Ronie Kendig is one of those authors whose books I automatically want each time she releases one – and Havoc is the epitome of why. Her writing is like nobody else’s – it’s tight, it’s provocative, and she’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last.
Havoc is the first book in the new A Breed Apart: Legacy series being created with Sunrise Publishing, and this one is by Kendig herself. It shows. The level of military knowledge, terminology, and operations sets this series apart. It’s clear that Kendig knows what she’s writing about, and while that military slang may take some getting used to, it also makes the story more intense.
Which it is. Havoc himself is a beast of a working dog, and his sergeant Crew Gatlin is the kind of hero everyone wants on their team. He’s battle scarred and battle weary but also not bitter, which I think is pretty amazing, and his continued determination to serve and protect just ups my admiration of him.
Vienna Foxcroft hasn’t had it easy, either, and she’s chosen to fight her way through hardship literally. Trained in MMA and working in Hollywood as a stunt double, she doesn’t run away when the going gets hard, and that’s what makes this story so very exciting. Can these two people, who come from such totally different backgrounds, learn to put their personal fears aside and fight the enemy together? I love that Vienna isn’t a powderpuff girl but is instead the kind who will stand and fight, because really, whether you’re fighting physically or whether your battles are mental or emotional, it’s hard not to turn away from trouble. It’s hard to face it head on and with determination, and that’s what Crew and Vienna show readers how to do: they teach us that we, too, can be brave and face our fears.
Isn’t that what we need heroes for? To remind us that while monsters (of sorts) do exist, we can face them and be victorious? And even that sometimes it’s okay – and even encouraged – to ask for help, to work as a team, to know when to fight and when God is asking us just to acknowledge Him and be still?
That is what really makes Havoc great: it’s like a fairy tale for adults, modernized for our current world. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and suspenseful, with characters I want to know and a plot that reminds us that even though we’re adults, we can still dream of being heroes.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
