This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
Dilemma by Stephen Bentley is the second installment in the Steve Regan Undercover Cop series. The story jumps in with a literal bang, and three bombs ignite in three separate locales. The protagonist, Steve Regan, has been in Thailand living undercover as a bar and brothel owner, the latter which is run by Fon, the local manager of his female staff. The reasoning behind his undercover work comes in the form of an antagonist named Carlo Vitale, a mob boss on the run from the law and from other mafia families, and doing some of his own hiding in The Land of Smiles. It's a game of cat and mouse as Steve integrates himself as best he can into the Thai lifestyle and culture while keeping his work quiet—not a particularly easy feat when he's shuffling different agencies, intel, romance, and crime, and he's got a marker on his head that makes him as much of a target as the bad guys.
Stephen Bentley has written a really fast-paced story with non-stop action in Dilemma. I haven't read the first book in the series but this does work perfectly well as a standalone. I found the descriptive elements of life in Thailand to be most intriguing, and was pleased that Fon turned out to be more than one-dimensional eye candy. There is a lot happening in an extremely short space of time, making this crime thriller best suited for readers who don't feel the need to scratch deeper and who enjoy going straight to the plot. The good news is that book three, Rivers of Blood, is already out...so if Steve Regan becomes someone you can't live without, there is more of him to follow.
