Review: Hell & High Water by Charlie Cochet (THIRDS #1)

Hell & High Water (THIRDS #1)
Charlie Cochet
Published: July 6, 2014 (Dreamspinner Press)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: purchased

Reviewed by: Krista

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

To be completely upfront, I have become very picky when it comes to paranormal romance novels. It is rare for a new author/book/series to pique my interest. So for me to pick up (and finish) a book by an unfamiliar author and then proceed to blow through the entire series in one weekend is extremely unusual. But that is exactly what happened with Hell & High Water by Charlie Cochet.

The THIRDS series is a strange Special Forces cop drama liberally spiked with romance. Kind of like Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooter series and Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series had beautiful love child. Sounds odd, but it definitely works. Also if M/M romance is not your thing, than this is not the series for you.

Dexter J. Dailey has recently been “promoted” to Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron (aka THIRDS) for testifying against his human police partner in the death of a Therian child. Unfortunately he doesn’t get the warmest welcome from his new team or his new partner Team Leader Sloane Brodie, classification Felid Panthera Jaguar.

There are great action sequences throughout this book, but sometimes they were so detailed that I was pulled out of the story trying to figure out how exactly the fight or action was playing out.

My favorite parts of the book were the characters, especially Dex. He is like a smart ass Ryan Reynolds on steroids. I couldn’t count how many times Dex had me laughing out loud at some quip or wise-ass remark. There were so many more layers beyond the initial surface smile that you can’t help but love the guy. We also meet him at arguably one of the lowest points of his life but he still tries to go about his life in an upbeat and positive way. Cochet doesn’t skimp on the secondary characters either, bringing them to life with every quick passage. Also the relationship between Dex and Brodie develops quickly but it never feels unbelievable. Not to mention extremely HOT!

As much as I enjoyed Hell & High Water I did find it had some of the common flaws of a first-in-series book. For example it, at times, got bogged down in setting up the world of THIRDS. Detail is great, but sometimes I found myself skimming. This didn’t stop me from picking up the next in series and the subsequent titles, which are more fleshed out and stronger in general. So if you are looking for something new to scratch that paranormal romance itch, I would highly recommend giving this book a shot.

Sexual content: sex