Jack Reardon, former SAS soldier and current Australian Meta-State asset, has seen some messy battles. But “messy” takes on a whole new meaning when he finds himself tied to a chair in a torture shack, his cover blown wide open, all thanks to notorious killer-for-hire Ethan Blade.Blade is everything Jack doesn’t believe in: remorseless, detached, lawless. Yet, Jack’s only chance to survive is to … survive is to strike a bargain with the devil and join forces with Blade. As they trek across a hostile desert, Jack learns that Blade is much more than a dead-eyed killer–and harder to resist than he should be.
A year later, Jack is home and finally getting his life on track. Then Ethan Blade reappears and throws it all into chaos once more. It’s impossible to trust the assassin, especially when his presence casts doubts on Jack’s loyalty to his country, but Jack cannot ignore what Blade’s return means: the mess that brought them together is far from over, and Ethan might just bring back the piece of Jack’s soul he thought he’d lost forever.
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I’m always a sucker for spy vs. spy, and this fast-paced action/adventure romance delivered. There is a slow burn in both timelines, which alternate chapters (“then and now”). That kind of time-jumping device could be clunky and confusing, but it was so skillfully done here.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Sarah –
This book is a complete mindfuck in the best possible way! In a world of spies, assassins, and bad guys with personal armies, Jack Reardon has to use all his SAS skills to survive. But when the assassin meant to kill him ends up saving his life, Jack no longer knows who to trust in his very dangerous world.
The writer flips back and forth between two narratives in this book. Both are told from Jack’s perspective but set exactly one year apart. The first narrative tells the story of Jack and Ethan’s first meeting and harrowing escape while the second narrative tells the story of Jack and Ethan’s second encounter a year later. I love the way the structure made me work to figure out what actually happened in the past and the present while the author never quite let me trust any of the characters.
This is an action-packed thriller. When the former SAS officer and current spy gets together with the famous assassin, there isn’t much that doesn’t get shot or blown up. In the second narrative, Jack relies more on brains than brawn as he chooses his allegiances and carefully plans his actions. It all works perfectly together, and I couldn’t put it down.
This is marketed as an m/m romance, but it is definitely more of a spy/action story and while there are a couple of steamy scenes and moments of great chemistry between Ethan and Jack, I’m not sure there is ever any actual romance. And I think the book is better for it.
I loved this. I’m excited to find a new author to love and I hope this turns into a series I can get properly obsessed with.
Veronica –
This is an action-packed story from start to finish – I was so engrossed that I read it in less than a day. Told entirely from Jack’s point of view, the story switches between the past where Jack Reardon and Ethan Blade first meet and the present where, a year later they cross each other’s paths again.
I quite like it when stories switch from the past to the present and the consistency with which it is done here works, as the stories are connected. The more I learned about what happened in the past, the more it shaped how I thought about what was going on in the here and now.
I loved the way the relationship between the two men was written. It wasn’t over the top or rushed. They are temporary allies and even when things between them get physical I wasn’t sure it meant or if it would change anything.
Where Death Meets the Devil was a great action/romance to get lost in. I’m not sure if this book will be a standalone but I for one would like more from this pair.
Reviewers received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
This book hit all the spots for me and I simply couldn’t get enough.
The structure of the book with the “Then” and “Now” alternating chapters took some getting used to and I will willingly admit that I cheated along the way quite a bit(by reading several “Then” chapters followed by several “Now” chapters because those mini-cliffys that ended some of those chapters just could not be permitted.Lol!
Also,It was refreshingly set in Australia and written by an author I’d previously not read before but BOY O BOY did she make an impression on me! I enjoyed every single moment of it!
Hang on while I go figure out a way to get the rest of the series nooowww!!
This was INSANELY good.
I am such a sucker for enemies to lovers, and this hit all the sweet spots.
Jack Reardon’s undercover operation goes wrong and he finds himself tied to a chair in a “torture” hut, his prospects not looking good. He’s a goner, until the Big Man leaves his assassin to finish the job.
Assassin Ethan Blade (not his real name) has a rep, and Jack fears his prospects of survival just got a whole lot worse. But Ethan frees Jack, beginning an action-packed romp through the Australian outback, between two guys who really should hate each other but also kinda can’t help but be attracted to each other. They’re both killers, both trained to survive, and they don’t trust each other. But what’s a man to do when they’re in the company of a hot piece of ass?
It sounds simple but it’s actually layers of deceit and twisty turns, with tiny breadcrumbs of truth left for the reader along the way. Told via a combination of flashback’s and present time, (which I usually hate, but works effortlessly here), we begin to understand the two men and what really happened in the desert, and why Ethan Blade has returned now, because his reasons sure ain’t good.
“You crazy bastard,”
Half right, Jack.”
This was my best read of 2021 so far and makes me want to knock a star off all the other five stars so I can rate this one higher. Brilliantly plotted, beautiful action, tense and mysterious, and absolutely scorching HOT, it’s everything I want in an MM novel. Ethan Black is exactly the kind of anti-hero/villain who gets under my skin, and Jack is so damn perfect for him, I just can’t help but love them.
I even bought the novellas that take place between books 1 & 2. And I NEVER buy novellas. However, if you like this first book, the novellas add a lot to the story, and should be read, I feel, before book 2. They’re not on Amazon, probably because they’re hot AF, but you can get them at Apple etc.
Novellas:
1.2 Where Death Meets the Devil: Coda
1.4 Bargaining with the Devil
1.6 When the Devil Drives
1.8 Devil in the Details
Absolutely brilliant. Loved every damn word of it. And I cannot wait to dive into book 2.
