NICK WOOD

Nick Wood is a U.S. Navy SEAL.

At least he is in the first recorded adventure and as they say about any tough military organization, once you make it in, you are always in, one way or another. That is definitely the case with Wood.

As we learn at the very beginning of that adventure, Wood has been a SEAL for some time, long enough to have earned the rank of Captain. It is in that skirmish, though, we learn how he came to decide he was done with it. A particularly harrowing mission almost resulted in his killing a couple of innocent children. While no one was actually harmed, he knew the desire to be in such a situation again was gone.

Luckily for him, though life and duty forced him to stick around in the Service for a tad longer, his mission would require him to go undercover to Ecuador as a member of the Peace Corps (rather appropriate for his new outlook) and it would be there he met Gabriella, a young woman who would become his life companion. And that is when his occupation would change as well.

For the next couple of adventures, Nick Wood is in the funeral business! Now, there are a huge number of members of the cloak-and-dagger world who could be said to work in the death industry but Wood is the first I have encountered who is there after the action is over. It becomes his new job in life to be there to assist in people's time of grief.

The job segue comes to Wood via an influential Senator who knows of Wood's record as well as his recently acquired interest in the mortuary business and owns as apparently one of his operations a funeral home in need of someone to run it. To a man like Wood who was wanting to settle down, it was a timely offer.

That does not mean, though, that the world of danger leaves him alone. It calls on more than one instance, much to the dismay of both Wood and Gabby.

The writing is good and solid. I say that up front because it is important to remember as I say a couple of less than flattering comments. The writing shows the skill of someone who knows how to present a story and does so consistently.

Now the bad. The character's argent desire to not be the taker of life is laudable except perhaps in a series of life-and-death adventures. Kinda at odds with the genre.

And Gabriella is a lovely woman who wants her man to stay home and not put his life in danger constantly. Again a good attitude to have except when purpose of the books are to, well, put the life of the hero in danger constantly.

Then there are the bad guys who are really bad but, in the case of a couple of them, really bad at being bad. I mean, kinda inept.

But that is enough dissing.

The writing really is good and the character presentation is admirable. End on a positive note.