16 April 2013

Sticks & Stones (Cut & Run #2)




Blurb

Six months after nearly losing their lives to a serial killer in New York City, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are suffering through something almost as frightening: the monotony of desk duty. When they're ordered to take a vacation for the good of everyone's sanity, Ty bites the bullet and takes Zane home with him to West Virginia, hoping the peace and quiet of the mountains will give them the chance to explore the explosive attraction they've so far been unable to reconcile with their professional partnership. Ty and Zane, along with Ty's father and brother, head up into the Appalachian mountains for a nice, relaxing hike deep into the woods... where no one will hear them scream. They find themselves facing danger from all directions: unpredictable weather, the unrelenting mountains, wild animals, fellow hikers with nothing to lose, and the most terrifying challenge of all. Each other.


My Review

The old adage, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," isn't quite accurate, isn't it? Because while words might not hurt us physically, it can hurt us emotionally. This is pretty much what this book showed us. 

Six months after the Tri-State debacle, Ty and Zane were still relegated to desk study and drove each other and those around them through the wall. The solution? Well, a vacation of course. Sounds like a plan except that Ty doesn't want to go home to West Virginia but seeing his partner floundering, Ty had the bright idea of bringing Zane along.  As always, nothing goes according to plan and Ty and Zane not only have to survive Ty's family, they have to survive the wilderness, deranged treasure hunters, and most importantly, they have to survive each other. 

This book was quite emotional for me. That surprised me because I was actually a little bored during the first half of the book. Although, I did enjoy Ty's crazy family, I felt like something was missing. I wasn't quite connecting to the story, but then Earl put his foot in his mouth. That was when my hackles rose in indignation! How dare he say those appalling words to Ty! Those words were so hurtful and so completely untrue, I wanted to throttle the man! Grr! He regretted his words later on but it was already too late. The damage was done! 

I felt really, really bad for Ty. My heart broke for him. Not only did he suffer physically but emotionally as well. He deserved none of it. I just wanted to reach out to him and give him a hug, ya know. Thank God, Zane was there for him. I enjoyed those tender moments between them. They were few and far between but they were there and it made me went, 'Aww, that's so sweet!' Yes, I've been doing that a lot while reading this series. I imagine I'm going to do that a lot more in the future, too, so expect to see that every time I write a review for this series. 

Anyway, I can't wait to read more about Ty and Zane. Two books down, five more to go! Bring it on!

4 Stars!!