Recollection by Caitlin West

81ZgTG-1O3L._SL1500_Title: Recollection

Series: Killer Contingency, # 2

Author: Caitlin West

Genre: Contemporary / Suspense

Length: Novella (98 pages)

ISBN: 978-1-77111-819-4

Publisher: Extasy Books

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb:  When death is your business, getting out has a price.

A heated romance was the last thing Ardan Boyle expected to find when he entered the United States for some downtime, but a chance encounter was all it took. Now in a heated romance with Brad Myles, an international businessman and artistic hopeful, Ardan believed he could swear off his old life, leaving his contract killing days behind him.

Unfortunately for him, the shadowy world he belonged to is not so easily denied and when the CIA comes looking for secret files compiled by Ardan’s late mentor, he’s compelled into action once again. Heading to the chill of Moscow, he must retrace steps made more than a decade earlier. Time is of the essence, as multiple intelligence organizations want what he’s seeking and they will kill to get it. If he doesn’t get to it first, not only will the people listed within be open for blackmail and possibly destroyed, but all hope of a normal life will be beyond reach.”

Purchase Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/caitlin-west/recollection/

Review: The second book of this series picks up exactly where the first left. It weird how it made me feel as if this was one novel chopped down to pieces that sold individually, yet you must read them in order to have an understanding of the story. Good thing was that this time we got a deeper look into Ardan’s past and therefore he no longer is this flat character that I though on first impression. This entire story was much better than its prequel and for that, I’m glad.

So this is a kind of Mission Impossible mixed with the Assassins story. Ardan has finally decided to let go of his life as an assassin, he has even gotten himself in lust and involved, and at that precise moment he’s been approached by his long dead mentor’s agency for a mission to recover his mentor’s hidden files. A disk that has Intel many people are willing to kill for. And Ardan doesn’t have much of a choice here. He must go to Russia and find it, or say goodbye to his newly formed dreams of a “normal” life. See why this reminded me of those two movies?

The plot unravels and I was quite satisfied from it. The tempo kept on. The pace quick, but not rushed. The erotic parts were there in the form of reminiscing his previous days with Brad and they were not lacking in sensuality and longing. Though I cannot forget that his relationship with Brand amounts to three days. Thus, his statement that leaving Seattle behind feels like leaving behind his own heart feels a bit over the top to me. In addition, I still feel Brad is a bit shady and planted there for motivation purposes. That or my imagination has gone really wild.

 The action part was actually good and this time I got to say:”yeah I’m reading an assassins book” and actually mean it. We had punches, shootings, even blood spilled, so my bloodthirsty animal inside was cheering for this installment. The part that felt a bit off was with his “new” partner. What an odd thing she was, so green and so… I didn’t get it, who exactly gave her this mission?

The end though was yet again a bit of a cliffhanger, thus the feeling of a novel being cut off, and the book ended on the note of the half part of the mission is done, so onward to the second half and France next. Heads up if you don’t like that, but if you can handle the wait then grab #1 and #2 and enjoy.