Hell & High Water (THIRDS Book 1)

Hell & High Water (THIRDS Book 1) - Charlie Cochet I'll get to my review of the book in a bit!

First some facts, though, because I was confused when I started this book.

The world build behind this book and the continuing series is extensive and very impressive.
Take a look for yourself.
http://thirdshq.com/


Therians - are humans that have shapeshifting abilities. Why Therian I thought? Well, there are Humans and Therians. HumaniTherians. Humanitarian. When I realized that, it was a great name!

THIRDS - the Therian-Human Intelligence, Recon, Defense, Squadron.
That's the new law enforcement agency equipped to deal with the challenges the Therians gives, since the Therians are a lot stronger than Humans and can of course shape shift. THIRDS pair every Human agent within the organization with a Therian one, in the pursuit of justice for all species.

Destructive Delta - (it's a SWAT team basically) was the first Defense team in the THIRDS. When the agency grew so did the number of teams, but Destructive Delta was the first and original one.

Therian Classification Marks
The Therians must register with the Government, it's a criminal offence not to. They are given tattoos on their neck to state Family, Genus, and Species so their type shapeshifting self is, is visible for everyone.

This is artwork of Sloan, the team leader. He is a Panther shapeshifter, and the tattoo identify him.
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THE REVIEW

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**** 4 DEXTER stars ****


This whole review could have been given just one name: Dex.

Stunning blue eyes...
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...and a bright cheeky grin...
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...infectious humor and wit...
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...and of course Cheesy Doodles!

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Dex was AWESOME!
It's been a long time since I've come across such a great and fun character. The whole book is him. He is the book in a sense. If Dex hadn't been such a good portrayed character this whole book would have crushed and burned. I'm sure of it.

This book was so good because Dex was who he was and how the other characters interacted with him. He puts the expression "a breath of fresh air" to shame. He came swept into THIRDS like a good natured tornado, upending everything and leaving everyone windswept. The amazing thing was that they really needed to be swept away. It turned out everyone loved the chaos he stirred.
He became the center of attention.
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Not once did I think he was OTT (Over The Top), which can easily happen with such a charismatic character.

Of course, Dex wasn't the only character in this book!
There was a whole team of well developed characters waiting to be explored further in upcoming books. They were great!

The most prominent in addition to Dex, was the Team Leader of the Destruction Delta team Dex becomes a part of.
Meet Sloane Brodie. The Panther shifter.
*shivers in my pants for more reasons than one*
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These two characters, so different from each other, meet in a crash of epic propotions in this book! Literally too, I might add.

Dex was like...
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...and Sloane was like...
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ROFL!



Sloane really digs his claws in to try to resist Dex, but he finds himself utterly helpless against Dex' charm and is swept away by him.


The world build? I eat it up. I loved it! It was extensive and really thought through. Kudos to Charlie Cochet!


The bad news, I'm sad to say.
This book could easily have gotten 5 glorious stars. But I "only" gave it 4.
I deducted a whole star for two reasons:
1: too many f*cking descriptions of everything!! Too much of a good thing. The book could only have gained awesomeness by reducing the excessive description. It drove me just as mad as Dex did Sloane, I tell you.
2: the bad guy Really? That's your bad guy? Right there. I would even call him "hiding in plain sight", he was so visible. Major bummer!


Conclusion:
The book is not without flaws, but I don't care in the end because the characters, especially Dex, and world build is so...

...well, how is it, Dex?
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That's right!

My nerdy military-police-swat-team-shapeshifter-humor-paranormal-murder-suspense-and-romance-loving self definitely recommends this.



My review of Blood & Thunder (THIRDS, #2) here!
(hopefully done tomorrow or rather today, since it's late)
[bc:Blood & Thunder|22517659|Blood & Thunder (THIRDS, #2)|Charlie Cochet|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405136555s/22517659.jpg|41961444]