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Title: Betrayal
Series: Jet #2
Author: Russell Blake
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pages: 238
Words: 75K
I am a fan of the Bourne movies, not the books. The books are slow and while not technically boring, are not action/thriller books. They are 1980/90’s spy books. I bring this up because in the synopsis it claims that fans of the Bourne trilogy will be delighted by this book. They lied. I was NOT delighted. I wasn’t enthralled. I was not even amused slightly.
Pretty much everything I wrote in my review for Jet (book 1) applies to this one as well.
Jet is not professional. In fact, I might be a better assassin than she is. She’s just lucky. All the time, every time. Even when she’s not, she’s still lucky because she lives and doesn’t die.
Jet is stupid. Plain and simple. This book starts with her heading to the US to kidnap her daughter from the family she was hidden with to protect her from any enemies that Jet has. Does she give ANY thought to the family she is taking her daughter from? Exactly zero fucks were given by Jet about them. As far as I could tell, she didn’t even research who they were, beyond where they lived. Are they good people, are they bad people, are they stable people? None of those questions are asked by Jet because all she wants is her daughter and she doesn’t take even one second to think if she SHOULD take her daughter or what is best for her daughter. It is all about Jet and nobody else.
Jet is too emotional. In fact, Jet reminded me of Agent Zero, in every worst possible way. She regularly jeopardizes whatever current mission she is on because she reacts to circumstances she encounters. She also regularly has emotional outbursts that translate into violence to those around her, with no regard for what those outbursts will lead too. Which in most cases would her being killed, if it weren’t for the author making her so lucky and staying alive (see the first point above).
The action was still awesome. In some ways, it was even better than the first book. But that is not enough.
I will be abandoning this series and I’m going to be avoiding this writer. Someone who writes such stupid people and saves them from their decisions by authorial fiat is not a writer who I want anything to do with. That is bad writing folks, just plain bad writing. There is no need for it and I won’t contribute to its perpetuation any more.
So adios Blake. You’re a wanker, a bad writer and you are making the world a worse place with your subpar crap.
★★☆☆☆
From the Publisher
Twenty-eight year old Jet, the former Mossad operative from the eponymous novel JET, must battle insurmountable odds to protect those she loves in a deadly race that stretches from the heartland of Nebraska to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., from the lurid streets of Bangkok to the deadly jungles of Laos and Myanmar. Fans of Kill Bill, The Bourne Trilogy, and 24 will be delighted by this roller-coaster of action, intrigue and suspense.
