Title: The Handler
Author: Stefan Seabourne
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: M/M Contemporary/Action/Suspens
Length: Novella (135 PDF pages)
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
A guest review by Lily
Review Summary
I was drawn to this book by both the cover, which I really like, and the blurb. Unfortunately the story never quite lived up to my expectations although it may work for others.
BLURB
Victor Thorogood is a senior agent for Paladin, a security company that provides discreet protection for elite clients. When he’s assigned with his partner and best friend Brendan Borden to guard Prince Arkadio of Tramontaigne, he doesn’t expect to like the spoiled aristocrat and is proven a true prophet. But the young prince reveals the steel under his silken exterior during an abduction attempt, compelling Victor to develop an unlikely respect for him. As the two men are forced to rely on one another for survival, admiration warms into an emotion Victor was afraid he’d never feel.
REVIEW
Victor and his partner and friend Brendan are bodyguards working for a top notch security firm. Their latest assignment is to protect Prince Arkadio ‘Kasha’ of Tramontaigne on his visit to New York. Things seem to be going well at first but before long the simple ‘royal babysitting’ job is anything but simple. Victor and the Prince must work together if they are to have any hope of surviving the dangerous situation they find themselves in. At first unsure of the young man Victor is thankful to find a backbone of steel in the young aristocrat but will it be enough and if they do make it can anything come of the feelings developing between them?
The story starts out well enough with the men shown as typical for their roles. Kasha is young, sexy and seemingly quite spoiled while Victor is stern, tough and somewhat cold. As the story progresses we get to see them both in a different light, Kasha displays strength while Victor shows a softer, almost vulnerable, side. I enjoyed seeing them develop as their situation deteriorated. However despite the author attempting to show a deeper side to them they never truly felt like three-dimensional characters. Victor is in his mid-thirties and Kasha is about fifteen years younger yet it’s Kasha who’s the experienced one while Victor is in essence a virgin having never been with a man. He’s hidden his desires for years and is all about the job yet in the middle of their situation, locked in a safe room, they have sex. This was one of my biggest problems with the story as I felt if was totally against character for Victor. It didn’t make sense that Victor, knowing at any moment the bad guys could walk in, knowing he’s essentially got no real way to defend his client and having saved himself for the man of his dreams all this time would be okay with having sex in the middle of such a situation.
Another problem for me was that despite the book’s length of 135 pages most of the story takes place in less than a full days time with a short follow up two years later. I didn’t feel that the short span of time, mostly filled with violence and fear, was conducive to falling in love. Once the situation is under control they are quickly parted with no communication for two years. The next chapter then reunites them and the things that stood in their way are all of a sudden resolved. The story ends with a super sweet HEA ending for the Prince and his bodyguard but frankly by then I was just happy to have reached the end of the book.
I did like the premise of the story and enjoyed some parts of it. The identity of the bad guy was somewhat surprising and even though there is a lot of violence there was also a bit of humor and some tender moments. The sex scenes are hot and the ending was nice but there was some annoying head hopping throughout the story.
Overall for me this was a disappointing read. This is just my opinion and most definitely may not be how others feel once they read The Handler.
I would agree with you on the choppiness of this book. And, for a spoiler unfortunately I got rather tired of the “Imma gonna rape you” antagonist. He was like my tennis-ball obsessed cairn terrier. Too… much. Premise was great and I enjoyed the first chapter or two but then it fell apart.
Which was a shame because there was some solid writing in the first couple of chapters.
I am going to go to Hell for saying these things. Just thought I would share that because this promising to leave feedback and comments thing is kicking my ass 😀
Reece
I’m loving the fact that you’re commenting. 🙂 I promise it will get easier the more you practice. lol.
I just thought I would thank you for commenting and I’m sure that Lily will respond since I haven’t read the book.
Reece, thanks so much for your comments! It’s so much harder writing a review like this than one where I loved the book so feedback is really appreciated.
LOL Yes, I totally agree with you about the “tennis-ball obsessed cairn terrier”. It did get old after a bit. 🙂
It’s more of the “I really don’t want to hurt the author’s feelings”. I KNOW how hard it is to get those words out and to hear somoene doesn’t like it does sting. There was SOLID writing in it. Really. It was ALMOST there. Premise was great but then it went all off. Which was a shame. I really liked the writing. I would try the author again.
Ouch. I was so counting on this book to get me through the weekend.
But that was to be expected, I guess. Books with sexy covers and promising plots usually don’t live up to our expectations.
Larosh, I was really looking forward to reading the book because of the cover and blurb, too. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I expected.
I was going to check this out too. But I guess now I’ll pass and look for something else.
Hi, Patty! As I said it didn’t work for me but perhaps others will have different opinions. Hope you enjoy whatever you read next. 🙂
That is too bad. I had high hopes for this book 🙁 But it happens. Not sure if it was intentional, but sometimes authors get caught up in the moment and write a story that only spans one day. Then the story might be good, but you’re left with some questions.
