4.25 Star Rating

Guest Review: Face Value by R.J. Scott

May 2, 2012 | 1 comment

Guest Review by Melanie
Title: Face Value
Author: R.J. Scott
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Length: Novel
Buy Link: Amazon  ARe

Rating: 4.25 stars

Beckett Jamieson turned 21 and immediately found out that his life has been one subterfuge after another. Isla and Derek Jamieson were not his biological parents, and his real name is Robert Edward Bullen, scion of the powerful and wealthy Bullen clan. Austin Mitchell, lawyer and friend of his biological mother hands him a letter and a box with his initials on it that change his life forever.

So young when everything he knows is upended, Beckett’s frustration, fear, and bravery endear the reader immediately, starting with the first chapter.  His uncle and father find him snooping around his mother’s old room, looking for incriminating evidence against them for the District Attorney. Your heart pounds along with his as he realizes he’s been discovered and they are not buying his story. And then the beating starts, and I felt sickened until just as he passes out, he hears the sounds of a rescue in progress.

When Beck wakes up, he’s been transported to a safe house and he is temporarily blind due to his beatings. Dale McIntyre, a Sanctuary agent, along with Joseph Kinnon (The Only Easy Day), rescued him, killed his uncle, and arrested his father.  Dale, his only safety line and contact, is gone, off on another assignment. So realistic is the scene where Beck slowly returns to consciousness you are right there feeling his confusion, and then mounting apprehension when he can’t open his eyes, feelings that turn to terror upon the realization he can’t see. He’s helpless and can only barely hold on as a calm voice tells him the blindness is temporary, and to trust him.  The voice belongs to another multilayered character, Dr. Kayden Summers.
Kayden is both a doctor and field agent for Sanctuary. He’s just turned 26, but he’s mentally and emotionally far older. Kayden was raised in a compound by a loving but unstable father (think Waco, TX without the religious overtones). When the compound was raided, his father died and Kayden was taken in by the founder of Sanctuary and raised with his son. A complicated background makes for a brilliant and complicated young man. As Kayden cares for his young patient, he is both impatient to be away in the field and anxious to be away from Beckett, to whom he is drawn. He is a brilliant doctor, martial arts expert, gay man, and sarcastic son of a bitch outside of his doctor persona and he shies away from emotional attachments.
It’s a delicate dance of trust and attraction between two young men under stressful and potentially deadly conditions. And Scott has done a great job of making their waltz towards a relationship remain grounded in real life expectations while allowing the possibilities of romance to grow. The characters here never lose sight of their goals, there is no instant love, just the hope of more if they can just keep Beck alive. And the twists and turns the plot takes will take your breath away and make your heart stop just when you think they are safe.

I love a good mystery and here is one that has stretched out over three books in the Sanctuary series and looks to continue on as there is no resolution in sight at the end of Face Value. Scott continues to unravel the story of the powerful Bullen family while introducing us to new Sanctuary agents and people involved in the Bullen family past.  Once again, the author has done an incredible job of bringing us a variety of interesting characters, from endearing to malignant, in a mystery that deepens with each book.

As I got to the end of Face Value, I immediately wanted to reach for the next book. And then the one after that. I want to know more, I want more of Beck and Kayden (they are that interesting and they deserve it). I want to see the Bullen family pulled down and justice served. Of course, I also want more Dale and Joseph from The Only Easy Day, as well as Nik and Morgan from Guarding Morgan. Book by book, Scott is building my Sanctuary addiction and now I can’t wait for the next one. The next couple. And perhaps a glimpse of those we have already met and loved. Mission accomplished, R.J. Scott, a job well done.

Cover: Reese Dante is the cover artist. Love this cover. The model is the perfect Beck. Great cover design for a wonderful story. Grade A.

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FILED UNDER: 4.25 stars, Contemporary, Melanie's Reviews
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1 Comment

  1. RJ Scott
    RJ Scott on May 30, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    >Wow… jeez… this is an AWESOME review… thank you so much… RJ x

    Reply

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