The Job

Readers looking for the romance in this romantic thriller will have to look hard. The story revs up slowly, slogging over the backstory of Sera Williams (aka Serafina Andrews), an undercover FBI agent charged with gathering intel on an American company that’s a front for the terror organization Liberty for Allah. Marcus, her archrival in the terror group, blows her cover and takes her hostage. He knows that her college lover, Torrence Jewel, now works at a nearby bank, so he makes the bank the target of his next hit. Initially, the strongest emotional connection is between Sera and Marcus as Sera pleads for her life. Sera and Tor finally come face-to-face several chapters later—over the barrel of a gun Sera has trained on her ex. Flashbacks are used effectively to describe what their relationship used to be, but in the pressure of a hostage situation, the focus remains on Marcus. Sera and Tor eventually find opportunities to interact, and the pacing improves as the backstory is elucidated. It’s an uneven effort, but it may please those who prefer guns to roses. (Nov.)