THE EVANGELINE SERIES

In this debut novel and series opener, a highly skilled ex-analyst trains for her chance to become a field operative.

Evangeline “Sam” Sampierre looks into missing hikers across the United States per her National Security Agency assignment. But she also has a personal investment; she’s still haunted by her childhood best friend’s unexplained disappearance years ago. Just when she links four of the missing hikers, she loses her job in a mass layoff. Yet Sam keeps looking, and now she can investigate on location instead of being stuck behind a desk. She can’t fund her probe for long without a paycheck, so she eyes government contractor The Baxter Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C. As a former NSA analyst, she’s a shoo-in as long as she survives a mandatory 20-week training program involving such skills as combat and firearms. Sam thankfully has a head start; she possesses an impressive array of strengths and is mere months away from earning a black belt in Israeli fighting and self-defense. She excels at training but, during the program, concedes that she’s a “lone wolf.” The Baxter Group may be the place where Sam learns that she doesn’t have to rely only on herself. She opens up and befriends fellow trainees, though she’s particularly drawn to her potential boss—the director of field ops (and the CEO’s grandson) Ben Baxter. Sam can’t easily predict “socially bipolar” Ben’s moods, whether during training or downtime. When it looks as if he’ll be working the missing-hikers case with her, the two will either join forces or butt heads.

Aurelius quickly establishes this hero as an intuitive, capable woman who more than deserves her own series. It seems as if Sam’s good at whatever she tackles, and she does everything with focus and tenacity. The novel opens with narrator Sam geocaching in Tennessee, tracking a lead in her investigation; she’s in the field alone to find someone and maybe prevent future disappearances. So it’s a bit of a letdown when the story switches gears to center on her recruitment by The Baxter Group, as she doesn’t return to her probe for a long time. But it’s in this section that Sam’s flaws gradually come out; she sometimes doubts herself and her abilities, which can hamper her shot at succeeding. Eloquently understated relationships between Sam and various men take the narrative reins—her bond with her old NSA boss, who “was more like a father figure…always looking out for her”; hints of romance with a trainee; and refreshingly warmhearted interactions with an ex-boyfriend. Her scenes with her female pals pale in comparison, as they mostly talk about men. Yet some moments do play out in the midst of colorfully described settings. Sam, for example, hikes trails in woods of multihued sights, from peaceful waterfalls and vibrant plant life to the setting sun peeking through trees. Aurelius moreover breathes life into a restaurant bar (where a drunken idiot spoils a girls’ night out) and Sam’s self-defense class (as she demonstrates how to disarm an assailant). Although the author clearly wrote this volume with a series in mind, it offers a touch of resolution before ending on a superb cliffhanger.

A razor-sharp, ultra-cool, gritty hero ignites this worthy tale.