THE BREAK LINE
JAMES BRABAZON
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Max McLean kills people for the government for a living, but when a mission throws everything he knows into question he is given the chance to redeem himself with one last job in Sierra Leone. However this last job may not be all it appears…
The Break Line for me was a book of two halves; I enjoyed the beginning of the story which is a gritty introduction to our main character Max McLean - a governmental contract killer. I enjoyed the brief exposition to explain what got him where he was today, his mission wobble where he challenges his career up to this point, the mission briefing and the beginning of the mission itself in Sierra Leone and his meeting with Roberts and Juliet. The story then becomes incredibly unrealistic very fast which made me unable to suspend my disbelief after a credible first half. The change was very at odds with both the blurb and the set up and so was a bit too jarring for me. There’s also a large character driven plot twist but this feels like it would have hit harder if this was the middle of a series and we had gotten to know Max and his past a lot more beforehand.
The action sequences are well written and very well detailed, if gruesome in places. I enjoyed the other characters, they all felt well developed and interesting and Max himself was a great narrator to take us through the story. It all felt quite well researched and the descriptions of Sierra Leone made me feel like I was there.
Overall I enjoyed certain aspects of this book but felt it veered off to something far too removed from it’s blurb and first half to be believable. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Break-Line-impossible-thriller-Breathless-ebook/dp/B078Z5W8SW/