JACK & JILL

Jack and Jill are freelance agents.

Jonathan Thomas Smith and Julia Jane Smith. That is the name on their passports. Usually. At least when we first meet them but before, there would have been an assortment of names and nationalities and residences and back-stories. All different and none of them the least bit real.

Reality was a luxury for both Jack and Jill, 26-year-old twins raised by Clare to be constantly on the lookout for them. They were coming after her and her offspring one day and unless the twins were ready, they would die. Clare was certain of that - no doubt at all in her mind.

There was a ton of doubt in the minds of the twins, though. Why wouldn't there be since for over two decades, their whole lives really, they had been taught by one of the very best operatives on the planet to be just as good as she, all ready for that upcoming attack that never, ever came.

Until it did.

Clare was a freelance agent herself. She took the occasional job for the Broker and she was good. Very, very good. She could change her appearance at the literal drop of a hat. She could change her age, ethnicity, physical condition, even her sex if she needed to so she could come and go without notice. She taught the twins to do the same.

She could fight with the best of them, too and made sure that the twins were every bit as deadly as they could be. Rifles, pistols, knives, hands and feet, or anything just lying around. She could probably kill you with that hat she literally dropped. And so could they.

But she was certain the time would come when they would need the training just to survive but the twins were not so certain. In fact, they really didn't believe her at all anymore. The twins thought their mother was truly nuts. They thought all those years being constantly trained, and worse yet, tested, were just because mommie dear was a loon.

Still, they trained because with Clare, you did what you were taught. And they got good. Very, very good. Even though it was really totally unnecessary because there really was no they. And they were not really coming after any of them.

Until they did.

     When you start a new series after having enjoyed a previous one from an author, there is a conflict between anticipation and worry. You hope it will be as good but you worry it won't be. Such is life.

     I enjoyed the Vanessa Michael Monroe series so much I gave it a rare A+ grade. This one gets a bit lower because, while it is quite good itself, it has a flaw that lowered it a tad for me.

     AND YET, and this is important enough to be in caps, it is still mighty fine. Tons and action against some pretty nasty and vicious bad guys and enough of a puzzle to keep the reader wondering.

     And both of the main characters, so very different from each other, are really interesting and each would be worthy of following in their own series if they had one.

     Plus there is the exquisite writing style of the author. My goodness, that woman can put words together so well and plot things so beautifully. Every book from her is a treat.

     What were the flaw, you ask? (You probably didn't but I'll pretend you did.) For me it was the constant bickering between the two. It never ends! It is like one of my family get-togethers, which makes it real to life and annoying.

     Looking past that, however, I really liked these books!