Book Review: Target Acquired by Lynette Eason

I loved Double Take, the first in the series. And I’d encourage new readers to read that one first before diving into the second even though Target Acquired can easily be read as a standalone.

Kenzie King and Cole Garrison are part of the same social group that we witnessed in Double Take. Kenzie is a medic as well as a fully trained SWAT member, so she can perform both jobs. She’s recently joined the team that Cole leads and being the first female on the team, feels like she has to work extra hard to prove herself worthy. Most of the guys on the team are happy to have her and she soon convinces them she has what it takes. Except for one, Butler, who just won’t give her a chance because his mate, Oscar, missed out because of Kenzie.

The story pivots around the stories of three families across 80 years: Kenzie, Cole’s and Oscar’s. Eason even takes us back to the 1940s to show us the beginnings. I enjoyed reading the snippets of the 1940s, and the tough time Eliza Crane, Cole’s grandmother, had with her father.

I enjoyed both Kenzie and Cole, they’re good characters. Perhaps Cole wasn’t as “Shemar Moore’ as I would have liked in terms of leading his team and he was often conflicted by his feelings towards Kenzie. Kenzie meanwhile comes across as a great team player, courageous and willing to go the extra mile to get the bad guy. She happens to be the ‘target’ in this story and for most of it, it’s a bit of mystery as to who is responsible for targeting her and why. But it gets to the point when there are no more possible candidates and one can guess who the likely person is.

This story doesn’t have the same oomph that Double Take had. It didn’t keep me riveted as much and it lacked that extreme sense of danger that a great thriller has. But it is a very good read and I’m looking forward to the final in the series, where a third member of the girl’s social group, Jesslyn, takes the lead. She’s a fire Marshall so it will have a different bent once again.

I’m appreciative having received an early ebook copy of the story from Revell as part of their Revell Reads program via Net Galley. This, however, had no bearing on my review.