Secret Service Setup is the second book in Jessica R. Patch's The Security Specialist series. Although it is the second book it can be read as a standalone, but trust me, the series is so good you'll want to read them both!
Jody Gallagher knows what it means to "have loved and lost", she loved Evan Novak with all her heart. Yet it wasn't enough, at the first sign of trouble he threw her under the bus to save his own skin. She lost her secret service career and her self respect. She's not bitter about it really, well maybe a little, she lost everything and Evan lost nothing. She's just lucky her cousin Wilder believed in her and allowed her to join the Covenant Crisis team. It wasn't her dream job but she was lucky to have it and she would do anything to prove herself to Wilder and the team. Even if it means protecting the hide of the man who broke her heart and ruined her career.
Evan Novak did the one thing he swore he would never do, he became his father. He drank way too much and messed up on a job. Instead of taking the heat like a man, he let Jody take the fall. It hurt to watch everything she worked so hard far be taken away, but, the secret service was what he lived for, it was everything to him. That was before he gave his life to Jesus. He knows he's made mistakes and he will spend a lifetime making them up to Jody, if she would just talk to him!
Jody and Evan are appointed by their respective teams to protect the senator on his campaign trail. It should be easy enough but when a shooter infiltrates the rally and takes aim at Evan all bets are off. Who would want to kill Evan and why? How did they get past CCM, the secret service and the local police? With questions piling up and no answers Jody does the last thing anyone expects. She vows to protect Evan with her life, no matter the costs.
Jessica Patch has the ability to write a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and restore your faith in humanity all at the same time. I was floored when Jody volunteered to protect Evan at all costs. I mean, let's be honest, how many of us are willing to lay down our lives for our friends? Much less for someone who has already cost us everything we hold dear? That just speaks to Jody's character, she never gave it a second thought! Throughout the story Jody struggles with her relationship with God. She's mad at the things that have happened in her life and she believes God has let her down. I think too often we, or at least I am, are too quick to blame God for people's actions. I admired Jody though, because no matter how much she struggled with God and how she felt about him, she never let it stop her from being a decent human being. It's just who she was, she always thought of others before herself.
I expected Evan to be a class A jerk, I mean, who allows the love of their life to lose everything because you made a stupid mistake. At any point and time he could have spoken up and said "I was the one" but he never did. As you get into the story and learn more about Evan you can't help but feel sorry for him. He had a dad who was an alcoholic, determined to climb the ladder of success and when he hurt those he loved he gave empty apologies and promises. It's no wonder Evan has trust issues and wanted so desperately to make something of himself. Once he came to Christ though, Evan was a different man. He wished he could go back and fix past mistakes, but he can't, all he can do is try to make things right. He's determined to live a life that means something and that's why he fights so hard with the demons of his past.
There are tons of twists and turns and gasp out loud moments in the Secret Service Setup. Ms. Patch had me guessing until the very end! Most of the time I have a pretty good idea of who's behind all the mayhem, but I was completely wrong on this one. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the Secret Service Setup. Even if intrigue isn't your normal genre I hope you will give it a try. I promise you, you won't regret it!
You can grab a copy here: Secret Service Setup
* I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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