Pros & Cons of Vengeance

To coin a phrase from the late lamented Leverage TV show, “Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys.” What we basically have here is a queer version of Leverage, complete with Hitter (Steele, this book's hero), Hacker, Grifter, Thief and Mastermind/Brains. The TV show did a great job at balancing drama, comedy and a bit of sexual chemistry, but the dynamics of this book are askew. The snarky humor is unrelenting and the sex is turned up to 11. It's hard to take anything seriously, even when the group is trying to take down a high-powered hypocritical Senator who attacks LGBTQ rights while also soliciting and assaulting young male prostitutes. While it had its admittedly campy fun moments, I didn't buy the Insta!Love between Steele and Breck (brother of the Thief and one of the Senator's victims) and I wanted more details about the con instead of more heavy breathing. YMMV, especially if you live for banter. I may check out the sequel [b:Pros & Cons of Deception 43697802 Pros & Cons of Deception (Pros & Cons, #2) A.E. Wasp https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1548356180s/43697802.jpg 65333789], because the dynamic between the two MCs is firmly established in this book and could result in a better developed relationship arc. And then there's the question of the identify of the mysterious Al, who is guiding the group from afar; he's really Charlie, who isn't is dead after all, right? I'm not sure I want to wade through four more books to find out the answer, but I am a tad curious.