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Book Review of Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles, Bk 1)

Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles, Bk 1)
reviewed on
Helpful Score: 1


This is a warning: The cover in no way reflects the contents of the book. Apart from the fact that the model doesn't look anything like the description of the main character (where is the frizzy red hair??), the cover gives the impression that this is going to be more of a dark urban fantasy with a kick-butt heroine. It's not. It's much closer to a fluffy romance with a Too Stupid To Live heroine.

There were so many things in the plot that didn't make sense. Why did Parker Hayes treat Sophie like a full partner (instead of what she should have been - a consultant) when she was clearly inept and vulnerable in the field? Why would anyone give her a gun when she proved she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at 10 paces (and, why did they give her BACK the gun after she THREW it at an intruder instead of shooting the guy?) ? Why can't the author make up her mind about what Sophie's job is - is it being the administrative assistant to the head honcho of the underworld detection agency or is it have more to do with office work and actual detection (since she has that handy gift of being immune to magic)? How can Sophie find Parker so "sexy" when he is constantly cramming his mouth with food (an actual scene involved an entire donut being downed in a single bite)?

Throw in two seeming plot device crushes on the main character that both end up saving her life, an unlikely romantic angle between the detective and Sophie (a la "I hate you, why can't I stop thinking about your hair??"), the obligatory suspicions about the true motives of the detective because he "doesn't smell right", and a plot twist ending that came out of the left field of awkward and strange.

I finished the book. Barely. I normally give an author 2 or 3 books before I decide whether I will continue, but I definitively will not continue this series.