Alpha

Alpha (Jad Bell) - Greg Rucka

"If he's wrong, we are thoroughly and completely fucked," Wallford says. "And that's all there is to say about that."

I checked this book out from the library because I was approved on NetGalley for the second book in the Jad Bell series. I am really glad that I requested the second book from NetGalley because now I have discovered another really awesome book in the first of the series.

 

Jad Bell is a Delta Force operative who finds himself doing undercover work at one of the world's largest theme parks, Wilsonville. Jad works in the security department and when things start to go wrong at the park the danger is more horrible and personal to Jad then he can imagine.

 

I really enjoyed how complex Jad is in this book. He has really struggled with spending time at work versus spending time with his family and that has cost him his marriage. His relationship with his daughter, Athena, has suffered as well. I really loved that Greg Rucka included deaf characters in this book (Athena and her school friends). I haven't read any books (that I can remember) with deaf characters in them. Rucka really shows that you can have deaf characters and they will be as vibrant and interesting as hearing characters. I just really enjoyed the diversity. I also enjoyed that this book switched point-of-view between Jad and the perpetrators of the events at Wilsonville, it allowed readers to see both sides and to see what motivated them.

 

There were a couple of reasons why this book received a 4.5 star rating for me instead of 5 stars. The first chapter was very choppy and really hard for me to get through. It switched between present day Jad and one of the missions that he was on. I found it difficult to read the parts about the previous mission because everyone and everything had code names and it was hard to keep track of everything. You don't really find out the real names of his team members towards the end. I also didn't really like the reveal at the end as to why the events at Wilsonville took place. While it is a plausible reason I just felt like it was a bit of a letdown. Other than that I felt like this was a really solid book and I look forward to reading more about Jad Bell.