Rack & Ruin

THIRDS, Book 3

By: Charlie Cochet

Narrated by: Mark Westfield

Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

New York City's streets are more dangerous than ever with the leaderless Order of Adrasteia and the Ikelos Coalition, a newly emerged Therian group, at war. Innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire and although the THIRDS round up more and more members of the Order in the hopes of keeping the volatile group from reorganizing, the members of the Coalition continue to escape and wreak havoc in the name of vigilante justice.

Worse yet, someone inside the THIRDS has been feeding the Coalition information. It's up to Destructive Delta to draw out the mole and put an end to the war before anyone else gets hurt. But to get the job done, the team will have to work through the aftereffects of the Therian Youth Center bombing. A skirmish with Coalition members leads Agent Dexter J. Daley to a shocking discovery and suddenly it becomes clear that the random violence isn't so random. There's more going on than Dex and Sloane originally believed, and their fiery partnership is put to the test. As the case takes an explosive turn, Dex and Sloane are in danger of losing more than their relationship.

©2014 Charlie Cochet (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

- 4 to 4.25 stars -

I thought this book was pretty good. Had a lot of funny moments, a couple sad moments, and surprising moments as well.

*Spoilers*

I was honestly surprised at how much relationship drama was going on within Sloane's team. Everyone besides Letty and Rosa had personal problems going on that was affecting their work performance. The team was literally falling apart because of it and thankfully they were functioning as a team during the times when they seriously needed to be. Sometimes the drama was a bit much.
I actually respect and like Ash a but more in this book. I never disliked or liked him, but I knew he would have a book later on with Cael, so I know things will eventually work out with them. But I have come to realize that he is a sweeter guy underneath his anger, but I also now understand the reasoning behind his anger, why he is in such denial about liking guys, and also with what was going on with him throughout the book. I am happy to see that Dex is starting to get along with Ash and is really starting to care about him - not that he hadn't before, but he's seen a different side of Ash and is wanting to see him get back on his feet, and is even worried about him since he isn't himself after he rejected Cael. I really didn't like Cael's reaction to his rejection and leading on Seb, as Sebastian is a nice guy who is still in love with Hudson. But as Dex had said, they are both adults and Hudson won't give Seb the time of day right now.
The scene with Sloane visiting Gabe's grave and finally coming to terms and moving on was heartbreaking.
I was not expecting who was the mole. I honestly thought it could have been Taylor, with how annoying he was with Dex and the way he kept popping up. But Dex was right about one thing, the quiet ones are the ones you should keep your eyes on (even though he was referring to Calvin at the time)
There were a few confusing moments, such as Sloane's conversation with Sparks about how he apparently chose to have Isaac killed instead of keeping him alive.
The ending scene was sad, but I liked how Ash - despite being severely injured - rushed out to protect Dex from getting killed and tried comforting Dex (and probably himself) with what happened to Sloane. Sloane was right about there being some sort of darkness underneath Dex's happiness, but I never thought it stemmed from what had happened to his parents. I really hope someone can draw him back, because I would hate to see him go to the dark side - no matter how interested I am to see what he would do or how differently he would act. Love can be a dangerous thing sometimes. I also think that maybe Ash and Dex might get along better after this, and if was honestly sad how they were clinging onto he each other and probably blaming themselves for what had happened to Sloane.
The drive thru scene was pretty funny with how Dex was sitting on Hobbs lap to put in their order. I have to wonder though if Calvin was at all bothered by that. Hobbs seemed fine by it. I was surprised though that even after Dex saved Hobbs life that he still doesn't speak out loud to him, but I am glad he can talk in other ways.
I found that Cael was a bit....wishy washy in this book? I mean, he was kind of hot and then cold with what he would say, and it could be a bit confusing at times. He was right though about his concerns with Ash and that he was a good guy, but....I don't know. He kind of seemed to fuel the drama a bit, probably unintentionally. I don't really know what to make of his character anymore. I for one didn't like his behavior towards Ash by the end of the book, but I can kind of see where he is coming from.

* Narration *
Once again I thought the narration was pretty good and enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Maybe about 2 times words were skipped over. A couple other times the sentence was changed slightly, but I think it probably helped with the flow of the sentence, but I'm not exactly sure. I wasn't bothered by it though since I was reading along with the ebook.

I love this seires!

What did you love best about Rack & Ruin?

Sloan learn to let go of the past and love again

Have you listened to any of Mark Westfield’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He gets better with each additional book in this series

Any additional comments?

I am looking forward to the next book

Wow!!

Great book but be forewarned it ends in a cliffhanger and it’s a doozy (I cried).
I really love the characters. I enjoy the banter that takes place between Dex and his brother. The fact that Dex is on a team with him gives us a lot of insight into Dex as a person.
Ash plays a bigger role and I’m looking forward to getting to know him better in more books in the future. He’s not just a jerk. He’s got some stuff from his past that is holding him back.

