SEALs and Snipers
Crossfire is the first JoAnn Ross book I’ve read, although I have the next two in
my ‘to be read’ pile; there’s one prior to this story, Freefall, which I haven’t read. But that didn’t matter - the story is easy to pick up, and the (presumed) central characters of Freefall play a fairly minor part of this story, part of the “High Risk” series.
I enjoy reading books with military settings and strong female leads; Cait Cavanaugh, an FBI Special Agent, could be seen as that.
The male lead is a former Navy SEAL sniper, Quinn McKade, a surprisingly laid-back-seeming character who has become a writer since his retirement from the special forces, and whose knowledge of sniper skills and tactics helps Cait when it appears a sniper has struck several times in the town of Somersett.
Cait and Quinn share a history - a one night stand many years ago - which makes their initial encounters awkward. However, as they investigate further killings, they begin to understand one another more and might just salvage something from their past.
Crossfire is always interesting to read, particularly the information about combat and snipers. However, I Cait
isn’t entirely successful as a sleuth. She doesn’t seem to actually solve the crime, just spends her time visiting different crime scenes, sparring with Quinn and not getting on with her FBI partner.
Quinn, too, as a civilian, seems to have a remarkable amount of freedom to investigate along with Cait and
appears almost too good to be true. At least the book steers clear of the massively over-patriotic gushing SEAL enthusiasm one often comes across
(yes, these are impressive chaps, but they are human, too). I appreciated the insight into some of the stresses that combatants face back in real life.
I enjoyed Crossfire for its setting and some of the background information but didn’t find the actual plot particularly gripping.
It is good enough to make me want to pick up the next book in the series (Shattered), so it’s worth a read if this is your kind of genre.