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Hell Dogs Squadron #2
Angle of Attack
Lt. Cameron Bradshaw is languishing on the compound of Division P recovering from his motorcycle accident. Dr. Mason Flynn is going through the motions of work while he secretly frets over thoughts of the injured pilot. When Mason suspects someone has broken into his house, the people responsible for a stolen missile and Cam's accident escalate the affair, and soon Mason is running for his life. Can Cam save Mason from an assassination attempt?
58 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 23, 2023
Unfortunately, I liked this less than the first book, which wasn't stellar in the first place. There's still no chemistry between the leads, the romance is lackluster and the author uses a bunch of lazy plot conveniences to move things in the right direction.
The only part of the story I liked is that we get more background information about Mason, such as how he learned he has magical healing powers and how he received training from his grandmother. It was also neat having Mason talking about their shared healing powers with the Naval base healer, which allowed Cam to learn that there are additional aspects to his powers which he hasn't been taught. The author also adds some other minor details to the superpower aspects of this world and how Division P functions, but there's no additional information about Cam.
The story picks up 3 days after the events of Book 1 (this trilogy needs to be read in order and it's basically one story chopped into three pieces) and the beginning jumps right into the action. I enjoyed having Mason be cast in the role of victim this time around with Cam being the rescue hero. But it did make Cam's severe health issues from the first book moot because the author has the base doctor (who has magical healing powers like Mason does) fix most of Cam's injuries so he's conveniently healthy enough to play the role of hero. That made me roll my eyes and it was also the first of many plot conveniences.
While I did like the sequence of events that had the rest of the story was bland. There's still zero chemistry between the characters, Cam doesn't seem to be any more attracted to Mason as he was in the first book and as a result, the smut scenes were blah. In addition, Cam has some minor thoughts about whether he's gay/bi/straight and the impact that Don't Ask Don't Tell might have on his career (this series was published in 2009, two years before DADT was repealed), but much like his injuries from Book 1, the author mostly brushes these concerns aside. We're supposed to believe Cam is suddenly really into having gay sex despite having zero chemistry with Mason and being mostly heterosexual. And the author introduces another plot convenience by having Division P be completely fine with gay military personnel being out so Cam doesn't have to worry about DADT implications on his career.
But the worst plot convenience happened when Cam . It's based on zero tangible clues, only a random comment that Mason says. There was literally no evidence to support Cam coming to that conclusion but the author couldn't be bothered to do things the right way and took the lazy route instead. Very disappointing.
The last plot convenience belonged to Mason when he conveniently . The whole thing is weird and dumb. To be honest, I feel a bit embarrassed on the author's behalf because you can tell they're trying really hard to craft a good suspense plotline but it's coming across as amateur.
I'm also getting annoyed at the sheer number of side characters because I can't keep track of the majority of them. The author acts like readers should be familiar with some of them and I know this trilogy is part of a larger series but readers aren't given any indication that they need to be familiar with this world prior to reading the rest of the series so I didn't like that.
Lastly, I didn't like how the author dropped the ball with their usual dedication to military realism by having Cam literally screaming at multiple superior officers for mistreating Mason. This guy is a Lieutenant so he's not high in the ranks and I didn't believe that he cares so much about Mason that he would lose his cool (keep in mind that he and Mason have known each other for about two weeks) and go against years of training so easily.
This book ends on a semi-cliffhanger like the first one did and we leave the boys heading off to go find the missing missile. I'll give the third book a shot because it's the shortest of the bunch but I'm not holding my breath for a massive improvement.
The only part of the story I liked is that we get more background information about Mason, such as how he learned he has magical healing powers and how he received training from his grandmother. It was also neat having Mason talking about their shared healing powers with the Naval base healer, which allowed Cam to learn that there are additional aspects to his powers which he hasn't been taught. The author also adds some other minor details to the superpower aspects of this world and how Division P functions, but there's no additional information about Cam.
The story picks up 3 days after the events of Book 1 (this trilogy needs to be read in order and it's basically one story chopped into three pieces) and the beginning jumps right into the action. I enjoyed having Mason be cast in the role of victim this time around with Cam being the rescue hero. But it did make Cam's severe health issues from the first book moot because the author has the base doctor (who has magical healing powers like Mason does) fix most of Cam's injuries so he's conveniently healthy enough to play the role of hero. That made me roll my eyes and it was also the first of many plot conveniences.
