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laurenjodi's review against another edition
4.0
Make Her Pay
4 Stars
Former Navy SEAL, Constantine Xenakis, has spent years on the questionable side of the law. Now, after rejoining the Bullet Catchers, Con must prove himself by investigating a series of thefts on board a salvage ship. Thus, no one is more surprised that Con when he catches diver Lizzie Dare red-handed in the treasure room and decides to help her recover a stolen ancestral legacy. But someone else is also on the trail and will stop at nothing to satiate their greed. Can Con and Lizzie beat them to the treasure?
Con was an intriguing character in the last book and he more than lives up to expectations in this one. There are one or two moments when the secret keeping trope raises its ugly head and Con's actions are rather questionable. Thankfully, this is very short lived and does not undermine either the suspense or the romance.
Lizzie is a charming heroine and her initial encounter with Con is one of the best (and steamiest in the series). The romance is sweet and the conflicts realistic.
The treasure hunt aspects of the story are exciting and the backstory on Lizzie's ancestor is very compelling. The mystery has some good twists and the identity of one of the villains comes as a complete surprise. St. Claire has some excellent misdirection here.
On a side note, Lucy Sharpe is an exceedingly unlikable woman and she does not redeem herself in her own book or in this one. Her tendency toward making snap judgments about people and twisting her view of professional ethics to suit her purposes is annoying in the extreme. Can you tell I don't like Lucy? :)
All in all, an excellent conclusion to the series and I'm glad I didn't give up on it with Lucy's book.
4 Stars
Former Navy SEAL, Constantine Xenakis, has spent years on the questionable side of the law. Now, after rejoining the Bullet Catchers, Con must prove himself by investigating a series of thefts on board a salvage ship. Thus, no one is more surprised that Con when he catches diver Lizzie Dare red-handed in the treasure room and decides to help her recover a stolen ancestral legacy. But someone else is also on the trail and will stop at nothing to satiate their greed. Can Con and Lizzie beat them to the treasure?
Con was an intriguing character in the last book and he more than lives up to expectations in this one. There are one or two moments when the secret keeping trope raises its ugly head and Con's actions are rather questionable. Thankfully, this is very short lived and does not undermine either the suspense or the romance.
Lizzie is a charming heroine and her initial encounter with Con is one of the best (and steamiest in the series). The romance is sweet and the conflicts realistic.
The treasure hunt aspects of the story are exciting and the backstory on Lizzie's ancestor is very compelling. The mystery has some good twists and the identity of one of the villains comes as a complete surprise. St. Claire has some excellent misdirection here.
On a side note, Lucy Sharpe is an exceedingly unlikable woman and she does not redeem herself in her own book or in this one. Her tendency toward making snap judgments about people and twisting her view of professional ethics to suit her purposes is annoying in the extreme. Can you tell I don't like Lucy? :)
All in all, an excellent conclusion to the series and I'm glad I didn't give up on it with Lucy's book.
jonetta's review against another edition
5.0
Former Bullet Catcher Constantine (Con) Xenakis has one shot at getting his old job back and he’s determined to not blow it. However, when he gets to his next assignment on a secret marine salvage, one of the divers, Lizzie Dare, may just put a wrench in his plans. She might just be the thief he’s tasked with identifying but maybe she’s the one who’s entitled to the spoils.
I wasn’t certain that I’d warm to Con after the last story as he was a mercenary and expert thief. But he endeared himself to me with his unique sense of justice and fair play. I loved his relationship with Lizzie, even when his actions were duplicitous because you knew his heart was in the right place. The mystery surrounding the marine salvage dig was extremely interesting and educational. The locales were exotic (loved the Portugal Settings) and the characters colorful. It took me a bit to sift through the major and minor players along with their motives. The ending was exciting, as were most of the action scenes throughout the story.
Everything was almost perfect, the one downside being Lucy’s role. From the beginning, she’s been portrayed as a savvy businesswoman with particular insight into people. But, she’s made some major misses in the last few books and totally misjudged Con from the start. I’m just not a fan any longer. However, she wasn’t enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.
I wasn’t certain that I’d warm to Con after the last story as he was a mercenary and expert thief. But he endeared himself to me with his unique sense of justice and fair play. I loved his relationship with Lizzie, even when his actions were duplicitous because you knew his heart was in the right place. The mystery surrounding the marine salvage dig was extremely interesting and educational. The locales were exotic (loved the Portugal Settings) and the characters colorful. It took me a bit to sift through the major and minor players along with their motives. The ending was exciting, as were most of the action scenes throughout the story.
Everything was almost perfect, the one downside being Lucy’s role. From the beginning, she’s been portrayed as a savvy businesswoman with particular insight into people. But, she’s made some major misses in the last few books and totally misjudged Con from the start. I’m just not a fan any longer. However, she wasn’t enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.
bananatricky's review against another edition
3.0
for the surprise factor 3.5 stars
So the last in my marathon run of Bullet Catchers novels. It concerns Con (with the unpronounceable surname) and Lizzy. Con is a former high-end thief given a second chance by the Bullet Catchers. His mission? To join a secret dive mission and identify a thief. Lizzy is the daughter of a world-famous diver, part of the secretive dive mission with secrets of their own.
