This is more a gritty thriller with romantic elements, and I'm not exaggerating when I say gritty--not just body count, but descriptions of violence. Entertaining with a fairly well resolved conflict between protags, but as a series the overarching conflict is just beginning and the noose is tightening as setup for the second. For a suspense the tempo was off: long-winded descriptions and long sentence structure. It would have been more gripping with a tighter almost staccato feel during scenes.