When a food storage depot in famine-struck South Sudan is torched, American aid worker Brie Stewart flees, only to land in a market where she’s the next item up for auction. Is the attack on the aid facility another assault upon the war-torn fledgling democracy, or has her family set her up as a pawn in their quest for oil rights?Chief Warrant Officer Sebastian Ford crossed paths with Brie years … with Brie years ago when she was a shill for her family’s company, pushing a pipeline that threatened his tribe’s land. Determined to lead the rescue operation to save her, he won’t let her abduction—or the attraction that flares between them—get in the way of settling their unfinished business.
The Green Beret’s skills are put to the test in the flooded grasslands of South Sudan, where they must battle nature and dangerous factions who are after more than oil. Bastian and Brie put their hearts on the line as they find themselves embroiled in a conflict that extends beyond country and continent. Together they must douse the spark before it reaches the flashpoint and engulfs everything they hold dear.
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A complex page turner plot with many twists and turns. A thoroughly enjoyable story which kept my interest from beginning to end.
I couldn’t put this book down. Even though I don’t know much about the country this book was set in, I was drawn in. it was really eye opening.
I love reading about places ive just heard about on the news. Africa has got some hard places to live.
Brie/ Gabriella is the Prime Princess but has left her family to be an aid worker is South Sudan. She’s an anthropologist who is helping feed the poor. Sebastian is a Green Beret and Native American. He is training men in Djibouti. He knew Brie when she worked for her fathers oil company and didn’t like her. She gets kidnapped and Bastian’s A Team goes in to rescue her from a slave market. They get separated from the rest and must survive until they are located. As they are healing on a Navy ship, Bastian is tasked with finding out everything about Brie’s family. Then they go to her home in Morocco and are looking into someone from her past. Another kidnapping and will Bastian lose the first woman he has truly loved?
Excellent story with action and sex. Will keep you on the edge of your seat. Brie is strong and brave, while Bastian is handsome and a soldier through and through.
* This was part of a boxed series I purchased *
Along with a great suspenseful story the author always gives us a great history lesson throughout the book. South Sudan has is a country full of violence and has been in a civil war since 2013. And if that isn’t bad enough first world countries are using and exploiting Africa over its oil fields.
Now you are probably wondering why I just gave you a history lesson. Well those two things – the civil war in South Sudan and foreign oil corporations exploiting Africa are the heart of this book.
Gabriella Prime was the daughter of the multi billionaire CEO of Prime Energy. She used to work for her father’s company until she washed her hands of her family and the company due to their unethical practices and changed her name to Brie Stewart. She is now and aid worker in South Sudan helping those that were displaced by the civil war. What she had no idea of is she is just a pawn for the CIA (Savannah James) and on the radar of evil Russians who want her for their own nefarious purposes.
Sebastian Ford has been stationed with his Army Special forces A Team in Djibouti. Sebastian is known as Bastian the bastard and he did play the roll well in the previous book but here we find out its a rather large chip he has on his shoulder from the wrongs that were done to his Native American tribe in the past with Gabriella and her family being at the top of his hate list. He is shocked to see her South Sudan and figures she is there for her family to steal their oil. He makes quite the ass of himself before Brie tells him she has cut all ties with her family and is there doing aid work.
And the action takes off from there.. Both Brei and Bastian had a world of past pain that sat on their shoulders that they needed to work through. Problem was, Brei though that her past was firmly behind her and she rudely finds out that is not the case.
Another page turner full of suspense and action and the next book should be explosive with the CIA agent and the Army guy who loathes her ways.
War torn countries and the food shortage in South Sudan was vividly described by the author. When Bree flies in as an aid worker, finding she is next on the auction block. Or was her family behind this as a ploy to furthering their company. Bastion won’t let her be abduction, and together they will fight, as the personal sparks fly for them.
What a compelling story, giving us a tension filled plot, that doesn’t stop till the end. Well done and readers will enjoy
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion by Net Galley and
Janus Publishers.
Wow! This is truly an Audible Escape gem. Given how many books are only 5-7 hours long ~ this one keeps you invested for 11.5 hours.
Opposites attract when a former oil heiress and a Native American Green Beret meet again. Bastian & Brie are intriguing characters individually and as a couple. Grant does a great job of giving us strong female characters and alpha males who may be flawed, but aren’t complete jerks. No one here is TSTL.
Greg Tremblay is fantastic as always.
This may be included in Audible Escape, but I wouldn’t hesitate to spend a credit on this. It’s a series I could listen to over and over again.
This is a definite five star read. The bad guys are many truly disgusting. This is the second book in this series and pulls the reader into the world of the Sudan, poor, undernourished, abused and heart felt sadness. The story focuses on the pillage of natural resources and the plight of those people trying to survive. Two lovers fighting the good fight, trying to make a difference in a world so warped, it is close to impossible. Excellent read. Put at the top of your TBR list.
Excellent setting and well-written characters make the reader feel like they are sweltering, running for their lives, and figuring out international espionage in Saharan Africa! Well done
This book was a huge disappointment. I’m surprised it had so many good reviews. I think it’s listed as a romantic thriller but should be labeled erotica. Fifty percent of the book was sex… and not PG 13 sex either.
The story line is similar to a 007 movie and totally far fetched and unbelievable. It was very cliche and predictable. I even guessed the last line of the book.
There was a good history lesson in it. That’s why I gave it a 2 and not a 1.
This book wasn’t for me but maybe others will like it.
