This is my first taste of author Alan Drew's work and I found it to be quite well-written. I accepted an arc from the publisher via NetGalley not knowing it is the second book in his Detective Ben Wade series, but had no trouble jumping in here. I will definitely make a point of reading book one now and any others to come.

The first day of this crime spree might have been the best day with even more deaths, more domestics terrorism and more heartbreak following. This might be one of the best books I’ve read this year, but it will most likely be the darkest.

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It is over a decade since the end of the Vietnam War in 1987 and in the seemingly idyllic South Californian town of Rancho Santa Elena, there are dark, corrupt, racist and sinister undercurrents, intent on maintaining the existing white power structures. Detective Ben Wade saves a poisoned baby, where the family dog is missing. Vietnamese refugees Bao Phan, his wife Ai and daughter, Linh, have managed to survive and thrive, owning and running their store despite the challenges that have come their way. Bao finds a dog with its throat cut in the alley and a message meant to intimidate and spread fear pushed into its mouth, Ben investigates. Ben's girlfriend, Natasha Betencourt, is a medical examiner, she is at the scene of a homicide with Detective Joseph Vanek, the murdered victim is a wealthy white real estate developer, Walter Brennan. The cases have some curious connections such as red thread, and all leads point to a group of violent young neo-nazis, but they struggle to find any proof. The eponymous recruit, is the unhappy and vulnerable 15 year old Jacob Clay, desperately needing something to believe in and to belong.

Natasha is the caring ME introduced in Shadow Man, still trying to offer her words of comfort to the dead, so that they have known kindness at the end, because who knows when the end is really the end. Ben Wade, is confronted with some very uncomfortable truths about himself, truths that don’t make it quite so easy to feel superior to the Supremists. The adventure in this book got me trying to guess the ending but of course I was fooled because that's what happens when you try to guess the ending in a spy book. Overall, I am so happy I read it cause it made me smile/laugh multiple times and I just couldn't help but love it with my whole heart. But that stereotypical mean girl, she's more than our supposedly tough character can take. Girls teasing him apparently sends him into bouts of rage not unlike The Hulk.My favourite quote - well, more than a quote really, "bit" then, was when Kerry outsmarted James to 'who was going to kill the snake' debate on their test mission, - "OK", James said. "You want snake for dinner. How do you plan to kill it?"

The book itself is terrific. The writing is excellent, the characters are interesting, and the pacing draws the reader along. "The Recruit" is the second in a series, but if you haven't read the first one, as I haven't, you will not have a problem keeping up. The setting is southern California in 1987, but the parallels to today are unmistakable. This is a book worth reading, both for the story itself, and for the lessons it has to teach. The opening situation, revolving around the protagonist's difficult family dynamics, emotional issues, and resulting trouble at school, is intriguing enough. Unfortunately, the protagonist is soon recruited by a secret agent taskforce so that he can help infiltrate a 'hippie terrorist' group that is thought to be targeting oil companies and dirty politicians, and this is where much of the intrigue wanes...

Ben and the other characters are remarkably well-depicted. My favorite character is Ben's lady love, Natasha; I was quite moved by her experiences towards the end of the story. So dramatic!

DON'T BE THAT PARENT, DON'T BE NAIVE, THESE BOOKS WILL GET THEM READING EVEN IF THEY HAVE NEVER READ A WORD IN THEIR LIFE.A graphic novel adaption of the book, adapted by Ian Edginton and illustrated by John Aggs, was released on 4 August 2012 by Hodder Children's Books. [4] Audio book [ edit ] These are just a sample of the strange lines, often about guns or tech devices, which are misused or do not make any sense. The author must have self-edited.