Review: Cut & Run by Madeleine Urban, Abigail Roux

Cut & Run

Author: Madeleine Urban, Abigail Roux
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Series: Cut & Run #1
Pages: ebook, 370 pages
Genre: Romance, Suspense
Release Date: September 2008

Summary:

"Cut & Run Series: Book One"

A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.

Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He's cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he's paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it's hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliche: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.

Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer's knife.

Review:

I have mixed feelings about Cut & Run so I'll simply list what did and didn't work for me with this book. 

-> The characters: 
I loved them. Particularly Ty. I loved his irreverence toward all things BS. I also liked how Zane was trying to cope with his problems. But then somehow along the story they kind of "swapped" their roles and I'm not sure if I liked that. 

I loved their banters, particularly at the beginning, and some of their serious conversations, and if Ty kept some good lines, some of their dialogs were just meaningless. 

The sex bits were hot but because it happened so fast, I had a hard time making the transition from Ty and Zane who can't stand each other to Ty and Zane who can barely manage to not jump each other's bones. That transition was made harder because both of them were bi-sexual and none of them openly so. Zane used to be married and deeply mourned the loss of his wife. As for Ty, he was bi until he enlisted with the Marines and from then on only dated women. 

"Good to see you doing well, Special Agent Grady," the secretary offered insincerely as Ty entered the outer office.
"Good to see the stick still firmly lodged, Princess," Ty responded as he walked right by her and waved for her to tell Burns that he was there.

-> The suspense/Investigation:
Was the biggest disappointment of the book. 
I don't mind reading romantic suspenses where the romance is at the forefront of the story, but here for some reason that didn't work quite well for me. That part of the book had so much potential but it just fizzled out. 
Ty and Zane are assigned to the case because they are supposedly the best, but they barely began working on it when they are hurt and reassigned (separately) to other cases only to be reassigned to it again months later. I also didn't like how the investigation ended without transition or explanation whatsoever.
A lot of other things didn't make sense like the lack of proper medical care but lets just leave it at that.

-> The structure/change of POV:
I didn't like the structure of the book. I normally like the change of POV but here the way they were made was unpleasant. Because of my planning, instead of reading it I listened to big chunks of the book and I have to say that these changes were even more awkward. A few transitions here and there would have been more than welcome because at time it was like some scenes were randomly cut out. Several times I had to check with the ebook to see if the audio didn't jump. It never did. I also found the pace of the story uneven. 

Rating: 

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