Incognito By V.K. Powell

Incognito by V.K. Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book started a tad bit slow for me, but within the first fourth, I started getting really into the story. I don’t read a lot of suspense/mystery/cop drama etc. I really enjoyed the tension that built between the two characters as the story progressed, but I wish there had been more. The main characters were likable and the internal issues they dealt with felt believable. I found myself really enjoying the secondary characters as well. They had a lot of personality and really added something to the book as a whole. The overall story minus the romance was engaging and I had a hard time putting it down.

My only major issue came with some of the dialog. There was a couple of times I had to backtrack what I was reading because I wasn’t quite sure which character was speaking. That pulled me out of the moment a couple of times and certain scenes would lose their effect.

Full Review with Spoilers

So this book starts in the middle of action that kind of cuts off and leaves the reader in the dark about what transpired. This big event is the basis for main character Evan’s whole personality at the point we get to know her. She’s a bit mean and extremely broody. We learn a little at a time about what happened at the same time the other main protagonist Frankie does.

I will admit I get why it was done this way. Exposition is never fun, but I didn’t really start enjoying the book until I started getting more of the facts. Once Evan started being a touch more open things got interesting. Though Evan was broody, I did enjoy her as a character. Frankie was also a nice counterpart to her. Frankie’s fun and eccentric personality did make me giggle a few times. They both had a lot of past drama that they needed to work through, but I didn’t feel like it was overplayed honestly. They both felt unique and I really enjoyed seeing them come full circle. The side characters that they worked with were also fun and individual. I felt their presence added to the story effectively. We got to know them without too much focus being pulled away from Evan and Frankie.

The sexual tension did feel a little too sudden for me. From the get go Frankie was very into the idea of getting into Evan’s pants and while Evan didn’t want to word it that way, she felt the same. I personally like a bit more build up than that, but I can appreciate that Evan didn’t hop into bed as quickly as Frankie would have liked. She had reasons for her choices and she stayed true to those… until she didn’t. The “I can’t mix business and pleasure” thing eventually broke in the later third of the book though.

The overall plot was well paced. The team trying to hunt down and catch the bad guys wasn’t dragged out too long and I felt it wasn’t rushed too much either. Frankie’s side focus of locating and capturing her criminal parents was a wee bit rushed however right at the end. I get that it was important to tie up all loose ends for a happy ending, and yes Frankie had been searching for them for a while prior to the book. There is the little bit of time skip as things are resolved, so I can at least appreciate that, but on the surface it felt rushed.

Overall, decent book. The romance aspect was not my favorite, but as a cop drama style story, pretty solid and engaging.