Reviewed: 17 November 2023

Perfect Shot

by: Steve Urszenyi

Special Agent Alexandra Martel - Book 1

Rating: (3/5)

Don't call me Shooter' - what else are we supposed to call someone who is a perfect shot? Maybe Badass?!

I was drawn to the fact that the main character was a strong female able to kick butt. I struggled with the execution of it. There were references to her past and how she become the person she is that felt like a report being read versus bringing me into her world.

There were missed opportunities in my opinion especially around the insistence of her rank when being addressed. How it was done felt a bit annoying but I think it was meant to portray a few things like the difficulty with achieving it by a female and how she was bounced around the different organizations she worked for.

Alex’s body count rivaled that of Jon Reznick from the JB Turner series, but she lacked a bit of his finesse.
There were also times when I wanted to “yell” at her to stop talking. Her brashness could be a bit off-putting but as she says, she likes to shoot, being an intelligence officer or undercover agent wouldn’t seem like a fit for her.

The pieces of Caleb’s backstory were interesting, curious if they will be explored more in future books.

There were a few things that were not quite explained and a few that seemed improbable didn’t matter much to the overall story.

It was nice to see so many female characters in this type of book that were part of the action.

The book felt a little on the long side but overall I enjoyed it. Plus I learned a few things, always a bonus.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story.
Happy Reading!

Release Date: 14-November-2023

Audiobook, NetGalley, Female-Led, Thriller

Plot Summary

Special Agent Alexandra Martel has put her days on the battlefield behind her. Charming and disarming, relentless and lethal, she earned a reputation as one of the most renowned and decorated Army snipers in the service before stepping away. But when Alex, now an FBI special agent on loan to Interpol, learns that an old friend, an MI5 officer, has been killed under mysterious circumstances, she’s pulled back into the dangerous world she left behind: a world where some people fear her, some want to recruit her, and everyone seems to want her dead.

Following a trail of clues left behind by the dead woman, Alex pieces together a terrifying conspiracy that only escalates when a nuclear warhead goes missing. Dodging death at every turn, she reluctantly joins forces with a CIA agent, but he has plans of his own for her—and will stop at nothing to achieve them.

Chasing the truth through the streets of London and bustling Turkish markets to the underbelly of Paris, Alex is unrelenting in her pursuit of justice. But as the clock ticks down and the world edges closer to doom, she must fall back on her Special Ops skills to stop the unthinkable. She thought her life as a sniper was behind her— but with stakes this high, she might be the only person with the perfect shot to render the world safe.