I love Rachel Grant’s heroines. They’re typically sassy, smart, and capable. They don’t necessarily rely on the hero to save them; rather they work in tandem as a team to save each other in a variety of situations. Brie Stewart is no different. She has a lot of issues and she does tend to lament her poor decision making in her younger years often, but I took it to be her way of reminding herself she has come a long way since then. Her coping mechanisms and tough facade came from a backbone forged in steel and darned if I didn’t feel pride whenever she stood her ground in difficult circumstances!
Then there’s Chief Warrant Officer Sebastian Ford, aka Bastian. I wasn’t totally on board with him after some jerk moves in Tinderbox (book 1 in the Flashpoint series) when he was messing with Pax and Morgan, so going into Catalyst I admit I wasn’t his biggest fan. And while he’s still arrogant and has moments of obnoxiousness, I learned he has almost as many issues as Brie. He just appears to handle his ghosts..somewhat better. Knowing what I know now made me sympathetic to his character and I have to say I liked him more than I thought I would! It didn’t hurt that he obviously met his match with Brie either…
Book two in the Flashpoint series, Catalyst had a lot going on! Rachel’s ability to weave fiction and fact seamlessly allows her to bring issues to a reader’s attention in aN entertaining way. Brie’s aid work in Sudan highlights the real food shortage issues and civil war/power struggles I was only cursorily aware of from the news. It gave me a new crinkle in the brain and something to study up on and learn more about. Secondary characters Morgan and Pax make an appearance, as does Cal and Savannah (Which speaking of..PLEASE, tell me Cal and Savy are next!) and there’s also a surprise cross reference with a character in the Evidence series. Overall, Catalyst had a strong plot, great suspense, and a fantastic romance that I’m happy to recommend!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book which I received at no cost from the author.
Love this book. This was my latest from Rachael Grant and I really enjoyed reading it. Great characters, thought provoking plot, a few twist.
We are the woven threads for change and discovery.
The dichotomy and parallels within Catalyst are abundant. The division between wealth and poverty, A western might and a struggling country. Hope amidst doubt. Greed of power against the generosity in the simple act of aiding a fellow friend in need. Corporate corruption verses environmental/societal behaviour. At the heart and core is our beautiful heiress, shunned and wronged by family, wanting to give back and aid those who in need of more. Employed as a USAID worker in Southern Sudan, Brie is the catalyst for change, as she not only searches for ways to help a fragile country struggling to survive but she is also on her own journey of self discovery.
Rachel Grant has woven another compelling story in Book 2 of her Flashpoint series. I see two halves that form the whole to Brie and Bastian’s journey throughout Catalyst.
Our first backdrop is war torn South Sudan. Amidst civil unrest, the plight of famine and a people struggling at the mercy of people wanting power at any cost – two people who have a vague history of hate and cultural divide are bought together. We are so conditioned and moulded by the environment we grow up, to live up to impossible standards and expectations that when things go wrong, we start to free fall. How we cope isn’t always pretty. it can be totally self-destructive. The secrets you hold become too much and force you to change, wanting to rectify the wrongs against humanity. Someone comes back into your life, not necessarily liking you based on past perceptions. They see the differences and give you back that spark of hope that you can accomplish changes that are worthy.
In those intervening years – they have both changed, they have both grown by the circumstances that life has thrown at them. There is chemistry, there is desire for more but always small doubts stand in their way. While Brie and Bastian don’t deny their attraction they do at times have trouble expressing the want for more. Despite their turmoil when Brie is captured after escaping the invasion of her camp, to be sold in a black market slave ring. Bastian and his team go out of their way to do everything they can to save her. With saving her comes more questions than answers and a military and intelligence group wanting answers that will pit them against each other.
Answers are provided, plans are made. We are transported into the glitz of wealth and power to expose the power and money that is funding a power hungry dictator intent on destroying his own people. Brie wants the love of family, the love of her man who understands all of her sides and the means to help others, to be a change in her world . Her act of redemption for the mistakes of her past. Will the cost be to high for both?
Rachel delivers you a page turning, factual. intense story. A story that takes you from one extreme to another, moving across the structures of sociology and anthropology. It is filled with intrigue, thrills and a compelling romantic suspense. It’s devastating in its accuracy and description of content. The thought provoking conversations on the plight of young women and girls and some of the reasons why they lack an educational skills. It really gives you pause, to take time to reflect on such basic needs.
Like all good suspense books, all the woven threads, the questions we want answers to – always lead back to home and our past. Join Brie and Bastian – it’s their story and journey to share with you.
Catalyst by Rachel Grant is The Flashpoint series’ second book. Although I had not read the first one, I never felt lost or confused. This book stands alone without any problems for a reader.
Ms. Grant has written a thrilling and suspenseful book that captured me almost from the start. Her descriptive narrative of South Sudan and the desparate struggles that the people who live there go through each day broke my heart. I am quite sure that Ms. Grant researched this country thoroughly and the situation as she represented it is, unfortunately, real for the Sudanese people. She also touches on the issues faced by Native Americans in the USA. Ms. Grant’s books are always filled with real world situations that most of us are only vaguely aware of in our daily lives.
A complex plot that moved fast, suspense, action, characters that were not only well developed but evolving throughout the story, and a romance that should have set my Kindle on fire made this a book that I didn’t want to put down. Now that it’s done I’m going to have to read it again just to enjoy it all over again.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. All of the above opinions are my own.