Four Steps Missed

Here is another entry for me in the Clock Reading Challenge. In this 4th installment of the Titus Ray thriller series our CIA spy is sent to Israel in order to determine if the U. S. Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) made a deal with Israel to allow them to tell their assets in Iran that they were working for the CIA.  The Israelis made a number of Iranians believe that they were ultimately working for the CIA. The plan was made because MOSSAD had a hard time finding assets. The Israelis are known to use intelligence that they gather in order to carry out assassinations. However, it is illegal for the U. S. government to assassinate foreign leaders. The U. S. Inspector General had an active investigation into the DDO. Titus Ray and his cohort Ben Mitchell were given the assignment to find evidence against the DDO. Titus had another reason for traveling to Israel. He needs a grandmother to consent to his and his wife Nikki's adoption of their foster child who they have been raising since her CIA father died in an operation one year earlier.

The plot moved fairly quickly and I was able to read the book in one sitting. I was somewhat surprised that the title has more to do with the adoption than a CIA operation. The four steps missed concern steps that should have been made before Titus would be allowed to adopt. For instance, verification of the grandmother's mental health is one of the items that should have been made in writing. Grandma was in a mental health facility in Israel after the death of her daughter. If you have read any title in the series then you know that our spy Titus is a new Christian. Consequently, there is no foul language or sex inside the pages of these books. They are all clean thrillers. 

I loved the story and am rating the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Three Weeks in Washington

In this third installment of Luana Ehrlick's Titus Ray Thriller series, American spy Titus Ray has uncovered a Hezbollah plot to attack the nation's capitol with chemical weapons. I have been reading the series for the Clock Reading Challenge which requires books to have a number in the title. Ehrlich has several series with numbers in the title and I am in the process of reading two of them.  Both are fantastic thriller series.

The publisher's summary:

Encountering a Shooter . . .

CIA intelligence operative, Titus Ray, arrives in Washington, D.C. on the day a terrorist enters the Washington Navy Yard and murders five people. Convinced the incident is connected to a Hezbollah plot to use chemical weapons on an American city, Titus jeopardizes his own career to interrogate the killer and learn the truth.

Exposing a General . . .

After the shooter reveals the identity of an Iranian deep-cover operative living in Washington, D.C., Titus embarks on an intelligence operation spanning two continents and exposing an Iranian general obsessed with destroying America. 

Engaging an Enemy . . .

As time runs out, Titus engages the enemy in a treacherous game of cat and mouse to save the lives of thousands and defeat the terrorists. Can his faith sustain him as he faces his greatest challenge yet? Is he willing to lose Nikki to save his country? 

What People Are Saying About Titus Ray Thrillers:

“The characters are very well-developed and believable. I enjoyed the way the author described Titus Ray's internal struggles and character flaws creating a very authentic main character. The story was action-packed and one is left wondering how the author could be so knowledgeable of the CIA and the work of their covert operatives.”

I finished reading the book quickly because it was hard to put down.  The plot moves from one intense situation into another. I am learning alot about how the U. S. intelligence community functions from reading this series. I wonder, though, if working as a spook is as action packed as the author's novels indicate. The main character, Titus Ray, is a practicing Christian.  In these stories, he shares his faith in a realistic way but his faith does not have a prominent role in the novels. We read about it here and there. Concerning the chemical weapon threat, it felt like I was living through the anthrax poisonings of a few years ago. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Two Days in Caracas

The Clock Reading Challenge is a fairly new challenge for me. You need to find book titles with numbers 1 through 12 in them and then add a photo of the book cover to its corresponding clock number. I picked Two Days in Caracas for the challenge this month. I have read several other books by Luana Ehrlich and enjoyed them. Thus, I will be reading books for this challenge from several of Ehrlich's series.

The publisher's summary:

Titus faces a threat he never imagined.

Can he capture Ahmed Al-Amin before it's too late?

Confronting a new operative . . .

When veteran CIA operative Titus Ray arrives in San José, Costa Rica, and meets fresh-faced Ben Mitchell, a hot-tempered new operative with barely any experience in the field, he has a choice to make--ignore him or take him under his wing.

Facing an old demon . . .

In the middle of an active, ongoing operation, Titus is suddenly called back to the States where he must deal with the failures from his past and make decisions about his future with Detective Nikki Saxon.

Opposing a present danger . . .

