Created by Cindy Hogan book review

Created

Cindy M. Hogan

Genre

336 pages

The exciting conclusion of the Watched series.  This book kind of worked out like I had been anticipating, with Christy, or Ari, as she is known throughout most of this book, training to become a spy.  Until the terrorist threat can be eradicated for good, Ari and most of her original group from D.C. are moved to Belgium, to a secret spy training school.  Here, they are placed into groups according to their strengths so that they can train to become spies.  With all of her previous training, Ari scores too high to be placed in a group at this school and is kind of teamed up with the class about to graduate.  She begins going on missions, that are designed to apply the training to real life applications and scenarios.  They are dangerous and scary to her, but she has come a long way from being “Christy” that she was a year ago, and is excited about the challenge.

Through all this, she is still working to try to win back the love of Rick, or Reese, as he has become in this novel.  Reese is hurt over everything that has happened, especially between Ari and Alex, as well as the fact that her death was faked and he mourned for her.  He is in a different group, so it is hard to find time to even talk to him, but Ari develops real feelings for him and knows that he is who she wants at her side wherever her new life takes her.  Their time together is cut even shorter than they thought, as a real life spy mission that Ari is suited for perfectly comes up, and Ari has the chance to take it.

Now, she is thrown head first into the life of a spy, where any mistake could cost her her life.  She needs to befriend the daughter of a brilliant scientist who intelligence fears is up to no good.  She remains in her “Ari” character to do so, and fits the bill for the job perfectly.  If she can just make this mission work, she will be a full-fledged spy!  I don’t want to give away important details or spoilers about the novel, but it is very entertaining and exciting to see what Ari gets herself into and how she works to get her mission completed.  Especially once she went on the mission, I had a hard time putting the book down and just wanted to finish it to see what happened.  The terrorist threat was finally cleared up, and when most of her group decided to go home to their families, Ari realized that she couldn’t go back to her old life and grabbed the reigns of a new spy life that awaited her.

Throughout this whole trilogy, one thing I’ve been really impressed with was that anyone could read these.  And I mean that in the sense that there was no swearing, crudeness, or anything offensive to anyone of any age.  It is great to sometimes see a book not riddles with things like that that often don’t even add anything to the story.  The series as a whole was a very enjoyable read.  I liked the way it ended, because it left the door wide open for future adventures with Christy, or whomever she becomes from here on out.  I enjoyed my first series from and contact with Hogan, and I will actively be watching for her in the future and following her career as she continues to write.

Protected by Cindy Hogan book review

Protected

Cindy M. Hogan

Suspense/Thriller

341 pages

 

 

Here is the second installment of Hogan’s first series. Christy is back home in Montana, and back to her normal life, basically as a loser at her school. Although it’s depressing to be back on the bottom, she assumes that all the excitement from D.C. is over, and wants to move on from that. Then, unexpectedly, Alex shows up again in her life by surprising her at her school. She had promised herself she was done with him and would choose Rick, but can’t keep herself from him. She takes him out on a tour of her town, and that is when things take a turn for the worse.

 

Apparently the terrorists have tracked Christy down and come to settle the score. They come for Christy and Alex and take them hostage. Without giving away any exciting details, the manage to escape, but now it’s clear that Christy can’t return to her old life. She will have to enter the witness protection program and start a new life under a false identity. Although her life was difficult for her, she finds it hard to say good-bye and leave everything behind. With no other choice, she finds herself training for a life she never thought she would have, as a popular cheerleader at a new school across the country.

 

It is hard on her, and takes some time to get used to, but Christy falls into her new life and is happy. During her months of training before beginning her new life, Christy learns how to look for attackers and hide from them, even how to fight them off. In her new life, she is able to adapt to her newfound popularity, although everything is completely new to her. One thing that is especially hard for Christy is remaining true to her values and ideals while she seems to be the only one in her new life that has them. She is forbidden to go to her old church, as that is part of her old life, which she must leave behind. She faces an internal struggle often, just as she is facing very real external ones. However, she must always remain alert and on her toes, never knowing when or how danger will come.

 

The ending of the book is great, packed with action and excitement, with a clear opening into the third novel in the series. I really enjoyed reading it and one thing that I’m really impressed with is the lack of offensive language or content. This really is a book that someone of any age could read. I’m excited to finish the series and see what will happen to Christy and who she will become in the next step of her life. The title of the next book, Created, leads me to believe that Christy will face even more changes and that the danger and excitement she never expected will continue to follow her wherever she goes.