Review ~ Books 1-3 of the Underground Serial by Cassandra Carr

Underground Serial

by Cassandra Carr

Genre: Black Ops/Military, Action, Suspense

Blurb for Underground Serial- Follow this 10-part serial throughout 2015 featuring Ethan, aka Slapshot, a hockey player whose life is ruined, forcing him to disappear forever. Ethan joins Underground, a black ops organization and is trained as a deadly operative. There, he meets Ciana, a woman with a dark past of her own. As Ethan and his Underground colleagues embark on dangerous missions worldwide, he finds a new purpose in life. But will his former problems come back to haunt him?

 

Off the Grid 

Underground 1

The seemingly impossible has happened. The unthinkable. Those I trusted most have betrayed me. I’m a hockey player, and gave control of my finances to my parents so I could concentrate on my game. Big mistake. They stole from me, bankrupted me, in fact. And then someone come looking for money I don’t have and I made a terrible mistake; one that will haunt me forever.

But now someone has found me and offered a new start. I would no longer be a hockey player, I wouldn’t even be an actual person, totally off the grid. I’d be a shadow, fighting crime for an organization that’s underground, literally. Do I want that life?

If I go back, what kind of life would I have? Probably one in prison orange. The choice to join Underground is painful, but necessary. As my hockey coach always said, though, pain is weakness leaving the body. I will not be powerless ever again.

Creating Slapshot

Underground 2

I’ve left my old life behind and officially joined Underground. It appears no one knows where I am or even if I’m still alive. I don’t know how I feel about that. My friends thinking I’m dead leaves a hole in my heart, but I’ll drive myself crazy if I obsess about it. So rather than allowing myself to wallow in self-pity or anger about what’s happened, I’m throwing all my energy into training. You would think that whole “elite athlete” thing would make everything easier, but all these new techniques I need to master—hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, surveillance procedures—are kicking my ass.

For my whole life, I’ve only had one identity. Ethan, hockey player. Now that sense of self is gone forever, slowly being replaced by my new identity, Slapshot. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe this transformation. But the more I find out about the world around me, the problems I ignored for the most part as I played a game for an obscene amount of money, the more I want to make a difference. This is not a game. It’s real life, and I have the chance to be a hero. It’s going to take everything I have—or have left, to do it.

Cassandra Carr is a multi-award winning romance writer. When not writing she enjoys watching hockey and hanging out online. Cassandra's books have won numerous "Best Book Of" awards and her novella Unexpected Top was nominated in the E-book Erotic Romance category of RT's Reviewers' Choice Awards.

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My Thoughts:

First of all, these books are parts of a ten book serial. They are each quick and only complete the story when all of them are read. Basically, it is like watching an episode of your favorite soap opera. Each day you see enough to keep you watching but you only find out the whole storyline by watching each day until the whole thing plays out.

Let's start with book one, Off The Grid. We meet our hero, Ethan. He is a popular hockey player. He is approached by an organization and asked to join them. The catch is, he would have to go... You guessed it, Off The Grid. He would be like agent J in Men In Black. Give up all ties, assume a new identity, and undergo training. This was an action packed, informative start to a series that I am happy to read.

The second book, Creating Slapshot, is as aptly named as book one. As this book picks up where the last left off, Ethan is having a little trouble dealing with leaving his old life behind. He is becoming Slapshot, learning new skills and developing a better appreciation for the problems of the world and how he can make a difference. 

In this book we meet many of the Underground crew. Some of these characters have me intrigued and I hope to get to know them better. 

The third installment is Initiation By Fire. In this book, Slapshot goes on his first mission with the team. There is more action in this one. Slapshot still has doubts about his old life though.

These books are growing more interesting and action filled. I am eager for more but I still stand by my preference for stories to be given to me all at once. I am NOT a fan of this trend to split up stories into parts.

I received ecopies of these books in exchange for my honest opinion. I enjoyed each one.

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