A book that starts off in full swing, tension, contradiction, the sense of accomplishing a mission and doing what is right despite the instructed from our main character. Nice! Great openings mean that the writer knows what he/she is doing, and Russell Govan clearly knows his craft.
First impressions are crucial and in this point of view, Russell Govan captures our attention flawlessly and keeps it with the promise of rough action, that doesn’t take long to come with graphic details on a very well laid narrative, that impresses the reader right away. Nothing far-fetched, nothing out of this world, but that’s exactly why we like it so much, it feels real.
The narrative is fast, gives details with specificity, yet, enough simplicity for you to draw the images on your head. It’s AWESOME!
A thing that is very interesting and new to read, is that the narrator, our main character, is so conscious about his own flaws and short-comings that he expresses them naturally, which makes us much more invested in the book. It’s a very nice touch by Russell Govan when he made the book relatable to the reader by making the main character human and humane.
Another thing about the narrator/MC is that he is attentive to the details of other people, body cues, language cues, intonations, he is sharp. It’s super cool. If you have high standards, this book will suit you, because nothing escapes this man.
So! What IS this awesome book about? Glad you asked. “The Best Laid Plans” is about a special agent that is infiltrated on a possible terrorist group in England in order to feed information and try to stop them with the help of the national security agencies. This same agent has to keep his cover at all times as a gay ex-military and deal with the missions he is handed in order to gain the trust of the leader of the group, Ryan Watson, and figure out what he is really intending to do next. The problem arises when, on a mission, he gets side-tracked because there is an incident happening and he decides to help out a woman that was being assaulted by two men. A decision that may compromise the whole operation because this terrorist group is just the tip of the iceberg.
It takes around 20 pages for us to know our MC’s name, which is cool and adds to the mystery and tension of the book, if that makes sense. It gets us engaged, curious and anxious to know more about this mysterious man.
The rawness of both the book and the narrative is surprising. Russell Govan tells things how they are, no beating around the bush whatsoever, and makes us become emotionally invested in the book. We can feel the rage, the determination, the pain, and the resolve of characters. You can feel the wickedness in the villains, you will hate them, you will want them dead and buried after being tortured for days due to the things they did and how insane and bad they are. This is how great thrillers should be written!
This is a book that will not wander. It’s violent, raw, bloody, moralistically blunt, unpretentious and powerful! WE NEED MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS NOW!!!!
I love how Russell Govan point-blank calls sexism in this book, and it surprises me, on a very positive way, to see a male author do that with such fierce determination and so unapologetically. *CLAPS* And not only that, he also calls upon how unsatisfying sex is for women, because it is hard to find a good sexual partner, a man that knows how to perform sexually, which is something that the MAJORITY of women live through. This is so good!
The author talks about everything, all encompassed and seamlessly integrated to the plot, including racism and rape. It’s graphic, it’s shocking but I am sure that it’s a good thing in order to pass-on the impact of how awful these things are. Great job!
This is an action thriller, yes, but there is some impressively good and subtle romance plots here that leaves us with just enough hints for us to want to know more and want things to “happen“. It’s so cool that Russell Govan took his time to come up with a romantic side-plot that merges perfectly with the story.
Personally, I was very impressed with how all of the elements of this story blended together, but above all, how the seamless narrative of Russell Govan made this read a bumpless ride. You can read this book in a single swoop and you will not detect a single irregularity or incongruence . This is a very solid book, and an excellent read in all accounts. *nods*
A badass book with a badass main character that is as wild as he is original, lots of action, tension and twistedly complicated and unobtrusive romance with no loose ends and various messages that hit home. This is what writing should be all about. Great book!
Pros:
- Flawless, spotless, immaculate narrative
- Excellent character build overall
- EXCELLENT ability in holding off secrets and throwing them at the reader, and characters, in a way that chances how we see the story and plot completely, which happens several times
- EXCELLENT deliverance of Karma. Ok, this is a book that is blunt, and we loved it for it, specially in the way that the author makes no “fairy tale” “romantic” delivery of Karma. That’s excellent and original
- EXCELLENT deliverance of messages very well integrated in the story
- EXCELLENT display of body languages
- RAW all the way down and across
- Very realistic romantic and sexual interactions
Cons:
- None
Scribble's Worth 