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CONSTANZA OCANA

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Full Name: Constanza Ocana
Nationality: Mexican
Organization: CIA
Occupation Agent

Creator: Richard F. Paddon
Time Span: 2023 - 2023

ABOUT THE SERIES

Constanza 'Connie' Ocana is an agent with the CIA.

She was an elimination expert, a paid assassin who had earned her nickname of the Blood Angel more than once, all in the service of the top floor of at Langley.

Was an agent is more accurate at the time we meet her in the first recorded adventure. She had decided she had had enough and found a way to exit the scene of a mission leaving everyone, including the Agency top brass, believing she was dead. She returned to Mexico and started a new life, one which find her to meeting a man named Michael, falling in love and marrying him, and created her precious daughter Julieta.

Then, in the opening pages of that tale, we would read how a group of cartel soldiers had gone after a target in a busy marketplace and a horrific explosion had resulted and her family was gone. Some might say her survival was a miracle but to Ocana, it was a curse as it left her alone and heartbroken. The terrible event would have one added unpleasant result for Ocana; news coverage of the memorial afterwards would capture an image of her grieving by the makeshift shrine and an eagle-eyed data analyst at Langley would recognize her.

Back into her world would come her old friend and mentor, the now aged Wes Parker, and while his deeply felt affection for her would have been enough to make him drop everything and come to her side, despite having believed like everyone that she was dead,  with Parker as with the CIA in general, there is also another motive.

For Ocana, though, her motivation is simple - revenge against the cartel who took her life from her. Once that could be taken care of, then she could worry about what the Agency was going to demand of her.

BOOKS

Number of Books:3
First Appearance:2023
Last Appearance:2023

1 The Blood Angel The Blood Angel
aka The Betrayed
Written by Richard F. Paddon
Copyright: 2023

"When an explosion kills her family, Constanza awakens and vows revenge. With her code name, The Blood Angel, she sets out to carve a path of retribution through the Mexican cartel that was responsible, only to discover it may have been part of an elaborate plot by someone much worse."
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2 The Hunted The Hunted
Written by Richard F. Paddon
Copyright: 2023

"After putting her family to rest, Constanza must now get out of Italy, which is easier said than done. Her grand comeback as The Blood Angel has drawn the wrong attention to her. As powerful enemies, including a collection of mafia dons, close in on her, Constanza must use all of her skills and wits to stay alive and escape Italy. Now the hunter has become the hunted."
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3 The Gathering Storm The Gathering Storm
aka The Gambit
Written by Richard F. Paddon
Copyright: 2023

"Finally free after the events in Italy, Constanza is ready to start living again. Her future is there for the taking, but fate has other plans and she’s pulled back into the treacherous world she fought so hard to leave behind. Forced to make a deal with the devil, Constanza must assassinate an international arms dealer or risk life in prison. If she does that, then she will be released and given a new identity and life. It seems like a straightforward mission, but everything is not as it seems and the truth lies in the shadows."
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MY COMMENTS

On more than a couple series in this compendium, I have dinged the grade a bit when the author uses a trope that I absolutely abhor - namely killing the main character's family in order to provide pathos or extreme motivation. I do NOT so penalize this series because it is used - admittedly, IMHO - in an intelligent way that works so well in the adventures of Constanza Ocana. In this case, it fits and the way that it is done does not drag it into gratuitous category. It is swift and brutal and then over and the protagonist is forced to move on.

I could probably write an article on how this works when other instances I have found fail so miserably but I won't, at least not here. I will just say that Ocana, the former CIA assassin who wanted to retire and start a new life, is brought back into the world of action in a very intelligent, believable manner. My hat's off to the author, Richard F. Paddon.

This is an action-adventure series that I found a hoot and a half. I enjoyed all three books (as of this writing) and I hope there are more.

GRADE

My Grade: B+

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SpyGuysAndGals is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, and links with the Buy from Amazon button are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.