When I had the opportunity to read and review Natalie Walters's new book I jumped at the chance. Her newest book, Fatal Code is the second book in "The SNAP Agency" series and I can only say this book is just as good, if not better, than the first book in the series, Lights Out (read my review here)!
Elinor Mitchell is an aerospace engineer working for Lepley Dynamics. Her grandfather was part of a group of scientists who came close to finishing a nuclear energy project but never completed it. When her grandfather dies she takes it quite hard. He left notebooks behind that gave her comfort knowing they were his. What she doesn't realize is there are codes within them that can lead her to the cipher that is needed to complete the 'fatal code'.
The owner of Lepley Dynamics has hired the SNAP Agency (Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency) because there is a leak in his organization causing important information to get to their competitors. Navy cryptologist Kekoa Young is a member of the SNAP Agency and was given the task of monitoring Elinor as she is suspected of leaking the information. This soon leads to Kekoa having to protect her as well. Other countries are trying to secure the information from Elinor in any way possible.
All the characters in this series are well crafted and seem to come to life on the written page. I will say that Kekoa is my favorite character overall at this point. I loved the way he showed his soft vulnerable side when he was with his family and Elinor. I also loved Elinor's quirkiness when she wore t-shirts with scientific equations on them and also when she would tell her quirky jokes.
There were also moments that brought tears to my eyes such as the line on page 121 where, speaking about her grandfather, Elinor tells Kekoa, "It's like I can run my fingers over his writing and feel closer to him, read his words and hear his voice speaking to me." Or on page 222, "Kekoa's knees buckled, and his father ran to him, strong arms wrapping around him as he collapsed into them, releasing the sorrow, anguish, pain, and regret he'd been holding on to for fourteen years."
There are two things that interfered with me having a 100% enjoyable read. The first was located on page 50 when the author states Kekoa was living his own version of Grey's Anatomy without the medical part and also on the same page she referenced Mad Men. I have never seen either show and so the references fell flat for me. Also, with Kekoa being of Hawaiian descent, in the first quarter of the book there are a lot of Hawaiian words that in order for me to fully understand, I had to look the words up on the internet. This slowed down my reading pace. I will say that the pace picked back up once I got past all the Hawaiian words. I wish Ms. Walters could have included a glossary in the front or back of the book that contained all the words.
I would highly suggest this book to anyone who loves a good fast-paced, suspenseful romance novel.
On a 5-Star Scale - 5 Stars!
I would like to thank Revell Books, for my copy of Fatal Code. I received my copy for free with no expectation of a positive or negative review. The opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR. Part 255.
Smiles & Blessings,
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