Review of Where Death Meets the Devil by L.J. Hayward
This is a brilliantly written book. The plot has so many twists and turns it keeps the reader thoroughly engaged and on edge up to the very end with no clue as to the conclusion. The timing sequence in which each chapter switches back and forth between now and then is unique and really adds to the appeal of the story.
Homoerotic scenes are very well presented (with one very minor exception) without being overly explicit nor overly clinical. The author confirms as have others that hard-core, action characters are not all the stereotypical heterosexual James Bond types. Homosexual men can take on any role in society and have little in common except for attraction to the same sex.
The story is set in Australia, a location not often found in adventure novels like this. The author provides an engaging view of Australian landscape and culture that adds to the appeal of the story.
As in any story, there are things that some readers might pick at. Some might not find the violence with blood and gore to be appealing, but for my tastes it was not overdone at all. Some might have beliefs challenged with the fantastical coincidences. For me, though, the added to the
This whole series is fantastic, well-written, and the characters “alive”.
New to me author L.J. Hayward did an amazing job of telling this heart-pounding story. I was hooked and couldn’t finish fast enough, however, it took me a little while to get used to going between the present and the past with each chapter. I got over it quickly, though.
I loved the way it kept me guessing and I started to understand Blade and see him as a person and not just an assassin. I was flipping pages like crazy!!!
Romantic suspense, mystery, danger, mission-impossible style fight scenes, sexy times, banter, friends to lovers…HFN
My 2019 reading is off to a great start
The first time I read this book, I was blown away by the suspense and just how… Australian… it was. Which I loved. I fell completely in love with Ethan and Jack and had the worst book hangover.
I’ve read it 3 times since, the last time in audio, which uncovered little details I hadn’t caught before.
If you love romantic suspense with a little bit of 15 minutes in the future, check this book and this series out!
This entire series is so addicting. I absolutely couldn’t get enough of these two main characters. They are so different yet so perfect together. Highly recommended. Excellent, deep and well woven plot. Loved it.
I spent all day yesterday rereading this book and the four novellas that take place between books #1 and #2 in this series. Gah, so freaking good!!! This series is smart and fast-paced and it definitely keeps you guessing.
I cannot recommend it enough!!!
Here is my review that I wrote when it originally came out. After my reread, I still agree with everything I said…and MORE. (Note…the novellas dig into the development of the romance…big time, which was my one issue with the book…and there’s even one tiny bit from Ethan’s POV…YES!)
If you’re not reading this series, you should be. Go get it today!!!
My Review:
This book was absolutely one of the most brilliant romantic suspense books I’ve ever read. Wow, the way that the author wrote it was truly fantastic.
So…a bit of an explanation. The entire book is written so that one chapter takes place in the “now” and then the next chapter takes place in the “then”…and the reader is there trying to figure out what the heck is really happening. I’ll admit I never did feel like I had a handle in what was going to come next. At every turn, the story surprised me. At the end of every single chapter, I was screaming because of the cliff-hangers…because then the story would jump to the other timeframe. Seriously and truly…the book is brilliant! I loved it so, so much!
So, Jack is an agent for the meta-state…a highly secret Australian government agency. Ethan is an assassin for hire. They should never ever be on the same side, but something happened a year ago so that they formed a loose alliance…and then a relationship of sorts. Neither of them completely trusts the other, and as the reader, you sure don’t know what is going on.
The entire book is told from Jack’s point of view and it was truly brilliant. I loved how the author chose to slowly reveal the story. The relationship between the guys is truly questionable for a lot of the book, but the suspense is so well done, I didn’t even notice the missing aspects of the romance early on. For this romance girl, the romance truly was secondary in the story (but never fear, it was there in the end when it mattered).
Now, I’m hesitantly begging for more. Hesitantly, because I loved these two characters so much, it would be brilliant to see more of them. But the author would truly have a hard time matching the intensity of this first book. Honestly, I’d really love to see a second book telling the same story, but this time from Ethan’s point of view.
But regardless, the book was amazing and I highly, highly, highly recommend it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Where Death Meets the Devil is Pure Escapism
Jack Reardon’s 35th birthday is not going as planned when he comes to tied to a chair in the torture shack owned by the same criminal Jack was sent deep undercover to infiltrate over a year ago. And when Ethan Blade, world renowned assassin and ruthless killer, enters the shack, Reardon doubts he’ll be making it to his 36th birthday.
L.J. Hayward’s story of a former SAS soldier on an assignment gone terribly wrong and the world’s 7th deadliest assassin is total entertainment from the get-go. The story shifts each chapter from Then, when Reardon first encounters Blade, to Now, one year after the pair met and had to fight their way through an army and a desert together to survive. These shifts enhance the suspense, dropping hints in the present about what happened between the two in the past and then returning to the Then to expand on those hints and set the story for what is happening in the Now and why. It created an excellent pace for the story and a momentum that would not have been present had the story been told in a linear fashion.
And while events near the end require some Fast-and-Furious-level suspension of belief, Jack is well developed and complicated, having doubts about himself, his mission, and Blade. He’s a former Special Forces soldier whose mind still carries the scars and trauma of all that he has been through, and it shows in the doubts he has in his current agency and the decisions he makes.
I enjoyed the characters, the action, and the non-linear story telling. I look forward to more works by Hayward and hope she’ll bring Jack and Ethan back in a sequel.