A Team Of Three by Brad Lee

A Team Of Three by Brad Lee
Publisher: Simply Sensible Entertainment
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Action/Adventure
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Freedom isn’t free.

America’s newest enemy launches an audacious plan to incapacitate the country. A never-before-seen danger is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. And the world faces a crisis unlike any before.
Can intelligence analyst Haley put the puzzle together in time from the safety of her office – or is she meant to risk it all as a field asset?

Is Axe, a former Navy SEAL, capable of overcoming a foe with nothing to lose?
The clues are cleverly hidden. The threats are terrifying.

And the stakes have never been higher. For the USA, the world, Axe, and Haley.
They are on their own, in deep, and desperate.

All they have is each other, their dedication, and their skills… but will that be enough to prevent death and destruction?
Join them for their most dangerous mission yet.

It was meant to be a fairly simple – albeit covert – missions. Axe would break into a Mexican cartel’s mansion, rescue the American nurse being held kidnapped there and with Kelton driving the getaway boat the three of them would return to America, safe and undiscovered. As Axe and Hayley know all too well – the only easy day was yesterday.

I have absolutely loved the first two books in this series – A Team Of One and A Team Of Two – and so I had very high expectations for this third book. I was not disappointed. This is quickly growing to be both my new favourite author and series.

While I do feel this book can be read by itself, I admit to having a stronger and quicker emotional connection to the team members and small cast of characters because of the previous installments. I don’t feel they would be necessary to read to thoroughly enjoy this book, though I can see sooner or later the weight of these life altering situations and the shared history will mean readers will need some of the background knowledge and not simply be able to pick up anywhere in the series. We’re not there yet – but I can see that might occur sometime soon.

Similarly to the previous two books I loved that this is a fast paced, action oriented adventure and mystery story. There is a giant plot going on overhead, with a number of working parts and links. I was pleased this time – unlike in the second book – we learn more about the big picture as Haley and Axe do and I think this helped give the plot and momentum of the story a more linear feel to it. I admit I prefer this style of storytelling and while the back and forth of the second novel is still good, my preference is the style shown in this and the first book.

The characters are believable and relatable. While Hayley is almost preternaturally smart and Axe unbelievably brave and focused, I could relax and just go with the flow on these points when really I don’t necessarily need a real-life type of person in my adventure and espionage style stories. We want our heroes to be larger than life. Axe was certainly in dangerous situations and Hayley had to work hard to analyse her data and put the puzzle together, but we do want them to get there in the end before the bad guy wins.

I feel readers who are happy with action paced, fast moving and addictive stories where it’s clear from the beginning that the good guy will win – they’ll just need to work for it – then this should be a book right up your alley. With plenty of action and adventure, a solid plot that grows and expands and some very memorable characters this was a brilliant read and one I will happily be adding to my keeper shelf. I can’t wait for more of this series and author. Recommended.