Broken by Rebecca Zanetti

Broken by Rebecca Zanetti

Narrated by Roger Wayne

Rebecca Zanetti’s Deep Ops series featuring the members of a small, out-on-a-limb branch of the Homeland Defence Department continues with Broken, the third full-length novel in the set. Each book in the series is a (mostly) self-contained story but there’s also an overarching plot concerning the search by Angus Force – the head of the group – for the serial killer he supposedly shot and killed five years earlier. Everyone but him believes the man to be dead, and Force’s obsession with proving otherwise is what essentially derailed his FBI career and saw him sidelined into setting up a rag-taggle group of agents who get their hands dirty when the Bureau can’t afford to. Force’s plotline gains a little traction here – and I believe his story is next up in the series – but Broken is firmly focused on the somewhat eccentric former SEAL Clarence Wolfe and investigative reporter, Dana Mulberry, who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time in the last book, Fallen, when she was kidnapped, and then rescued by Wolfe. There was a definite zing of attraction between the pair in that book, and in this one, they team up when they discover they’re both hunting the same bad guy – albeit for different reasons.

Clarence Wolfe has been something of an enigma so far, a big, surprisingly gentle man with a penchant for sweet, cream-and-sprinkle-topped lattes and whose kitten – Kat – lives in his pocket. He’s worked with Force’s team since it was set up, but he’s also been pursuing an enquiry of his own, namely, his search for the man – a former comrade – who killed his entire team when they were on a mission in Afghanistan. Determined to go it alone and reluctant to get close to anyone lest it compromise their safety, the last thing he needs is a journalist poking around and muddying the waters – especially when she’s the one woman in ages who has been able to work her way under his skin.

When the book opens, Dana, looking for information that will help her discover the identity of her friend’s (a fellow journalist) killer, is about to enter a BDSM-themed sex club and is surprised to see Clarence Wolfe (clad in tight leather pants that only serve to dial up the sexy) going in, too. She has no idea why he’d be there – unless for the obvious? – but hey, if she gets into trouble, having a badass ex-SEAL to help her out of it is a definite plus. Wolfe is as surprised to see Dana there as she is to see him – but before Dana can start asking around, shots start flying and sirens start blaring in the distance, and it’s time to get out.

As they speed away from the club, Dana tries to get Wolfe to tell her why he was there, but he remains tight-lipped. He does, however, try to dissuade her from continuing to investigate her friend’s death – “You’re my friend and I can’t let you get hurt.” – But Dana refuses. “I’m on a story, one that matters to me. I’m not letting up.” Reluctantly admiring her determination and tenacity, Wolfe realises she’s not going to butt out of his business without an explanation he isn’t ready to give, or let him do the legwork while she continues her investigation somewhere warm and safe.

The plot of Broken is tight and well-executed and doesn’t fall prey to the over-the-top silliness I noted in the earlier books. The bad guy is really B.A.D. – a traitor and drug-runner – and there’s plenty of action and edge-of-the-seat moments as the author gradually draws together the different strands of the investigation. But Wolfe and Dana make some questionable decisions, mostly to do with not wanting to tell anyone else – including each other – what they’re really up to, and I’m pretty tired of that “not telling you to keep you safe” thing. I understand why Wolfe, especially, wanted to keep his friends out of his investigation, but his overwhelming need to protect at all costs just felt… silly, and started to grate after a while. And I am SO OVER the heroine who insists on getting into it when their badass, highly-trained, ex-special forces fella asks her to stay behind – not because she’s a woman, but because having her along means he’ll be distracted, worrying about her safety when he should just be focusing on killing the bad guys.

The author introduces a new character – a former MI6 agent turned professor – who has a major part to play, and we also spend time with Force, Nari, Mal and the rest of the group. One of the things I enjoy most about this series is the real sense of camaraderie the author has created between the team members, and that’s a big reason why I’d suggest listening to or reading at least one of the other books in the series before this one; the team and how they interact is a major part of these books and it would be a shame to miss out on how they got there. Oh, and I can’t talk about the team without mentioning Force’s dog, Roscoe, a large German shepherd with a shoe-fetish and a drink problem who steals pretty much every scene in which he appears!

When it comes to the romance, Wolfe and Dana have good chemistry and although they try to label themselves as friends-with-benefits pretty early on, it doesn’t take long for either of them to realise that things are headed in a different direction entirely, one they probably aren’t ready for. I liked them together, and I liked the way that Dana – and her family – gradually bring some warmth and colour back into Wolfe’s life. But Dana is a bit feisty-investigative-journalist-from-central-casting, and the Wolfe in this book lacks much of the humour that characterised his appearances earlier in the series.

Roger Wayne delivers another enjoyable performance that really rounds out the characters and adds an extra dimension to the story. He differentiates skilfully and clearly between a fairly large group of characters, and injects the right degree of nuance and expression into both narrative and dialogue. He portrays the recurring characters consistently across all the books, and has found suitably ‘alpha hero’ voices for the male leads while also making sure they are easy to identify when they all appear in scenes together. Wolfe’s voice is deep and resonant, Mal’s is soft and husky and Force’s is somewhere in the middle; plus, Mr. Wayne gets to show off his facility with an English accent with the addition of former MI6 operative Jethro (Jet) whose timely arrival enables him to step up at a key moment. His female voices are good, too; never too high-pitched or over-exaggerated, and are clearly delineated – I was particularly impressed in the scenes which featured Dana and her mothers and sisters, as all the ladies are easy to tell apart. It’s an excellent performance all round, and Roger Wayne has cemented his place on my list of “narrators to look out for”.

With a fast-paced and intriguing plot, well-written action scenes, plenty of steam and an excellent performance from Roger Wayne, Broken is an entertaining – and recommended – outing for the Deep Ops team.

Caz


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