The non-linear storyline also drops us into high emotional stakes for Reese right off the bat, while also giving both the story and the romance time to develop as crumbs are dropped in both timelines. (Please see Ingrid’s June Hearts & Crafts post or our last Great Smut Debate post for more on this craft.) YMMV with this style, but what it does for the story is: in the case of the dual POV, it gives us intimate insight into the thoughts, feelings, and dynamic change of both our protagonists in the case of the present tense, it keeps us centered in the moment the action is happening, increasing the intimacy and immediacy of the drama and in the case of the non-linear timeline, it manages the tension and the reader’s emotions so that we have moments of cooldown before we ratchet up the tension again. In Secret Service, Bauer has opted not only for a dual 1st POV in present tense (WHAT?!) but also it’s temporally nonlinear, beginning the night that the president’s car explodes on a clandestine excursion (!!!) before jumping back to when Brennan (the president) and Reese (his detail lead) met and then back to the scene of the crime, etc. Overall: It’s present-past (roughly) alternating non-linear, so I was thrown for a minute…until I was totally sucked inĪuthor consistency from a technical standpoint is great and all, but it’s also really fun to see an author play. Without his detail lead (in case that wasn’t obvious).

Plot: The president and his Secret Service detail lead are in love. I was happy with his interpretation of Sean's voice but not so much with Jonathan.Heat Factor: I might go so far as to say lotsa sex, but it’s not lotsa super explicit sex, but also that first BJ will probably live rent free in my head for a whileĬharacter Chemistry: Love at first sight + so much angst I really like John as a narrator of Tal's books but he can be a little over-dramatic at times and occasionally the voices blurred into one, so I was unsure who was speaking. Enjoy these quiet moments with Sean's musings because, once a gunshot is heard, it is fast paced and completely engaging as you try to work out what really happened and what had Sean so distressed with his memories of 1 year ago.' The above was my review after reading the eBook and I couldn't wait for the audio-book, however, I think I prefer the former. He's thinking back to the last G8 summit, 1 year ago when things went horribly wrong for him, what? we are not told at this time. It starts with Sean, a Secret Service agent patrolling the grounds of Camp David during a G8 summit. He just has a way of pulling you into a book with the opening pages and this was no exception. 'I've yet to read a book by this author that I wouldn't give 5* plus.

Secret service by tal bauer