Officially addicted to the series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have recommended this book to a friend because all of us Gen Xs love our 80s music just like Dex. Who would not want to cuddle up with a 6 ft 6 ft bad boy who can change into a shifter? The series has evolved and the humor and villains keep the story fresh. When I think I figure out Ash or Hudson, something in their past is revealed. I enjoy learning the layers of each member of group.

What other book might you compare Rack & Ruin to and why?

Assassin/Shifter series by Sandrine Gasq-Dion. It has horrible villians and funny heroes who have their own issues. The heroes are not "knights on white horses" , but they are human with weaknesses and insecurities.

Which character – as performed by Mark Westfield – was your favorite?

Ash

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

My favorite moment is when Maddox walks in on Calvin and Hobbes kissing in the hospital and Dex takes the heat for "daring them to lock lips".

Better and better...

Keep falling more and more in love with Dex and Sloan...now we can add Ash to the list. The series keeps getting better and better...Cochet is great and Westfield is phenomenal.

still in love

if you're reading book3, then you know what you will expect from this book. The follows the same pattern. Cases, and the relationship between the two MC. Still funny and exciting.

So good!!!

Rack and Ruin is one of my favorite books in the THIRDs series. Dex and Sloanes relationship further develops. The storyline is ever evolving so reading the first two books is a must. Warning !!!! This book ends in a big cliffhanger!!!!
Mark Westfield is doing a fantastic job with this series!!!!

Fantastic Characters

This was an amazing addition to the THIRDS series. Dex and Sloane are one of my favorite couples. They are adorable and incredible together. I loved watching all the other relationships between the other agents start to heat up. The humor was strong throughout the book, as well as the drama, action, and emotional touching moments. This book made me feel all types of feelings.

I loved the narration. Mark Westerfield does not disappoint and does a wonderful job with the audiobook.

Overall Rating: 5 Stars. I loved every inch of this book – from the writing style to the characterizations to the plot.

The mystery deepens as does feelings

Would you listen to Rack & Ruin again? Why?

Absolutely. The story kept me engrossed. The suspense was nail-biting and the romance hot.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Oh yes! There were some shocking twists, some surprise revelations, and the ending was really a shock!

What about Mark Westfield’s performance did you like?

I think my favorite thing is when they talk on coms or radios or there is a broadcast how his voice sounds like it's actually coming through one. It's pretty cool.

If you could rename Rack & Ruin, what would you call it?

Traitor In The Midst

Any additional comments?

I loved this story. I like the mystery, suspense and how it shows a few other men's relationships as Sloane and Dex explore theirs. It picks up after the surprising end of the last book with the Order still out there yet without a leader and now a Therian Coalition is fighting the Order too. There is a mole in the Thirds, a few surprises in store and another explosive ending.

Sloane and Dex's relationship deepen and we find out there is a couple others developing too.
Dex lends a touch of humor to the deeply suspenseful story and there is enough hot sex that there is a good balance of it all.


If you like Mystery/Suspense / Science Fiction / Werecats/Shapeshifters/ twists/romance/ and some hot man-sex you will love this

Another winner

Chaos in THIRDS land.

The Coalition has a mole from inside THIRDS and some Therian is killing humans. And if that isn’t enough, things inside THIRDS are in chaos as well.

Dex and Sloane are navigating their budding relationship. Sloane is trying to get the rest of his team to pull it together and leave personal business at home. Dex is trying to help Cael with his feelings for Ash. Letty and Rosa are … okay, they’re fine. Taylor is sexually harassing EVERYONE. The new guy Levi might be hooking up with Lou, and Dex has to plan for his pre-birthday-party-party. It’s a lot to deal with.

In this installment we get to see a lot of Sloane and Dex and most of it is really, deliciously, ooey and gooey. Sloane even purrs! (Wait til you read that part – so fantastic!) They seem solidly on the forward track until… well… Sloane runs … again. Dex inadvertently moves the relationship forward and Sloane isn’t prepared for it, so Sloane takes off for a bit, but eventually, with the help of Ash (of all Therians) figures out what a good thing he has in Dex.

The sex is super hot and Dex and Sloane as a couple are hilarious. (My favorite is the closet scene: “This isn’t what it looks like. I dropped some change, it rolled under the closet door, and when I went to pick it up, my clothes fell off. True story.”)

Ash has something going on in his life that is making him distance himself from Cael and Cael is heartbroken and making potentially fatal mistakes as a result.

When the dust settles and the bad guy (for the moment) is disposed of, we’re left with a cliff hanger. We’re going to have to wait til next YEAR to see what happens – that Charlie Cochet, she’s naughty!

Now, we can all probably guess the outcome, but in addition to the main worry, we also have to worry about Cael and Ash – will Ash ever figure things out and get it together enough to be with Cael?

And, really, what is going on with Calvin and Hobbs? Inquiring minds want to know.

Overall, this was a wonderful third installment to the THIRDS series and I really enjoyed it. There was lots of Therian shifting which I like, Sloane acting like a happy kitty, which I liked and some tricky spy stuff, which I like.


Audio
Mark Westfield narrates this entire series and I love his work.  I think it’s great how he augments the sound for microphone or telephone etc and his delivery is great.