Took a while for the book to remember it was supposed to be exciting.
I just finished listening to Extraction by Jodi Burnett. This one and I had a slow-burn relationship. And not the good, romantic kind. The “Can we pick up the pace?” kind. The story starts off like it’s easing me into a warm bath, except I showed up for murder, mayhem, and U.S. Marshals doing cool tactical things.
But around chapter five it finally wakes up, and I was at 63% before I was fully invested. The pace picked up, the danger got real, and suddenly I stopped checking how many hours were left.
Dirk and Hank were excellent. Exactly what I want in hero characters: Competent, loyal, a bit battered, and just flawed enough to be interesting. I’d read an entire spin-off about those two grumbling their way through dangerous situations.
Emory, though… I wanted to like her. I tried. But for a Chief in a U.S. Marshals office, she came across far too soft. Sentimental. A little sappy. And yes, I know I lean heavily toward the “tough as nails, emotionally unavailable, drinks strong, black coffee straight from the pot” type of heroine, but still. You don’t get to be Chief by wringing your hands and hoping for the best.
Meanwhile, we have Ceylon crossing oceans, scraping together money, and hell-bent on stopping her father from carrying out a violent mission. Now that is grit. In fact, I kept wishing she had been the central female lead. She had the backbone, the determination, and the emotional complexity that the story was begging for.
Overall I’m glad I stuck with it. The second half delivers the tension and action I expected from page one. It’s not perfect, but it’s engaging once it finds its footing, even if I spent the first chunk wondering whether I accidentally wandered into the wrong audiobook.
If you like heroic men with depth, dangerous missions, and a few emotional detours you didn’t ask for, it’s worth a listen. Just know you’ll need to wade through a slow start before the explosions kick in.