Not that anyone has been following my reviews, but if hypothetically you had, you will know that I have an issue with Ms St Claire's novels in that she has a penchant for having two separate criminals with different agendas both plotting at the same time (sometimes ostensibly together and other times oblivious to each other). Well, you'll be pleased to know that she hasn't changed, but … I completely got one of them wrong! Yep, didn't see it coming at all, totally gobsmacked. So 10 out of 10 for that one.
As to the romance, meh. Con only got introduced yesterday (and I do mean yesterday because that's when I read book 7 where he was first mentioned), so we had no real for him and I don't think we got much more in this book. Thief with a heart of gold, misunderstood and falsely accused seeking a way back to the good guys is a bit hackneyed and heaven save me from one more Alpha male who says he can't be trusted or isn't who she thinks he is – puhlease! Similarly, I really didn't understand Lizzy's mission – I mean really does anyone really give a rat's arse about what their ancestors did or didn't do over a 100 years ago? Why would you make it a family mission to clear the man's name when what he was being accused of would be something that most people would brag about: "oh, my great, great, great grandfather was a famous pirate!"!
As always, I have a number of logistical questions about some of the plot – some may be because I don't read carefully enough. Others because they seem to get glossed over.
1. Did Dave kill the bimbo diver (forgot her name Atila?)? Or did the son? And why was she killed?
2. How did Dave get the snake into Lizzy's house – was he also a master thief?
3. How did everyone get to Corvo so quickly? Con had the Bullet Catchers' private jet (natch) but how did Sam and Charlotte and Dave get there so fast when Lizzy thought it would take three days?
4. Why did Dave kill Solange?
5. What was the plot about Solange and her husband in New York and why on earth did she think that getting the sceptres would make him take her back?
6. If Solange had so much money why didn't she leave Corvo?
7. I don't understand the ownership issue over the sceptres. Surely, either proof of ownership or salvage rights takes precedence and I don't see why that would necessitate a lengthy court battle. Moreover, I think a museum would gladly fund the litigation if it were going to be the recipient.
8. Would all the dodgy art dealers and collectors in the world REALLY agree not to buy the treasure just because a thief asks them to? No quid pro quo?
9. How did all those convenient ownership papers happen to end up hidden on Corvo? And why would copies of the manifest be in Mexico/Cuba/Brazil (nope that either)?
So the last in my marathon run of Bullet Catchers novels. It concerns Con (with the unpronounceable surname) and Lizzy. Con is a former high-end thief given a second chance by the Bullet Catchers. His mission? To join a secret dive mission and identify a thief. Lizzy is the daughter of a world-famous diver, part of the secretive dive mission with secrets of their own.
Not that anyone has been following my reviews, but if hypothetically you had, you will know that I have an issue with Ms St Claire's novels in that she has a penchant for having two separate criminals with different agendas both plotting at the same time (sometimes ostensibly together and other times oblivious to each other). Well, you'll be pleased to know that she hasn't changed, but … I completely got one of them wrong! Yep, didn't see it coming at all, totally gobsmacked. So 10 out of 10 for that one.
As to the romance, meh. Con only got introduced yesterday (and I do mean yesterday because that's when I read book 7 where he was first mentioned), so we had no real for him and I don't think we got much more in this book. Thief with a heart of gold, misunderstood and falsely accused seeking a way back to the good guys is a bit hackneyed and heaven save me from one more Alpha male who says he can't be trusted or isn't who she thinks he is – puhlease! Similarly, I really didn't understand Lizzy's mission – I mean really does anyone really give a rat's arse about what their ancestors did or didn't do over a 100 years ago? Why would you make it a family mission to clear the man's name when what he was being accused of would be something that most people would brag about: "oh, my great, great, great grandfather was a famous pirate!"!
As always, I have a number of logistical questions about some of the plot – some may be because I don't read carefully enough. Others because they seem to get glossed over.
Spoiler
1. Did Dave kill the bimbo diver (forgot her name Atila?)? Or did the son? And why was she killed?
2. How did Dave get the snake into Lizzy's house – was he also a master thief?
3. How did everyone get to Corvo so quickly? Con had the Bullet Catchers' private jet (natch) but how did Sam and Charlotte and Dave get there so fast when Lizzy thought it would take three days?
4. Why did Dave kill Solange?
5. What was the plot about Solange and her husband in New York and why on earth did she think that getting the sceptres would make him take her back?
6. If Solange had so much money why didn't she leave Corvo?
7. I don't understand the ownership issue over the sceptres. Surely, either proof of ownership or salvage rights takes precedence and I don't see why that would necessitate a lengthy court battle. Moreover, I think a museum would gladly fund the litigation if it were going to be the recipient.
8. Would all the dodgy art dealers and collectors in the world REALLY agree not to buy the treasure just because a thief asks them to? No quid pro quo?
9. How did all those convenient ownership papers happen to end up hidden on Corvo? And why would copies of the manifest be in Mexico/Cuba/Brazil (nope that either)?
doris1310's review against another edition
3.0
Final part of this series... that's too bad. But I'm looking forward to other books from Roxanne St. Claire :)
mslizalou's review
5.0
I love the Bullet Catchers and will miss them so much! Con is one of my favorite characters ever in this series...Would put him up against Dan and Jack...
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