F.O.R.C.E.

Krystal 'Voodoo' Laveau and Dwight 'Pike' Harriman are agents with F.O.R.C.E.

That acronym, which minces no words in the way it implies the members mean business, stands for First Ops Response Command Enforcement. It is presented with separating periods between the letters in the blurbs about the adventures but in the narrative it is just all caps 'FORCE'.

However it is presented, it is an "ultra-black ops government agency" put together by Alexandria 'Alex' Vaughn working under an "executive order from the President". [I am particularly taken with Vaughn, especially the comment that "her leadership skills had been learned during her time with the CIA and sharpened through the never-ending skirmishes between terrorists and politicians - some were one and the same".]

When we first meet these two individuals they are both part of a new ad hoc compilation called the South Louisiana Violent Crimes Task Force, "a combination of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies tied together through a mutual aid agreement for targeting the most serious threats in the region". Laveau is there because she had earned her way up through the police ranks to become a decorated SWAT officer. Harriman is there because he needed to sharpen his field skills.

Harriman is a "former Navy SEAL who has lost his edge in the world of special ops". It is implied that he was one of those who had gone after the most wanted man in the States and taken him out but that was a few years before the events we follow and it had been a couple of years without action for Pike, having spent the last two on desk duty. Though he will show early on that he still has what it takes in the field, he admits he has "lost my edge. Not the man I used to be" since he "plopped my fat rear end behind a desk pretending to make a dent in the threats against national security. Only thing I dented was the office pizza supply". Hence his desire to freshen those skills by a temporary stint with the task force.

'Voodoo' Laveau is a Creole woman with smooth dark skin and warm green eyes who is born and raised in the bayou region of Louisiana and loves it there. She knows she is attractive but she also knows she has better things to do than to primp so it is far more likely to catch her unkempt than not. She possesses impressive instincts, incredible chutzpah, and some mean fighting skills. She will be pulled from her SWAT duties with the task force and made part of the FORCE team working with Harriman.

The two are attracted to each other from the very beginning and there is no doubt they will become a couple, if they live long enough.

Good Line:
- After a verbal skirmish between Voodoo and Pike, a coworker said of the former, "Voodoo is good to stir the pot but she won't like the spoon".

This three-book series is a very, very enjoyable set of reads which combines excellent action told quite realistically and terrific romantic banter. It is too difficult for me to try to decide which of these two elements I enjoyed more.

Voodoo and Pike each have their own unique style of fighting based on their physical capabilities and both are very lethal. I would not hazard a guess which would come out of a ring standing in a real battle. And I pity those who go up against them as a pair.

And the romance part comes from a past encounter when they first met and were attracted to each other and then separated. It was not a separation done well so there is both animosity and attraction in the air. And both are very well written.

The authors should, IMHO, get back together for more F.O.R.C.E. stories.