Everything has a price. Especially the truth.
From the author of Prince of Air and Darkness comes the first in a thrilling new paranormal series.
Former marine Atlas Kinkaid knows not to ask questions about the clients he protects at the behest of the elite Whitethorn security agency. Just like he doesn’t like anyone asking about his scars—scars left by a mysterious attack that haunts his every waking moment.
Consumed by the need to find out what happened to him, Atlas takes a job providing security to Cristian Slava, the indolent—and gorgeous—son of a notorious businessman. Cristian seems to be just another entitled client, but when nights at the club turn into secret meetings and people start going missing, Atlas realizes there’s more to Cristian—and to protecting him—than meets the eye.
But the same people who are after Cristian have something Atlas desperately craves: they know exactly what happened the fateful night he was attacked—and are willing to tell him everything…
For a price.
Paranormal, m/m romance, PTSD, grief
This is my first read of M.A. Grant’s and I certainly enjoyed it enough to pick up more of her work. “Rare Vigilance” is a book about living with PTSD… and then coming face to face with fear in the guise of a potential lover.
Atlas is working in private security when his sister (and company owner) asks him to take over a job that happens only at night and is very important to the future of the company. Atlas thinks he’ll be providing security for an infamous “boss” and businessman but, in fact, it’s Cristian Slava he’ll be protecting. Cristian comes off as a spoiled young man at first; he’s snarky and full of vitriol and does his level best to avoid Atlas and make his job a lot more difficult. There are side trips that Atlas doesn’t know about, meetings he isn’t given details to, and trists with men that involve some embarrassing moments.
As Atlas gets the ground under his feet, he begins to realize there’s a lot more to Cristian than he thought. It isn’t until things get dangerous and lives are threatened that Atlas finally realizes what is going on. He’s coming face to face with the paranormal that took his friend away from him and left him with a scarred body and PTSD.
Cristian is a lovely character. He has a facade he puts on… as the young, rebellious son of a businessman. There’s much more depth to him that is brought out throughout the course of the novel. In fact, Cristian may be quite the opposite of what he seems to want people to see. There are lots of reasons for that, but primarily Cristian has faced a significant loss in his past that has molded him.
As Atlas is drawn to Cristian, as they become friends and potentially more – things get tricky. Atlas is making a lot of emotional decisions based on the things that have happened to him in the past. He seems to have an internal battle. Protecting Cristian seems to come naturally to him…but he also struggles with how to protect himself going forward. I don’t want to give spoilers so I’m being a bit evasive about these two characters.
This is an interesting take on the world of vampires, but nothing completely original. There are the more typical vampires and there are Strigoi who are like monsters… machines who want to kill. I do like the fact that the social structure of vampires seems a bit more convoluted in this novel. There are definitely vampires who have significant privilege and those who don’t and this plays out in how they face the threats of the Strigoi.
This was an enjoyable read and I will certainly be looking forward to the second book in the series. Please be aware that this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. There are some issues from the first book that are not resolved before the end of the novel… I am certainly curious about what will happen!
Things You May Want To Know: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: (SPOILERS) Gore and violence in keeping with the genre, descriptions of PTSD and panic related to battle, blood, a character is drugged against their will and without their knowledge, stalking, betrayal, lying within friendship, cliff hanger.
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I received an ARC of Rare Vigilance (Whitethorn Agency Book #1) by M.A. Grant from Carina Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 