Dialogue-heavy, fast-paced, secret-agent adventure, ala James Bond, Danger Level 4, A Korie Briggs Adventure by A. P. Rawls, brings the reader into a world where South American oppressive government forces battle the population’s freedom fighters. Expect nuanced characters and robust action.
Clichés flourish, for example, an early baseball metaphor, but their limited life proves not to be totally distracting. Name-dropping like “Kenneth Cole sandals” may be important elsewhere to identify a character, but seems to be at cross-purposes with the protagonist, Kori Briggs. She’s to be a complete professional, not a fashionista or a whimsy character out of “Sex and the City.” As for the latter, what they portray is truly in character, where the character doesn’t morph into a killing machine.
In fiction, neither James Bond nor Sex and the City is by definition bad, just a different story told from a widely diverse and not-conflicting premise. Audiences of each know that and love their story because of it being true to its universe.
Fortunately, for Danger Level 4 readers, Kori does serious things. We may remember James Bond for how he likes his martini, but Ian Fleming didn’t dwell on whether it was Grey Goose or something else.
It’s a drastic suggestion, but if a reader skips the first four chapters and then dives in, nothing of any value will be lost. Then, the reader can read on to enjoy the promised action. I’ll not detail the action. To do so would be a spoiler we’d all regret.
I received an advance review copy from Book Sirens for free, and I am leacing this review voluntarily.
