Targeted (Deadly Ops, #1)

by Katie Reus

Hidden in plain sight…
 
Former Marine sniper and current NSA agent Jack Stone has a new face to go with his new identity. But he still has the same tortured memories—which include the woman he let get away years ago, when they were teenagers. Now his new assignment in Miami will put him so close to the woman he’s never been able to forget, he could reach out and touch her—if only she weren’t under suspicion.
 
When Sophie Moreno uncovers evidence linking the medical supply company she works for with arms smuggling—and worse—she doesn’t know who to turn to. After a shocking betrayal, she realizes the only person she can trust is a mysterious new person in the company—a man with hauntingly familiar eyes.
 
As Sophie questions her intense attraction to this man and Jack struggles not to blow his cover, the two of them must race against the clock to stop terrorists from killing scores of people—starting with them.


FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!

• ISBN10: 0451419219
• ISBN13: 9780451419217
• Publish Date: 1 October 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451419217

Reviews

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of Targeted from Lit Connect in exchange of an honest review*

I will participate in a blog tour and post my review on Wednesday September 18th 2013

Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

[EBookObsessed]

Sam Kelly was tossed from foster home to foster home. The only person he ever cared about and who cared about him was Sophie. When Sam turned 18, he joined the marines but he had to leave Sophie behind until her 18th birthday. It only took that one month for all of Sam’s dreams to shatter. Sam wasn’t there the night that Sophie was attacked and brutalized. The young girl that she was blamed Sam for not being there to protect her when he promised to keep her safe. Sophie turned Sam out of her life.

When the NSA came to Sam and offered him a chance to leave the marines and join them, he jumped at the opportunity. The only thing he had to do was die. Sam Kelly would be no more. He needed to become someone else. Sam had no family, and the only person he ever loved kicked him out of her life. He welcomed the idea of becoming someone else.

As Jack Stone, he has taken on many dangerous and ugly jobs for the NSA. But he would do anything to walk away from this one. His boss wants him to go back to Miami to investigate to owner of South Beach Medical Supply. They believe SBMS is flying more than needed medical supplies to South America and they want to know if its drugs, guns or biological weapons. They want Jack to get close to the owner’s assistant, Sophie Moreno.

Being with Sophie again is painful. He needs her to trust him, but she acts as if she doesn’t know him. But, of course, she doesn’t know that the man behind the stranger’s face is the same man who would die to protect her.

Sophie can’t understand why looking into the eyes of a stranger has such a pull on her, or why being with him evokes thoughts of her long-lost love, Sam. But Sam is dead and she’ll never be able to tell him how sorry she was for taking out her anger on the only person she ever loved. Stranger of not, Sophie knows deep in her heart that she can trust Jack to keep her safe from the people who are trying to kill them.

THOUGHTS:
This was a great action, packed story from Katie Reus mixed with the interesting storyline of Sam’s reinvention as Jack Stone. When Sam is offered a chance to become someone else, to leave his past behind him for good, he jumps at the opportunity. He has no family and Sophie was the only person he ever loved. Without her, he has no problem killing off Sam Kelly.

But when he needs Sophie to trust him (now NSA agent Jack Stone), he hates that she fears he might hurt her. Sam/Jack knows that he would die for her, but Sophie only sees a stranger’s face.

I like that although Jack looks different, there are habits that are purely Sam that Sophie picks up throughout the story. Although Sophie thinks she is crazy to keep mixing up her memories of Sam with Jack, we know she is not far off the mark.

It added an interesting twist to what is already an exciting plot, and I would highly recommend giving this new series a try.

I have added Katie Reus to my must follow author list.

Received an ARC from netgalley.com courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[Cocktails and Books]

I enjoyed this one. Lots of sexual chemistry/tension between Jack and Sophie, which had me anxiously awaiting the moment they gave into it. The plot moved at a good pace and Katie Reus did enough "world building" to give us an idea as to who these Deadly Operatives were. Can't wait for more to this series.