Saturday, February 2, 2013

For Love and Vengeance by Johnny Ray

Title:  For Love and Vengeance
Author:  Johnny Ray
Published:  August 23rd 2012 by Sir John Publishing
Page Count:  330
Genre:  Romantic suspense
Shelf:  Review Copy
Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

FOR LOVE AND VENGEANCE
When everyone lies to you—trust your gut instinct
If that fails—start over
For your love deserves the best
And murderous terrorist your vengeance
May God have mercy on their soul

Both the Americans and the Russians think Victoria works for them exclusively. In truth; the Pack, an International Crime Syndicate, brutally controls her while they launder money in America by buying distressed houses for terrorist sleepers. While she executes the perfect escape, staging her death during a shark attack, she makes one mistake—she meets Royce, who worked as a special operative several years earlier, the night before disappearing.

Royce, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with any American led special operations after he had been lied to in order to keep him focus on his prior mission. His girlfriend had been abducted and brutally murdered earlier while they had kept him in the dark. The last thing he had ever expected was another woman in his life, especially a Russian spy. Furthermore, he never would have believed that she would be the one thing that would encourage him to finish a mission that he should have taken care of the first time.

Royce is well trained on how to discover the truth, so although Victoria’s apparent shark attack was well conceived he knows better. He had used the life of a surfer bum for years as his cover. The more lies he uncovers, the more suspicious he becomes until finally he feels like he has little choice. His prior operation was so top secret even the CIA were told nothing He didn’t need them then, and he sure the hell didn’t need them this time either. The last time it was for country—this time it was going to be personal.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

This story came quite close to blowing my socks off. Ray kept me captivated throughout. I was always trying to guess what was coming next. I couldn’t believe how many different twists and turns he managed to pack into the story. The suspense had me on the edge of my seat more than once.
You cannot help but love the characters that you meet in this story. They are simply looking for a way out of the situations that they have managed to get themselves into. They are real people who exude real emotions, albeit in some rather uncanny circumstances.

This is a very well written and well developed story. The descriptions of people and places are very clear. There are never any long, drawn out background parts in the story, however the reader knows all that they need to know to understand what is happening throughout the story. This does not stop you from wishing that you know more or trying to guess what would happen next. What would a suspense story be without those moments?

Ray has a great deal of technological and military ops information in this novel as well. The information included is not overly farfetched, but rather quite close to reality. It aids greatly in the progression of the story. There was one instance in the novel that really got to me. After sleeping on it, it is still on my mind so I feel that I should mention it. One of the first things that the main characters did together they went to a wine tasting. Once reunited, the characters end up at another wine tasting, however this time one of them is pregnant. However, even with this blip, overall you really find yourself wondering what would happen if these events really took place.

Get your copy online here today.


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