While I did like the sequence of events that had the rest of the story was bland. There's still zero chemistry between the characters, Cam doesn't seem to be any more attracted to Mason as he was in the first book and as a result, the smut scenes were blah. In addition, Cam has some minor thoughts about whether he's gay/bi/straight and the impact that Don't Ask Don't Tell might have on his career (this series was published in 2009, two years before DADT was repealed), but much like his injuries from Book 1, the author mostly brushes these concerns aside. We're supposed to believe Cam is suddenly really into having gay sex despite having zero chemistry with Mason and being mostly heterosexual. And the author introduces another plot convenience by having Division P be completely fine with gay military personnel being out so Cam doesn't have to worry about DADT implications on his career.
But the worst plot convenience happened when Cam . It's based on zero tangible clues, only a random comment that Mason says. There was literally no evidence to support Cam coming to that conclusion but the author couldn't be bothered to do things the right way and took the lazy route instead. Very disappointing.
The last plot convenience belonged to Mason when he conveniently . The whole thing is weird and dumb. To be honest, I feel a bit embarrassed on the author's behalf because you can tell they're trying really hard to craft a good suspense plotline but it's coming across as amateur.
I'm also getting annoyed at the sheer number of side characters because I can't keep track of the majority of them. The author acts like readers should be familiar with some of them and I know this trilogy is part of a larger series but readers aren't given any indication that they need to be familiar with this world prior to reading the rest of the series so I didn't like that.
Lastly, I didn't like how the author dropped the ball with their usual dedication to military realism by having Cam literally screaming at multiple superior officers for mistreating Mason. This guy is a Lieutenant so he's not high in the ranks and I didn't believe that he cares so much about Mason that he would lose his cool (keep in mind that he and Mason have known each other for about two weeks) and go against years of training so easily.
This book ends on a semi-cliffhanger like the first one did and we leave the boys heading off to go find the missing missile. I'll give the third book a shot because it's the shortest of the bunch but I'm not holding my breath for a massive improvement.
December 30, 2020
The plot thickens!
So, the bad guys go after Mason and Cam goes to the rescue. Mason's status as a healer is now a known fact to the Division P and he might or might not get an offer to join them... if he survives :P
And the blonde woman? I KNEW IT!
So, the bad guys go after Mason and Cam goes to the rescue. Mason's status as a healer is now a known fact to the Division P and he might or might not get an offer to join them... if he survives :P
And the blonde woman? I KNEW IT!
February 20, 2010
This is the second book in a chaser series, which means the series is meant to be read together and the books purposefully continue the same plot and cast of characters over the span of however many books are in the series. Due to this format, each successive book shouldn’t be read without reading the first one so for those that read the first one and forgot ~ Cameron Bradshaw was injured in a hit and run with a truck and Dr. Mason Flynn happened to see the accident. His quick actions and use of healing “Talent” saved Cam’s life, which in turn led to Cam and Mason having some quick sex as the mystery of the missing officers and missile rages around them.
In this next installment, Cameron is still struggling with his feelings towards Mason. Cam is definitely heterosexual, according to him, so having sex with Mason has thrown him off and led to some confusion. However, not much confusion as Cam spends the majority of this book ruminating on how a gay affair might ruin his military career rather than wondering how it is a straight man is lusting after another man. Cam doesn’t accept he’s gay but neither does he have any elaboration from the scant characterization of the previous book. Furthermore the relationship between Cam and Mason does not progress much either, even though they are thrown together for the majority of the action.
This lack of character development is repeated throughout this book, partly due to the plot progression and style. The main action of the plot revolves around an attack on Mason and the subsequent recuperation of both men while in the hospital before running off on another tangent. While in the course of a fully packaged book, a lengthy action aside with the recovery period may be interesting, but in this case it causes the fluidity of the story to stutter and lacks any real necessity to the overall plot. No depth or complexity has been added to the relationship between Cam and Mason and while the plot of the missing objects does grow, Cam figures out the answer almost immediately.
Secondary characters seemed to blend in with each other without any discernable difference. The character of Peter, another healer with “Talent,” is largely forgettable. His sole purpose seems to be rationalizing time spent between Mason and Cam in a weird explanation that those with psychic power need to touch the flesh of someone they care about. Understandable that a traumatic experience would shake a person’s emotional stability but the additional rationalizations felt hollow and weak. The overt reasoning simply created a situation for Cam and Mason to once again sleep together without further establishing the connection between the men.
