and a determined Latina reporter who is investigating the trafficking of underage girls. Together, they uncover a conspiracy to launch a massive attack on US soil.

The terrorists are confident – they have powerful friends in the Mexican cartels and US law enforcement. But they have reckoned without one thing—Breed.

The beginning

Wow, what an explosive opening to the book (quite literally!) The author doesn’t waste any time in easing us into the story; a potential terror attack causes numerous fatalities in New York City and the way this was described was absolutely terrifying. The author’s vocabulary makes it so easy to place yourself at the scene and it’s clear that one character we meet, Breed, is going to play a huge part in the book. How significant would this opening scene and the people behind this attack be in the story?! This opening surprised and impressed me, and I was already eager to find out more. When something is described as “almost as bad as” 9/11, we know that it’s pretty damn serious. It was clear that this book would be full of action and danger, and I was really looking forward to seeing just how the author approaches everything. Such a good start to the book!

We soon learn the horrors Breed has seen and endured throughout his life and career, and we’re taken back to a memory five years previously. These scenes are spectacular – gruesome, but spectacular. Gun fights are described in such a way that makes you crave more in such an unexpected way! The action seems almost constant at the start of the book, and it really did open my eyes to the things that people in this line of work see way too much. We also learn more about so many characters and why they’re so significant to the story. As we’re brought back to the present day, we join Breed on his trip to El Paso, as the news of the death of veteran, Keller, is revealed. Already, the book was gripping and has the perfect crime/thriller feel – fans of this will certainly not be disappointed.

“I thought war had desensitized me to death. Thought wrong. I’d seen Islamic terrorists behead prisoners of war. Never seen it done to someone close. Never a friend.”

Finding out exactly what happened to Keller was proving to be difficult. No one really knows how he was killed and the questions kept piling up with no solid leads. The attention to detail here is already very thorough and it seemed as though the author had thought of multiple possibilities to explore. However, some things don’t add up for the characters here; the crime scene doesn’t make sense and it seems as though there is something missing, something hidden that they have to uncover. I really liked exploring the crime scene with these characters, and running through evidence with the Sheriff made for some brilliant reading. After reading how much of a good man Keller was, we’re hit with a new theory, one involving trafficking and making money after suffering financial difficulties. This made me look at the case in a whole new light. Was there really a side to Keller that Breed and Lenson didn’t know about? I liked this interesting spin on the story and just knew it’d be explored well.

Without even reaching the middle of the book, Breed makes a gruesome discovery of his own. The death of Keller’s widow throws everything up in the air and even though I knew this was coming after reading the synopsis, it was still a huge shock! I love how the author reveals important pieces of the story in a way that is unpredictable and gripping, and this recent discovery was no different. This was sure to complicate the Keller investigation and make finding out the truth more urgent. If Keller’s family members were being killed next, surely this meant Keller was in a lot of trouble or had made some pretty powerful enemies. The description of another murder was so detailed that it turned my stomach! It was impossible to predict the rest of the plot and I found the direction the story was going in to be so captivating, even though it was horrifying – I couldn’t wait to see what came next!

The middle

The introduction of a new character, Mirasol Cruz, seemed to bring more information about Keller which could potentially help with the investigation. I loved how much the author seemed to have a deep knowledge about pretty much everything involved – from guns to crimes scenes, detective investigations to significant clues left, there is so much knowledge crammed into each paragraph, which makes everything seem so real. An author’s knowledge combined with their writing skill is always a big plus in my eyes, and this book is the perfect example of all of this. With more digging into the veterans’ pasts, the possibility that they might be involved concerns those investigating the murders – this frustrates Breed and it seems as though this slows down the investigation. Could it even be possible that someone close to home is the reason Keller and his family are dead? An interesting theory, but at this point, I felt like I trusted this team. Everything could change though!

With a deal made between Breed and Stein of the CIA, the heat is on to move onto the next part of their investigation – getting into the Bledsoe factory to put a stop to the trafficking of underage girls. Could this lead to the answer they’d been searching for about Keller’s death? I thought that the main characters really shone through here and their detective skills were really something else! This part of the book is great to get your teeth into and once again, the description really brings conversations to life. Some parts of the book get a little heavy and complex, but it did add to the overall experience – solving a case like this would be far from straightforward! The first half of the book is certainly packed full to the brim with mystery and action, and I knew we’d definitely be in for a treat with what was to come next!

“I hear the spatter of bullets against the rocks above me. I see rock chips flying as AK47 rounds strike the boulders. The sound is like rain on concrete magnified a hundred times.”

