Rare Vigilance
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
From the author of Prince of Air and Darkness comes the first in a thrilling new paranormal series. Everything has a price. Especially the truth. Former Marine Atlas Kinkaid knows not to ask questions about the clients he protects at the behest of the elite Whitethorn security agency. Just like he doesn’t like anyone asking about his scars—scars left by a mysterious attack that haunts his every waking moment. Consumed by the need to find out what happened to him, Atlas takes a job providing security to Cristian Slava, the indolent—and gorgeous—son of a notorious businessman. Cristian seems to be just another entitled client, but when nights at the club turn into secret meetings and people start going missing, Atlas realizes there’s more to Cristian—and to protecting him—than meets the eye. But the same people who are after Cristian have something Atlas desperately craves: they know exactly what happened the fateful night he was attacked—and are willing to tell him everything… For a price. Whitethorn Agency Book 1: Rare Vigilance Book 2: Crooked Shadows Also by M.A. Grant: The Darkest Court Book 1: Prince of Air and Darkness Book 2: The Marked Prince Book 3: The Iron Crown
Reviews with the most likes.
Slightly different take on vampires but still recognizable enough to not be too weird or jarring for vampire aficionados. This book relies heavily on the hurt/comfort trope with our main hero, Atlas, being a wounded US Marine now working for his sister's security agency in their hometown.
Stationed in Romania for some reason, he was attacked by what seemed like feral vampires and lost his whole squadron but no one believed him when he returned home. Now he grapples with that on top of PTSD and whole-body wounds but still is able to do casual security work to make a living.
The book starts with him on assignment for some B celebrity at a fairground and it doesn't really fit the tone for the character or the book that we see after. After he leaves a very dissatisfied customer and returns home to face his sister/boss, she puts him on a long term assignment for a very rich local mogul, Decebal, who basically owns the entire town (I think it's in upstate New York?). The catch is that it's very hush hush and only at night.
Then we meet Christian, the mogul's son, who is the typical rich kid playboy and is the ringleader of his friend group which just hangs out at his posh house constantly. Turns out Atlas' assignment is to shadow Christian. Decebal has been doing some shady business in order to secure his hold on the town and now “people” are after him and his assets - including his heir.
There's a lot of different action scenes in this book that keep the plot rolling and it's more of a slow burn romance. There's a bit of an insta-attraction but the author lets it play out more naturally than a lot of other MM romances. The one explicit scene is a bit jarring as I didn't feel it fit/was bad timing or was even necessary, but you can chalk it up to adrenaline I suppose. Atlas makes a lot of suspect decisions, especially in the name of revenge against all vampire-kind, but then eats his foot later when he sees ~the real Christian~ and falls for his charge, a la The Bodyguard.
I enjoy Grant's writing and a decent vampire MM is hard to find so I will def be continuing with the series.
