CRUSHED

While running from his dangerous past, a man stumbles into his oldest crush’s hometown in Jolie’s novel.

Erik Lai is a professional hacker who changed his last name to Yeung as a protective measure. After deciding to separate from Spectre, a crime syndicate, he and his team (Wolf, Trevor, and Kairi) have been hunted by assassins. During the killers’ last attempt on their lives, they murdered Kairi’s fiance and forced the team to go deep into hiding. Erik’s company monitors the dark web for threats for the United States government and other organizations, so luckily for him and his team, they can do their work remotely. To help Kairi feel safe, they go back to the Napa Valley town where she grew up. Once there, Erik tracks Firefly, aka Vivi, an old gamer friend he’s never met in person, and discovers that she’s the owner of a small local bookstore. He doesn’t immediately tell her who he really is because he doesn’t want her to know that he tracked her IP address, which inevitably breaks an old promise they made to stay anonymous forever. In the process of getting to know Vivi, Erik finds himself struggling to decide whether he should stay with her or go back into hiding. Jolie gives the novel a strong start with a description of an assassin attempting to break into Erik’s home, which adds validity to the characters’ constant concerns about being attacked again. Jolie’s action scenes, suspense, and engaging plot developments make it easy for readers to put themselves in Erik’s shoes. Similarly, her talent for character development, as when Vivi banters with her grandfather and siblings, adds further depth and helps to build a cast of likable characters—even when Erik lacks a certain amount of social intelligence, as when he doesn’t understand why tracking someone’s IP address might be seen as intrusive.

A compelling romantic thriller with appealing characters.