Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: A dark and gritty special ops thriller with deadly consequences.Opening Sentence: “This is boring as fuck,” Luke Dubois declared as he flopped down on the couch.The Review:Midnight Alias is the second novel in the Killer Elite series. It picks up about six months after Midnight Rescue when the team is on a mission looking for a missing DEA agent. This mission seems rather uneventful, a lot of sitting around and not enough shooting or blowing things up, but after a while the mission takes a strange turn and the boys aren’t as bored as they thought they’d be. The missing DEA agent was last seen at a strip club of all places, so Luke is tasked to go inside to see if he ever sees the agent inside. Instead Luke ends up getting eyes for Olivia, a dancer who just happens to be the girlfriend of the man running the establishment.Olivia finds herself in a tricky situation. Her mother is sick and she needs the money from dancing to help pay her bills but she is also indebted to Vince Angelo, a mobster and the owner of the strip club she works at. Vince won’t just let her go easily. Olivia eventually learns that if she crosses Vince there will be deadly consequences so the Team’s mission goes from finding a missing DEA agent to doing what they can to get Olivia out of the grasp of the crazy mobster.Midnight Alias is a contemporary romance that is set in the New York City area. The story is told through multiple points of view including Luke, Olivia, several “team” members and Vince. There are a couple parts where the story drags out but there is plenty of action to break it up. The interaction between Olivia and Vince is also full of tension that you want to know how that is going to end because it is not going to be as easy as Olivia thinks to get away from him. This novel is quite dark at times because of murders, cancer and torture.Olivia is smart and tough but at times I found her kind of annoying but only in the fact that she was indebted to one guy and in order to remedy her situation she would have to rely on another guy to get her out, whom she also didn’t want to be indebted to also. She does pull a few stupid moves but for the sake of the reader it is entertaining.Luke is from New Orleans and has a sexy Cajun accent, which I enjoyed very much. Luke is a professional but risks blowing his cover because he is incredibly attracted to Olivia. He knows this when he first confronts Olivia about turning against her boyfriend but he doesn’t hide his attraction to her. Luke is sexy but way overprotective of Olivia.I really enjoyed the side characters, the other “team” members and their interactions with the storyline. Elle Kennedy uses this novel to really set up the next romance/novel in the series. You don’t necessarily have to read the first book in the series before picking this one up. It is a standalone story but in order to understand some of the characters better, you may want to read Midnight Rescue.Overall, if you are a fan of contemporary special ops novels then you should enjoy this series with its dark themes but generally with its enjoyable characters.Notable Scene:She glanced to the left, her gaze drawn to the heavy metal door she’d seen Vince and his goons coming out of so many times before.Luke wanted something of value? Well, chances were, that something was right behind that door.“I should investigate the back rooms,” she murmured without moving her lips.“No, you shouldn’t,’ came his sharp reply. “Get downstairs, Olivia.”She stayed rooted in place. “But that’s probably where he handles all the drug stuff, right? He bags it up and the dealers come and get it?”Silly as it was, her words brought to mind the image of rooms filled with floor-to-ceiling piles of heroin. And then, in a flash, those pictures were replaced with the very real scene she’d stumbled on in Cora’s apartment. The brown powder. The spoon and the syringe and Cora’s blank eyes.Ignoring a burst of pain, she clenched her teeth and said, “If you want something incriminating, it’ll be back there, Luke.”“This wasn’t part of the plan. If you’re caught, it’ll be impossible to explain why you’re there.”“I’ll figure something out.”“Olivia–”“I can’t do this again,” she cut in, desperation rising in her throat. “I told you I’d snoop around, but this is too damn stressful and I only plan on doing this once. I’m already up here, so why not check it out?” She paused in hindsight. “Is there anyone there? Can you see on the cameras?”“I see forty dudes with machine guns.”“Seriously?”He swore loudly. “No. But–”“Will the cameras pick me up?”“No, but–”She lifted her chin in resolve, “Then I’m going back there.”FTC Advisory: I purchased my own copy of Midnight Alias. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. Luke Dubois meets Olivia Taylor when he's working an undercover job. Olivia is working in a strip club to cover her mother's medical expenses and Luke is assigned to watch her. Olivia has had a tough life tring to take care of her mother and attend college. Luke is not only attracted to her good looking, but also her determination and hard work. Luke is an alpha male and a former Navy Seal, who has never considered having a relationship, until he meets Olivia. This book has it all intrigue, suspense, hot romance and lots of testosterone. Great story and writing by Elle Kennedy.
What do You think about Midnight Alias (2013)?
A thriller from start to finish! Luke is hot and the plot is fast-moving and intense!
—NBlum