In an effort to stop Hezbollah assassin, Ahmed Al-Amin, from murdering a high-profile government official, Titus travels to Caracas, Venezuela, where he learns the assassin is but one piece of a complicated international plot to deliver chemical weapons to some of America's most dangerous enemies.

Facing the truth . . .

Titus risks everything, including his future with Nikki, to capture Ahmed, but is it enough? Can his newfound faith sustain him when everything about his operation goes sideways?

While the book is a spy thriller, it is also Christian fiction. In prior reviews of Ehrlich's books I was critical for the Christian side not being mentioned in the plot until the ending. Christian fiction should include spirituality throughout the entire story. In Two Days in Caracas Ehrlich gets it right. We read about Titus Ray's faith struggles from beginning to end. It made perfect sense to include this part of Titus's personality in the story. Also, because this is Christian fiction there is no foul language, immoral conduct or details on how a character was tortured. I read alot of spy thrillers and didn't miss any of it.

I had some personal issues with whether Titus Ray should have a job as a spy given his faith. He regularly kills people for his country. Is this an appropriate job for a Christian? I have read in newspapers over the years that men who work for the CIA are a religious bunch. I can't believe that it's an OK job for them. I was quite uncomfortable when Titus prayed for success before an operation wherein he was going to snatch a terrorist that might involve killing him. I don't see God as taking sides so this felt unseemly.

The story was entertaining. It's unique plot and fast pacing made it  hard to put down. The only difference between this type of spy thriller versus the traditional genre is that this one does not have cliffhangers or any suspense between the chapters. Some folks will be turned off by this but I felt that it was charming.  We still have an interesting plot and characters that are well-developed.

5 out of 5 stars.

One Day Gone

One Day Gone is the first book in the Mylas Grey Mystery Series by Luana Ehrlich. She also writes the Titus Ray Mystery Series and I read several books in that series last year. This month I needed to find a book with the number one in the title for the Clock Reading Challenge and One Day Gone was my pick. It is a gripping page turner that had me hooked from the first page. 

The publisher's summary:

Mylas Grey is a private investigator but don’t call him a private detective. That title belongs to his father—not to him. Mylas is the Chief Investigator for Senator Davis Allen, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His job is to do background investigations for the President’s judicial nominees, and that’s the only kind of investigation he’s interested in doing.

But then Lizzie, the Senator’s daughter, goes missing from her campus apartment. And suddenly, just like that, Mylas finds himself back in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, investigating her disappearance as if he were a run-of-the-mill private detective. Lizzie has a reputation for doing the unexpected, and she could have just left town for a few days without telling anyone. On the other hand, she could have done something stupid and gotten herself into serious trouble.

When Mylas meets a beautiful photographer at his brother’s church, and she offers to help him find Lizzie, he finds himself getting a little distracted from the investigation—well, maybe more than a little distracted. As Mylas is forced to spend time in his hometown, he begins to question his career choice, his rejection of Christianity, and his failed personal relationships.

Solving the mystery of Lizzie’s disappearance isn’t easy. It gets even more complicated when Mylas learns Lizzie was researching an article for her campus newspaper about a judge with a secret past. Is the judge connected to Lizzie’s disappearance? Did Lizzie’s boyfriend play a role? What about Lizzie’s roommate?

I loved this story! As I mentioned above, I was hooked from the first page. The story is more than a suspense novel. It is also Christian fiction which I was not expecting. It began as any other suspense thriller would. More than halfway into the story Mylas meets a woman he likes at his brother’s church and this is the point where faith issues become prominent. After Lizzy is found, the remaining two chapters are devoted to Mylas' faith journey. The blending of the mystery and faith seemed awkward because there was no mention of faith until the story was moving along at a fairly fast pace. It was surprising that the plot included it. The mystery of  Lizzy's whereabouts as well as what she was up to was a wild ride and made the book worth reading. 

4 out of 5 stars.

The Clock Reading Challenge

This morning I first learned about the Clock Reading Challenge and would love to participate. The challenge was started by Jo Linsdell in 2021 and she continues to host the challenge. The goal is to read books with the numbers one to twelve in their titles.

The Challenge Rules

1)     The officially hashtag for the event: #ClockReadingChallenge

2)     Read 12 books in 12 months, each with a number from one to twelve in the title to make up a clock face.

3)     If you'd like to plan out the books you want to read for the challenge in advance here's a template you can use for your TBR:

The idea is for your clock to look like this:  

4)     To sign up just post a comment in the challenge post.