Death and Betrayal: A Jacob Stearne Thriller

I just finished reading Death and Betrayal this past Wednesday.  This book, unlike any of the previous books, which I very thoroughly enjoyed, took me several weeks to get through only because of the way Seeley James has taken what I feel is a rather chauvinistic direction with the Sabel Security series.  He began this series with a fresh outlook for his then primary character in the person of Pia Sabel, who came off as a very strong, very competent, kick ass/ask questions later female version of Steven Seagal.  She was incredible, mostly because she was penned by a male author.  He has now placed her back in the chauvinistic role of being a subordinate, background character, and  placed her in a role that I feel her character doesn’t want and actually even hates.  Therefore, unlike at the end of previous books by Seeley James, I am feeling that I am not at all excitedly awaiting the next adventure.  Jacob Stearne and Mercury made an excellent form of comic relief to give his readers a space to bring down the adrenaline a bit, but as the main characters, they have taken his series back into a basic sugar cookie recipe for adventure/thriller books, but perhaps with a heavy hand of adding cloves to the cookies.

This action packed novel is full of twists and turns and surprises. Stearne is out to save the world again but this time in the most convoluted way. His being fired by Pia seemed a set up job to me and I was surprised Stearne didn't think the same. His feelings of betrayal add a dark element to the plot. We are taken into the dark world of arms sales, to exotic locations and luxurious yachts and self absorbed billionaires.James' writing style often left me a little confused, especially with dialogue. I frequently had to reread sections to make sure I understood the verbal exchanges.This is a novel for readers who like plenty of action set in the context of keeping the bad guys from getting sophisticated weapons. The plot includes lots of mayhem, plenty of dead bodies and a great deal of complex strategy by Stearne to outsmart the bad guys.I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.

DEATH AND BETRAYAL (A Jacob Stearne Thriller; Sabel Security Book #8) by Seeley James is another great addition to this thriller series. I always find these books to be so entertaining. I start a book in the series and get immersed in Pia and Jacob’s world immediately.Jacob and the winged god Mercury are once again at the center of a fast-paced, action packed plot full of bad billionaires, arms dealers and a weapon that could destroy the balance of power in a country.This time though, Jacob is without Pia and Sabel Securities. He is fired without knowledge of just what he did wrong and thrown into a dangerous world of a billionaire auctioning off a new technological weapon. To survive, he becomes a modern-day pirate and becomes as ruthless as the bad guys.Jacob has decisions to make that will change his entire life and future.I love all of these characters, especially Jacob. Jacob has so much to deal with physically, mentally and emotionally in this addition to the series and I could not stop reading until the end. The plots of all the books in this series are fast-paced and entertaining and this one was no exception. Mr. James writes plot twists and turns that keep me riveted throughout.I highly recommend this thriller and all of the books in this series!

It took me a while to warm to this story. I have not read any other Seeley books and I think this was the reason. More people would know if it could be read as a stand-alone, but it just took me a few chapters to find out “who was whom” so to speak. And...I’m a very black and white thinker so as you can imagine I was very lost about Mercury. I thought maybe I was reading a book of the fantasy genre rather than a thriller or crime action type genre.I will say Seeley introduced me quickly enough to the full character of Jacob that I began to get the feel and flow of the story. Once I began to get the “gist” of the characters and the story then I began to enjoy the interplay and little bit of humor between them.This was a little more action-packed and carnal than is my choice of reading, but I can’t argue that it wasn’t done well. It was a well-written story with plenty of action and a pretty wild ride.Since this is book 8 in this series, it looks as if there are plenty more James Seeley stories to read and much more to learn about Jacob.

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