Readers! Eager for a new suspense thriller? More than a little okay with potentially losing sleep on a page-turner that’s going to keep you glued to the pages and on the edge of your seat? Then get excited! Why? Because author Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes is here with her debut thriller novel that is going to do exactly that!

A Fifth of the Story is going to take you completely by surprise with how detailed and gripping this novel is going to be. You won’t be able to put this book down until you reach the final page. Then and only then will you be able to take a deep breath, relax, and reflect on the wild rollercoaster ride this author just took you on.

The first thing that’s going to catch your attention about this book’s cover is the main character, Brock O’Reilly, painted in fiery colors with a view of the capital in the background. With his agent badge dangling around his neck and a serious expression on his face, it all hints that this story? It’s going to be intense, and boy does it deliver!

A Fifth of the Story starts out overseas. Brock and his team are dealing with a hostile situation. They fight over there to spare us over here. The mission is in Mali, Africa. Their task? Take out dangerous insurgents.

No mission is ever straightforward, and the author accurately details this when the team is forced to make some hard decisions. These decisions, and the proof of them, will haunt the team when they return back home.

How so? When someone leaks mission info and pictures, the team’s survival is jeopardized. That sounds bad enough on its own, right? Well, now the team is at risk of being no more. Their very careers? On the line. But that’s just a fifth of the story. There is always more. Much more.

The information leak is just the tip. Iceberg! Dead ahead! Are you ready? Brace yourself, because author Hutchinson-Hayes escalates this story with a protest that turns riot..and then shots ring out.

Innocent lives are lost, while others are assassinated for the information that they may or may not know. One of the team? Down for the count. Fighting for his life. Where is this going? Well, we’re only seeing a tiny piece of the puzzle, a snippet of the overall picture. Something bigger is going on, and the mess is about to hit the fan.

A Fifth of the Story starts out slowly, but don’t let that fool you. The author is simply setting the stage, familiarizing readers with a couple of the key players. Before you know it, you’re going to be racing your way through this book trying to stay ahead of the fuse that’s been lit.

You get a chapter in Africa before the characters are back stateside facing a debriefing of the situation. The information leak is hot on their heels. The team? Number one suspects in the eye of the higher-ups. Why? It was an inside job.

We all know that war is chaos, but what these men leave in Africa will appear tame to what Brock, especially, will be facing state-side. To survive that hell over there only to come home to another level of hell is a tough pill to swallow. Nothing is what it seems. Secrets are swirling all around him. What is going on? Who can he trust?

One team member has been taken down. He’s fighting for his life on multiple levels. Throw in that now someone is targeting this agent’s family, and Brock will have more than his work cut out for him. But it just keeps going deeper! How deep is author Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes intending to take us? As deep as necessary, so take a deep breath and try not to lose your head in the process.

Brock is an interesting character, and he really carries the storyline well. He utilizes his training 9 out of 10 times. There are some scenes and situations where his training backfires on him, but that’s to be expected. When you’re using your skills against someone else who’s an agent, the odds of you getting sussed out are pretty high. LOL! Even then in those moments though he doesn’t back down.

Brock’s experience in hostile environments comes back to serve him overall throughout this book. He literally goes from one dicey situation to another. Along with him, you begin to wonder…is this man ever going to catch a break and be able to breathe? We can only deduce that the author’s answer to this unasked question is…no. Definitely getting a “no” vibe. LOL! You’ll quickly see why.

Of course, you won’t hear us complaining! Nope! Not at all! The drama and the intensity with which the storyline moves are going to keep you glued to the pages. This book is insane with how it grabs you by the eyeballs and never lets up. The question of “What is going to happen next?!” will dog you all the way through.

Hey. You’ve been warned. So don’t be surprised when you are hard-pressed to put this book down and do anything else of importance.

A Fifth of the story is going to shine a light on racial issues and the drama that they play in politics. This is going to be true for both sides of the issue, so keep that in mind before you decide to “pass” on reading this book. These issues are a focus of the story but don’t dominate it to the point that readers who enjoy suspense thrillers won’t want to read it. The way this book is written works together to shine a light on how twisted all of this is.

A Fifth of the Story excels in the overall details. The author takes time to educate readers on specific terminologies that are used in this novel so that we’re not left in the dark. There are some elements that the author will leave us in the dark about, but that’s only so that the reveal can be more jaw-dropping. Now, if only the character descriptions had been as detailed this book would be just about perfect.

The way that A Fifth of the Story is laid out the author wants readers to piece together who the “leak” in the agency is. Initially, it will simply be an educated guess, however, as the story progresses, the “guess” will become solidified.

The question will become instead – “Why doesn’t Brock piece it together himself?” We think we have a theory on this one. Shooting for realism. We tend to turn a blind eye to those closest to us, so it makes sense that Brock would be willing to do the same. For a time that is.

A Fifth of the Story is one of those books that is like a bag of your favorite potato chips. Once you start…you just can’t stop. Before you know it, you look up and hours, not minutes have passed. The book is almost finished, and you’re gasping for air. The final chapters of this book are going to steal your focus as you race to find out who will come out of this alive.

This is just the beginning of Brock’s story. Author Hutchinson-Hayes is already working on the next to follow, so it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

A Fifth of the Story is a gripping novel that makes it a must-read for all who enjoy suspenseful novels packed with drama. This book is a wild ride of trying to decipher who you can trust (despite being told frequently “trust no one”) and a fight for survival. Nothing is ever what it seems. So, if you’re ready to forget about your responsibilities or have a sleepless night then this is the book for you!

Pros:

• Gripping storyline
• Good attention to detail.
• Page-turner
• Suspenseful
• Dramatic

Cons:

• Character details lacking

Lesson of the story: Stay on alert, and trust NO one!

Cover Score: 9.0/10

Overall Book Score: 9.2/10

Get your copy on Amazon US || Goodreads || Author Page || Barnes & Nobles || End Game Press || 

Review written by Bunny