Title: Crazy Wild (Steele Street #3)
Author: Tara Janzen
Publisher: Dell
Publication Date: January 31st, 2006
Paperback: 416 pages
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Source: Own Copy
Guest Review by Zosia
RATING: 8/10
BOOK COVER SUMMARY:
It’s a long way from the jungles of Colombia to a Colorado library, where Special Forces operative Creed Rivera is staking out one of the world’s most dangerous women. With her prim librarian looks, Cordelia “Cody” Stark doesn’t look like a nuclear arms broker. But nabbing her is Creed’s latest mission–until a trio of thugs shows up and he’s suddenly forced to play hero….
Armed with secrets that could ignite a global inferno, Cody was already running out of places to hide. And now a hotshot government agent has blown her cover by throwing himself between her and certain death. Trusting the hero who just saved her life is not an option. Resisting him is something else entirely. And when bullets start to fly, a man and a woman running out of time are gearing up for the wildest adventure of their lives….
REVIEW:
This is the third instalment of Tara Janzen’s humorous and entertaining ‘James Bond’ meets ‘The Fast and the Furious’ romantic suspense series. The books can be read as standalones – more or less – but the series is one big crazy ride and it’s best to start at the beginning.
The cast of characters are a bunch of former car thieves and street kids who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Denver. They received their education stealing, suping up and racing muscle cars, but have been reformed and now work for a secret government agency, saving the world on a daily basis. The premise is crazy, and the timeframes of the books are very short: anything from a few hours to a couple of days. And while the world is being saved of course the hero and heroine manage to form a steamy relationship and find a happy ending.
It all sounds ridiculous, which is exactly why it’s so much fun.
Creed Rivera was a shadowy, messed-up character in the last book, and his story in this one is indeed a bit darker than the two preceding it. Cody is also someone with a lot of demons. Janzen writes appealing characters, and every man she writes is a dream come true.
The book is nonstop action from start to finish, and I ended up reading it in one sitting. There’s nowhere in the story to put it down and take a break; it’s like watching an action film where everything’s happening at once. However for most of it the romance is minimal compared to the first two, which was a little surprising. Janzen writes excellent action, and this story will have you hanging from rooftops in the snow and racing around the streets in insanely loud and fast cars. Everyone from Iranian buyers for the Taliban to monstrous German hired thugs is running wild everywhere from Denver’s public library to a rave party in a collapsing building.
It worked for me.
As with her other Crazy series entries, Janzen has a tendency to visit or revisit too many other characters for too much of the book, thus taking the limelight away from the main pair. That said, the focus was much better in this one, with all of the characters contributing to the same plotline. Dylan and Skeeter have their own book later in the series, but their messed-up and confusing relationship was fun to read about here.
Luckily I haven’t met a Steele Street superhero I haven’t liked, so I don’t mind too much when we jump around a bit. However I didn’t feel I got to know Creed and Cody in their book as well as I knew Quinn and Regan in ‘Crazy Hot’ or Christian and Katya in ‘Crazy Cool’. The past couples knew each other before the stories began, which made their rushed relationships believable. Janzen had to work harder here to convince me Creed and Cody loved each other. I think she did a respectable job of it, but I still would have liked some more time with them.
This series is not perfect, but has a certain appeal I’ve not come across before in romantic suspense. The books are unashamedly fun, and happy to be as over the top as they want to be. What makes them all really, truly work are the characters.
VERDICT:
So far I haven’t read a Steele Street book I haven’t loved, and Crazy Wild is an excellent addition to the series. If you need a rest from your serious reading, there are worse stories to engross yourself in than this one, with a superhero and his smart yet vulnerable charge running from terrorists, their friends and the CIA around the streets of downtown Denver. Tara Janzen always provides a great escape.
You can find out more about the author here:
4 Comments
Loved your review! I haven't come across this series, but I cracked up at the Iranians and German thugs running around. Sounds like a great read!
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This does sound like a great series – have added to my every growing wishlist!
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Thanks!
This is my #1 guilty pleasure series. I know there's so much wrong with it, but I still love it to pieces.
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I love the sound of this series it sounds really fun. Great crazy premise! I'll have to give one a go I think
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