It was finally released! I felt like I’ve been waiting for Book 12 of the Sadie Gray FBI Series, titled The Nature of Monsters FOREVER!
With Brad away at Quantico for his final interview with the BAU, Sadie is brought into a task force set up by DEA Agent Luke Calloway and three other shadowy figures. This black-project mission bears the “Above Top Secret” classification and will test every fiber of Sadie’s being.
A woman wakes up in an LA dumpster to find the last 24 hours of her life erased with no memory of what happened. She is not alone. A wave of similar crimes is unfolding in the LA area with no explanation. Worse, each victim has been violated with no memory of the event, only the evidence left behind.
This is not fentanyl, rohypnol, or even tainted cocaine… this is far worse. So bad, in fact, that the powers that be are letting this off-the-books task force operate without rules or oversight, only a prescribed outcome: find who’s doing this and stop them.
Permanently.
I was beyond excited for this book. And a little nervous. Brad and Sadie just got together. But this book will put that to the test.
Brad leaves for Quantico, and Sadie does a deep undercover op. This isn’t a Federal case. This time, Sadie is a mercenary.
Sadie is grappling with who she is, and I love it. Is she like her dad? She’s involved with a group that does what law enforcement can’t. They take care of the bad guys. But, she’s an FBI agent! I love seeing her wrestle with this. I even found myself not knowing which side I was on. I want the law followed at all times, and it appears she did, too. But, like Sadie, I realize that things can’t always be solved that way.
I love how she fell in with the group and got really close with them, especially Esty, the leader. I can see them working together in the future.
I also audibly gasped when I learned that the muscle and bomb expert on the team was Kane. Yes, that can. From The Shockwave Manifesto!
Sadie also gasped as she wasn’t prepared to see him again. He’s supposed to be dead. Turns out, Esty saved him. Which is good, because Kane saves Sadie’s life.
This book was so visual. I would love to see these scenes on the big screen. Again, I’d watch the crap out of this series if it were on TV. The fight scene at the end, where Sadie gets shot and dies on the table? Yeah., I’d eat that up.
And Brad? Well, he wasn’t mentioned much in the book. Sadie was angry he left her for Quantico. She figured this romance was no different than those of her recent past. But, she also couldn’t dwell on it due to the nature of the work she was doing.
So when she died on the table, I really thought this was just the end of the series. And that made me sad. But when she woke up in her mother’s home, surrounded by her loved ones, I felt so happy.
She’s been slowly recovering, but hasn’t made contact with Brad yet. When she finally turns her cell on, there are tons of messages and voicemails. I think that made Sadie’s heart swell. But when she finally got to talk to him, and he was so sweet and caring, I was really hoping they’d stay. He seems to be in it for the long haul, but these authors have a way of ripping your heart out.
Brad flies down to Mexico, and the ending was just what I wanted. More than I wanted. Not only did Brad walk away from the BAU and choose Sadie, but Sadie quits her job at the FBI. The money she made from the job is enough. Plus, I don’t think she could face that place after all she’s done.
The series is a perfect way to do character growth. You could see how Sadie constantly wrestled with the things she did and whether they were outside the law or not. And now, she won’t have to do that anymore.
Now, my question is, is the series over? It feels over. Will there be more stories focused on her and the mercenary crew? What will happen with her relationship with Brad since he’ll be back with the FBI? I can’t imagine them not working together anymore. But Sadie deserves a good man and a safe life. Brad deserved her love, too.
No matter what happens with Sadie Gray as a character, I can positively say I wholeheartedly love this series. And yes, if more books come out, I will be reading them!