While I found the first book in the series interesting enough to continue with just enough hints to catch my attention, this second offering suffers from a common middle book malaise. There is a lot of action from all sides but very little connection to the characters and the overall story arc. If the entire series was presented together or able to be read sequentially, the story would present stronger and more cohesive. On the positive side, the writing was adequate and often descriptive with likable characters in a basic and recognizable scenario. For readers who enjoy military intrigue with just a hint of romance, this series may appeal to you. Be sure to read the books in order and preferably all at once, but either way for a fast read, this may satisfy.
In this next installment, Cameron is still struggling with his feelings towards Mason. Cam is definitely heterosexual, according to him, so having sex with Mason has thrown him off and led to some confusion. However, not much confusion as Cam spends the majority of this book ruminating on how a gay affair might ruin his military career rather than wondering how it is a straight man is lusting after another man. Cam doesn’t accept he’s gay but neither does he have any elaboration from the scant characterization of the previous book. Furthermore the relationship between Cam and Mason does not progress much either, even though they are thrown together for the majority of the action.
This lack of character development is repeated throughout this book, partly due to the plot progression and style. The main action of the plot revolves around an attack on Mason and the subsequent recuperation of both men while in the hospital before running off on another tangent. While in the course of a fully packaged book, a lengthy action aside with the recovery period may be interesting, but in this case it causes the fluidity of the story to stutter and lacks any real necessity to the overall plot. No depth or complexity has been added to the relationship between Cam and Mason and while the plot of the missing objects does grow, Cam figures out the answer almost immediately.
Secondary characters seemed to blend in with each other without any discernable difference. The character of Peter, another healer with “Talent,” is largely forgettable. His sole purpose seems to be rationalizing time spent between Mason and Cam in a weird explanation that those with psychic power need to touch the flesh of someone they care about. Understandable that a traumatic experience would shake a person’s emotional stability but the additional rationalizations felt hollow and weak. The overt reasoning simply created a situation for Cam and Mason to once again sleep together without further establishing the connection between the men.
While I found the first book in the series interesting enough to continue with just enough hints to catch my attention, this second offering suffers from a common middle book malaise. There is a lot of action from all sides but very little connection to the characters and the overall story arc. If the entire series was presented together or able to be read sequentially, the story would present stronger and more cohesive. On the positive side, the writing was adequate and often descriptive with likable characters in a basic and recognizable scenario. For readers who enjoy military intrigue with just a hint of romance, this series may appeal to you. Be sure to read the books in order and preferably all at once, but either way for a fast read, this may satisfy.
April 8, 2010
I enjoyed this action dominated romance. The characters don't get much time or opportunity to get very romantic, but they do manage to get hot and sweaty on horizontal surfaces reasonably often.
It is difficult to review the three parts separately because they are not really complete stories individually. So I am going to review them as a group. The first part came closest to being a stand-alone story, although the ending was neither Happy Ever After nor Happy For Now.
Taken as a single novel in three parts it was a good tale with a nice helping of action and the addition of psi powers with limits and drawbacks. The Gay-For-You career Navy officer, Cam, was a bit of a stretch, but the psi powers gave him a good excuse for easy acceptance.
The Government Agency employing the psi talents was a pleasant change from the normal extremes of evil-exploiters or angelic-philanthropists. The talents are treated well because they don't function reliably if they are mis-treated - something that was found out the hard way, but the lessons were learned.
It is difficult to review the three parts separately because they are not really complete stories individually. So I am going to review them as a group. The first part came closest to being a stand-alone story, although the ending was neither Happy Ever After nor Happy For Now.
Taken as a single novel in three parts it was a good tale with a nice helping of action and the addition of psi powers with limits and drawbacks. The Gay-For-You career Navy officer, Cam, was a bit of a stretch, but the psi powers gave him a good excuse for easy acceptance.
The Government Agency employing the psi talents was a pleasant change from the normal extremes of evil-exploiters or angelic-philanthropists. The talents are treated well because they don't function reliably if they are mis-treated - something that was found out the hard way, but the lessons were learned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2010
2nd installment, loved it!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews