It has taken me a while to gather my thoughts on this book. I think the premise had promise, but the execution just wasn't great. This review is an exploration of where I felt it failed. I had started at 3 stars after finishing this book, but after writing this review and taking everything into account I dropped it to 2 stars. I don't think I'd read more in the series.

I did start this book knowing it was Christian-inspired, which I sometimes like to delve into (despite not being the target audience). In the beginning, the Christian element was a light theme but not intrusive and it made sense in how and when it was applied. As the book progressed, however, the message... degraded. In application, it became contradictory, misguided, and inconsistent, as well as seriously heavy-handed (bordering on preach-y).

Instead of lifting Kate or Patrick up, they became more angry and sullen, doing everything BUT putting their faith in God. I realize this was supposed to portray some sort of internal struggle for both Kate and Patrick, which would have been fine if their anger and sullen nature had been a result of personal growth from actively trying to apply any of these principles to their actions or thought processes. That kind of self-exploration can make one angry and scared and sad because it's uncomfortable and it's just the process of working through change. But, that isn't what happened with Katie or Patrick. Despite giving themselves self-congratulatory pats on the back about how their faith is why everything "worked out," by the end they had never actually put their faith in God. This disconnection just... didn't sit right with me.

I realize this is a work of fiction, but the liberties taken with the Christian elements applied to an FBI team were just sort of laughable to me. Not because there wouldn't be Christian FBI agents who might apply their beliefs to their work, as that is obviously plausible. What wasn't plausible to me was how openly they discussed all of this not just with each other in the normal course of their work, but that they would do that within hearing of, or talk about it with, a suspect. (Strangely, this made the Christian elements almost like paranormal elements to me, in that they were the greatest unrealistic aspect of this work.) I think I was expecting that it would center around Kate's internal struggle with her faith as a part of her experience, not that the whole FBI team would act as Christian counselors to Patrick and Kate.

By the end, I basically did not like Kate at all. The story starts off with her sort of being okay, but she devolves into a woe-is-me victim character who is doing nothing but creating self-fulfilling prophecies with her "trust" issues and self-involved nature; for example:

• How many times did Kate go on her "runs" after being asked TO NOT DO ANYTHING UNACCOMPANIED only for that to end in something bad happening while she was gone so they pinned it on her because no one witnessed her activities?

• How many times did Kate complain about wanting to be free and hoping God would help her, only to be a serious PITA when the FBI gave her multiple chances to prove her own freedom?

• How many times did Kate just NOT BE HONEST WITH THE TEAM ABOUT SIMPLE SHIT like what happened to her in the military (honestly, I'm not even sure we ever heard what happened, now that I think about it)? I mean, for heaven's sake, you are on the edge of going to jail for terrorist crimes! JUST TELL THEM.

• How long did it take Kate to tell the team about the suspicious professor who was in the tunnels with her that she let into the building? SERIOUSLY HOW COULD SHE FORGET ABOUT THAT FOR SO LONG. Instead of giving them all the information she could, Kate just kept complaining about her situation and expected them to help her without any information. (And once Kate told the team, how long did it take for them to follow-up on that lead to see if it went anywhere?)

I am not sure the author understood that there is a point where "being a private person" and "having trust issues" (which I felt were used as tools to stretch this story out) morph into incriminating yourself. It was seriously bothersome, especially when coupled with what I think was supposed to be viewed as a "headstrong" nature in Kate, but just came off as petulant and immature.

This book had one of the weakest romantic connections I've ever encountered. As I've said before, just because you write that a thing is true doesn't make it true for the reading audience unless what happens in the book supports it. There was just... nothing to explain the connection between Patrick and Kate and nothing to make it realistic that Patrick would risk as much for her as he did, especially his whole career. Seriously. It was worse than Valek and Yelena in Fire Study. By the end of the book, Patrick and Kate hadn't even talked about their feelings for each other yet; in fact, Kate still thinks he's with Kim (*sigh*)! It was incredibly frustrating that neither of them could just be honest and forthright with each other about their feelings and it felt very high-school.

Logan makes a wall chart in which they use highlighters to mark off each time a particularly ID badge is used, assigning a color to each person. But, there is no mention of them making a KEY to remember which color is for which person—sure, they remember that now, but in a week it will not be as easy nor would anyone who wasn't there when it was created be able to understand and interpret the colors' significance on their own. Basic element that I felt was unrealistic for a professional to forget.

At about 80% in I almost stopped reading. Every other sentence as people interacted just fell into more and more nonsense. It felt like the author couldn't think of any dialog, remember what happened earlier in the book, or was trying so hard to push the God element that it started to go in circles and felt forced and awkward. This contributed to Kate's woe-is-me-attitude, people contradicting themselves or each other in the same breath, Kate's unfounded belief that Kim and Patrick are dating (even after Logan VERY CLEARLY stated that they aren't, but you know Kate always knows best! *face palm*), and more.

There were also what I would classify as references condoning or encouraging disordered eating thoughts and habits, which were not something I enjoyed reading or was comfortable with other people absorbing because it only perpetuates misconceptions. This was posed as Kate being a "healthy eater," but in my experience as a nutrition mentor it was based in an underlying lack of neutrality about food that leads to indirectly shaming one's self and others.

I almost barked out a laugh when they asked Kate to join their team. It's just... too unbelievable. Again, I know this is fiction and liberties are taken, but on some level fiction must fit into reality, particularly for a contemporary novel. There is absolutely no way the FBI would hire someone like Kate. Her "skills" in the technology didn't really prove significant, she is not adaptable, she does not engender trust or confidence, and she is unreliable.

Finally, WHAT WAS THAT ENDING I HAVE NO IDEA. They made Kate think she was going into the witness protection program or something and would never see the team or her family again ONLY FOR THE TEAM TO SHOW UP ON THE GOD DAMNED PLANE?? WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT OF THAT WHY NOT JUST TELL HER OUTRIGHT? It came off as cruel and like a prank, and opened sooooooo many more questions that I just don't have the energy to go into. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book while I was reading it. To be fair to the author, she did state at the beginning that she chose to take liberties in her fictional portrayal within this book. After I'd finished the book, the liberties seemed more glaring to me than while I was reading.

I like Kate's character. I didn't understand how someone as smart as she is could forget interacting with someone in the tunnels for so long. I also enjoyed the FBI team, though I don't think I fully understand why they are so loyal to Kate and to proving her innocence. I also don't think that an FBI team can just select someone to work with them as this team did, especially when that person is not even in training to become an FBI agent at the time the offer is made.

I would read another book in this series, just to see if the liberties taken become less once Kate is part of the team. Long-term, if I continued to be bothered by the fiction, I would have to make a decision. ( )