Whitley’s review of The Protected (The FBI Psychics #4) by Shiloh Walker
A new tale of danger and desire from national bestselling author Shiloh Walker featuring psychic FBI Agent Vaughnne MacMeans…
An Assignment She Can’t Refuse
Agent Vaughnne MacMeans would do anything to avoid setting foot in Orlando again. But her new assignment, keeping tabs on a psychic kid who may or may not be in danger, is forcing her right back to the city where her sister was murdered. And she didn’t count on a startling attraction to the boy’s guardian…
An Attraction He Can’t Deny
Protecting Alex is a priority for Gus. Gus may not understand the young man’s “gift” but he knows that some people would kill for it. When a beautiful stranger moves in next door, his impulse is to take the kid and bolt. But Gus has learned never to flee without a plan, and besides…she doesn’t exactly look like an assassin.
A Game They’ll Play For Keeps
But when some dangerous people from Gus’s past do catch up to him and Alex, it’s too late to run. His new neighbor is the last person he thought he could turn to, but Vaughnne isn’t just beautiful. She’s fearless. And she’s the only chance Gus and Alex have left.
This is the fourth book in the Psychic FBI series, but it can easily be read as a standalone novel. A few references to other characters in past books confused me, but since each novel follows a different agent, Vaugnne MacMeans story picked up at the start and I was able to keep up easily.
I loved the premise of this novel, both the paranormal aspect and just the nuts and bolts of trying to protect someone. The dynamics between Gus trying to protect the kid and Vaugnne trying to force him to let her help created some interesting tension. At points I wanted to smack Gus in frustration because he was being so stubborn, but then again, that was the point. If he hadn’t been so paranoid and secluded before, he wouldn’t still be alive. I loved watching these two go back and forth on the issue, trying to work out how to trust each other. Not an easy task when they both kept pulling guns on the other.
I also loved the premise for the series in general. The variety and creativity of the powers all the characters have got me downright giddy, and I loved watching them work together.
The action and pacing were pretty solid, and they had me burning through the pages much faster than I normally read. The writing…had a tendency to be overly poetic at points. Not consistently — usually the writing was fairly smooth — but at random a few phrases would feel like they belong in a teenagers poetry book, and the inconsistency made them stand out more.
I think my biggest complaint with the novel was the romance. There was plenty of hot, lusty action going on, including looooooooooong drawn out descriptions of how incredibly attractive everyone is and how much everyone’s nether regions are getting tingly. On the one hand, I kind of expect that from this genre. Everyone is immediately and uncontrollably lustful, bring it on. On the other hand, this is a book about people with a random grab-bag of powers. In that kind of a setting, all the burning and throbbing going on at the drop of hat made it seem like some lust-creating psychic was just playing an April Fool’s Prank on everyone. Given Gus’s history and his claims of being able to sexually exploit literally anyone, I spent most of the book thinking that would be his undiscovered power at the end. Alas, it was not. He’s just that hot, I guess.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This title is available from Berkley Trade. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I haven’t read too many books by Shiloh Walker, which is something that I’d like to fix. This sounds interesting. I’ll have to check out the other books in the series as well. Thanks for the review Whitley!