Book 59, 2022

[chez_jae]

Biting the Bullet by Jennifer Rardin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Brought my work book home with me on Friday and I finished it this evening. It was Biting the Bullet by Jennifer Rardin, and it's the third book in the "Jaz Parks" urban fantasy series. The main character is Lucille Richardson, code name Jaz Parks.

Jaz and her team, including the vampire Vayl, the Seer Cassandra, and weapons tech Bergman, are in the mideast to meet up with a Special Ops team in order to take down a terrorist known as the Wizard. As if the mission won't be difficult enough, Jaz and Vayl know they have a mole whom they'll need to deal with as well. Compounding problems is that Vayl has met another Seer that he believes can finally lead him to his sons--sons who died over 200 years ago and may have been reborn. His obsession means he's not present for Jaz when she needs his help, thus compromising the mission further. The worst, though, is when Jaz finds out the Spec Ops team is one headed up by her brother, her twin, who has never forgiven her for killing his wife in an act of mercy. It's up to Jaz to get Vayl to focus, get David's team onboard, and sift through subterfuge and double-crosses to hone in on their real target.

I've read the first two books in this series, but it's been so long ago that I was floundering through the first half of this one. Things came back slowly, and the author did do a good job of providing back story so that if someone read this one first, it would make sense. The story was exciting, but I'm not sure I'd bother to read more in the series. There was too much going on, and far too many characters, creatures, bad guys, etc to keep up with. I liked how tough and determined Jaz was, and there was some humor to lighten the mood, but there are other urban fantasy series out there I like far more than this one. And you know what bugged me the most? Jaz was reminiscing about how her boyfriend broke up with her when she was 14. She was crushed, as she'd been busily writing "Jasmine Elaine Smith" (or whatever his last name had been) on her school notebooks. BUT, at 14, she wouldn't have been going by the name 'Jasmine', would she? Back then, she was Lucille. WTF, author?

Favorite lines:
♦ This stud yanked the Ooh baby right out of the girl in me.
♦ "I am experiencing a deep-seated need to blow a bubble."
♦ "You been screwed, little girl. And not in the kick your legs up and squeal kind of way either."
♦ Thanks to Vayl I can fake my way through a seven-course meal alongside an army of French food critics without raising a single suspicion that I can't wait to run home, throw a burrito in the microwave, stuff it down my throat, and fart my way through an episode of South Park.

This was a good book, don't get me wrong, but it didn't grip me like other urban fantasies have. Giving it a score of four and letting the series slide off my radar.