Review of Dirty Dealings, by AJ Adams
I think this is the best A.J. Adams book yet. Dirty Dealings is hard to put down. It had me ramped up from nearly the beginning, totally invested in Natalia and her family, and reconciling her life with the Zeta cartel. Ms. Adams got the balance of action to backstory just right in the beginning--wheeled me right into it without losing me to any drawn out explanations about things in the past. This book just kept steamrolling forward, very rarely letting up in intensity. I love how strong Natalia is. She's not someone I'd want to cross. I also love Quique for being a badass with a heart of gold. That Zeta cartel, they're some hardened criminals, but they do have a code that makes me want to root for them. This book is dark with graphic violence, chaos and mayhem. There are a few "fully depicted love scenes" but sex is definitely not the purpose of this novel. I totally recommend it to anyone who can stomach heroes who don't flinch at violence, killing, and deceit to protect their loved ones--and the story in these pages is built well enough that I found myself in total agreement with everything the protagonists did to make the situation right. (Fair to note that there is a lot of slang in this book, but if you are paying attention, the context will tell you what the words mean.)
