Thursday, May 14, 2020

Review: Marcus (Hell Squad #1) by Anna Hackett

Marcus by Anna Hackett

My rating: star star star star star

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Marcus by Anna Hackett blurb

Marcus is one heck of a ride. Deadly alien dinosaurs, a world invasion, the apocalypse, the world as we know it smashed to pieces. All of it held together by a few brave men and women fighting for life and liberty.

I picked a heck of a time to start a post-apocalyptic romance - right in the middle of a pandemic. I'm nuts. Seriously, I'm not one of those people who enjoy the end of the world stories so I tend to avoid them, but I broke my brain on a previous book and I needed a reset. This is where Ms Hackett comes in. She's a favorite author for a reason. I can always count on her books to give me the right amount of action, passion, and romance to rock my brain back into balance. Except this time, the world she's created hits a little close to home as we live amidst a deadly virus attacking our world and changing our lives as we know it. There are some eerily similar moments of scenes described that I could identify with life today. And at one point, when one of the characters uttered "stay safe" it was a stark reflection of something we say over and over now to everyone. Stay home. Stay safe.  I found those words haunting and poignant at this time. Maybe these post-apocalyptic books can be a little prophetic in their own right even if they were dreamed up in our favorite authors' creative minds many years ago. In the midst of it all, reading a romance like this gives us an escape and hope because love conquers all. It might not be a happy ever after since our characters are still fighting a war of their own, but despite the bleakness and danger, they have a slice of brightness and happiness with each other. That's what we need when we're reading these books. That slice of brightness and happiness. And don't even ask me why it took me so long to read one of Ms Hacket's longest-running and most popular series. I'm a little slow on the uptake and got distracted by her other shiny stories.

As always, Ms Hackett creates wonderful characters. I know I'm going to love all of them and I have a lot of catching up to do. Marcus is no exception. He's a battle-hardened warrior. He's tough, scarred, and more than a little disillusioned. I love that there's nothing soft about Marcus and he doesn't pretend to be or try to be something he's not. He's unapologetically himself, rough edges and all. And yet with Elle, he's protective, caring, and tender. She softens those hard edges around him and gives him hope, someone to fight for, and come home to. A raison d'etre. I'm not averse to brushing up against Marcus' hardness myself (pun intended!).

Elle is wonderful. She does have some self-esteem issues since she's not always been the bright, brave, determined woman she is now. It's taken loss and tragedy to form her into the amazing some she is now, and yet she remains, sweet, kind, compassionate, with a spine of steel strong enough to stand up to Marcus' sometimes high-handed and protective ways. I love how Elle is the soft to Marcus' hard and they fit perfectly together.

I'm glad to be finally diving into this series. Excited that there are so many stories in the backlist for me to glom. Might just drive straight into the next one.

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About the author

Anna Hackett

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2 comments:

  1. Yes, I read a load of the Hell Squad books ba k in 2018. Seems like yesterday. Lol. The series finale is due in early June, and although I will be sad to see the end, I am also looking forward to seeing how it all pans out. Cognitive dissonance, if you like. I have my thoughts on this.
    Gill

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    1. I'm really enjoying the series. Binge read about 5 of the books in a row. I'm taking a break now but I think I will go back to them soon. I am loving them.

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