The author sure knows how to build suspense and excitement! I have to mention one particular scene with a very dangerous car chase where, eventually, Breed managed to shoot and kill the two men on his trail. How this scene unfolded was absolutely magnificent and had me racing through the pages. However, even though it was a brilliant part to the story, it’s evident that this is just the start of something a whole lot bigger that we realise – I was certain things would escalate from here. Breed and Mirasol were in danger and time was ticking. Could they solve the murder case and send the right people down for what they were doing? I liked how things were progressing and the pacing was well thought out. It seemed there was never a dull moment and I was dying to know whether these characters we’ve grown attached to would stay safe or end up with the same fate as Keller and his family.

I was beginning to connect the dots and the tension was building even more. With plans to travel to Juarez, Breed must watch his step; he’s travelling to extremely dangerous territory. I admired this character’s courage and determination to do what’s right, and even the lengths he was going to to get justice for his friend. It’s difficult not to want him to succeed in his tasks, even though he’s likely to get himself killed in the process. It soon becomes clear that he doesn’t want to put those responsible for Keller and his family’s death to prison – he wants to kill them himself. This character was getting deeper and deeper by the minute, but I loved his attitude! How this character comes across from the beginning to end was truly one of the highlights for me. We also come to learn that there is more to Mirasol than we know. What could she be hiding? With so many things to explore, I knew the ending to the book would be darker than we’d seen yet.

The end

I think the ending of the book was my absolute favourite part, purely down to Breed and Mirasol’s trip to Juarez and everything they experience there. They make progress, but at what price? With the cartel/police on their trail, they need to move quickly and smartly to stay safe. There is so much excitement, so much suspense that I didn’t know where to look! I loved how gritty and pulse-quickening it was, and I thought the author could have even made a whole new story out of it! At times, I was taken away from the pair’s main goal, but even so, I knew their decisions would ultimately help in their investigation. They’re being followed and I wasn’t sure how long they’d be able to stay safe for. The story turned darker and more addictive here, and it really complemented everything we’d read so far. Mirasol was proving to be the perfect accomplice and I was liking this character more and more!

With a little encouragement from Breed, Mirasol opens up about her past – it really allows us to get to know this character and exactly what she’s been through in life. It was shocking and captivated me from start to finish. I was really impressed! The detail here feels raw and emotional in parts, and the more we learn, the more Mirasol proves to be a significant character. Is she the real reason why they’re in danger? We don’t have long to dwell on this however, as one huge shock brings the reality of the situation crashing down and I couldn’t believe what I was reading! The death of one character was hard to read, but the truth of who killed Keller and his family was so surprising! The author has done an amazing job of hiding the truth all the way through the book and the delivery of the final scenes was just brilliant. An impressive twist of events which is sure to go down well with fans of this genre. Perfectly executed.

“Life is a string of decisions. Some are right, some are wrong, most you can’t tell until you’re in the shit.”

The author clearly has an immense talent for storytelling. Despite the bad news and a big reveal, Breed still has a job to do – and he’s determined to do it properly. The author just keeps us guessing with what will happen next and even when we think we’ve seen it all, the story keeps us on our toes and keeps us thinking. Characters have shown immense strength throughout the story and their development has been written very well. It’s been easy to side with some characters and dislike others, and it’s clear that this is one of the author’s many strong points. With only a few chapters to go, I was looking forward to seeing how this story was rounded up and whether Breed could stay alive long enough to see this investigation through to the end. I was also interested to see how the book could potentially lead onto a second book! I could feel another action packed final scene coming…

… And that final scene was just as good as I’d hoped with enough action, danger and suspense that I was dying to read more of! The details are released slowly and I could almost hear my own heart beating faster as I was filled with nerves and excitement. With minimal dialogue, this scene needed exceptional description to really make an impact and it didn’t disappoint in the slightest – absolutely incredible. This book was such a brilliant journey with so much packed into it to make it the best it can possibly be. I’m more than happy to give this book the five stars that it deserves (and with an ending like that, how could I not?!) I’m looking forward to seeing how these characters change and what they experience in the next book in the Breed Thriller series!

Overall thoughts

This was a first for me – not only was this book filled with twists and surprises, but also gruesome discoveries that will guarantee to turn your stomach! I loved everything from the characters and their fascinating back stories to just how each scene pulls you in and makes it impossible to stop reading. This author’s talent provided me with a story so memorable, so perfectly finished that it was pretty overwhelming! A wild mystery and a memorable adventure that I could easily experience again and again.

Thanks so much to the author, Cameron Curtis, Inkubator Books and Emma at Damp Pebbles for my copy of the book to review and my place on the blog tour! You can pre-order your own copy of Danger Close on Amazon, available on Kindle and in paperback on February 7th. You can follow Inkubator Books over on Twitter and Instagram for more updates!

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