“sometimes authors get caught up in the moment and write a story that only spans one day. Then the story might be good, but you’re left with some questions.”
Exactly! I agree with you, Larissa. It was just too much in such a short time span. A love of a lifetime doesn’t seem possible coming from that. At least to me.
You know, I had a bad feeling about this one as soon as I read the blurb. I don’t remember now what turned me off (it sure wasn’t that hot cover model!), but I’m glad I trusted my instincts on this one. I absolutely hate it when a character steps ‘out of character’ and having sex like that with danger around would have really pissed me off 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful review, Lily, it was very informative!
You’re welcome and thanks, Cole!
I rarely get that moment of wanting to just chuck the book at a wall (thankfully since it’s an eReader :)) but that scene came close to it. Totally against character for the protag. 🙁
Cole,
That cover is off the charts. He looks like that Superman actor from Smallville.
Tom Welling??
Lily
This book sounds too, too incredible
This reminds me of a book I reviewed over a year ago by Mia Watts with two cops who were on the carpet because they let a prisoner escape, and while waiting for the Chief in a conference room they start making out. Obviously it didn’t enter their minds that they could be in danger of losing their jobs if someone were to walk in.
This strategy of having the characters meet again years later and everything is magically smoothed over is so silly.
Wave, for me those were the two biggest issues I had with the story. Not the only ones unfortunately just the major ones.
I think this may be his first published story so perhaps future works will be better. The premise of the story was good. 🙂
Victor was also a virgin. At mid-thirties? Then… boom, sex. After the rape-rapey antagonist who just couldn’t seem to be killed just assaulted the prince. Twice. Or three times? I lost count. Really. He kept coming back! It was all very odd.
Reece, I thought the same thing too. He waited 35 years and then rushed into it with someone he’d just met. And in the situation they were in? Did not make sense at all!!!
Oh good. So it wasn’t just me. I was a bit…. pushing the “I believe” button. I DID make it to the end.
Really, I’d want the author to just take some time, add a bit more plausible and more importantly, tighten up plot points. The partner was a good character. Jerking him over to the dark side was… odd. And Randy Rabid Raper was just too much.
And I’m going to shut up now.
Hi Lily,
now I’m glad I’ve skipped this one. There’s nothing more annoying than when reading a book you expected to enjoy turns out a chore instead. I’m pretty sure I’d have reacted the same you did. Thank you for sparing me this!
You’re welcome, Feliz! Hope you enjoy whatever you do read. 🙂
How many comments does one have to make to be a lurker no more? Anyway…I have not read this book yet but had it on my TBR list for the same reasons as Lily. I wanted to read a book that got a low rating (weird, right?!), b/c for some reason I feel that I can see how in sync I am with the reviewer more easily. So I’m going to get this book and will add my 2 cents when I’m done.
Oh, and I totally agree with Reece (well, maybe not the going to hell part but definitely the kicking my ass part!)
“I am going to go to Hell for saying these things. Just thought I would share that because this promising to leave feedback and comments thing is kicking my ass”
I think we have the makings of a Lurkers Anonymous group here! 🙂
Hi, Lisa! I’m not sure how many you need to not be a lurker all I can say is it gets easier with time. I started as a lurker myself three years ago. 🙂
Please do let me know what you think of the book.
Lisa
There is no number but of course we would get to know you better if you continue to comment, and look forward to what you have to say.
As Lily said, she was once a member of Lurkers’ Anonymous. lol
Lily- thanks for great review “Lurker’s Anonymous is a great club!” lol just not sure can include myself anymore 🙂 Just finished reading this book-decided to try it because hey action, suspense, and hot men on front- could not resist! I agree with you and reece , in regard to the “out of character behavior, and would be rapist” That was redundant, however a lot of the book really worked for me and thought this was a great entry of a ” new to me author” can’t be sure if its first or not? Will read this author again- it could be that I was in a ” fairy tail mode” The initial premise was HOT and showed great promise.
Hi Duhaunt! So glad to see you’ve come out of the Lurkers Anonymous club. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the story!
Lily, oh, what a shame about the book, especially considering the great cover! But you have good reasons here for that low rating. It’s so frustrating when characters do unrealistic things and act inexplicably out of character. I think you may have saved a lot of us from buying because of that cover and then feeling a huge dose of consumer dissonance. 😉
I also have to say I’m SO impressed by the former lurkers these days, coming in and giving their comments! 😀
Val, it is great to see the lurkers coming out and commenting. I love it!!
I’m a glass half full kind of person and pretty easy to please but this time it was just too many negatives. It’s a shame but hopefully future books will improve.
I had this on my to buy list. Thank you for the review.
You’re welcome, Lasha. 🙂
I hate to see this, because it kinda looked like a good read. Oh well. I may still read it, it will just go down on the list. LOL Delurking isn’t kicking my ass, because I always got something to say. 😉
Hi Marilyn, it’s wonderful to see another lurker commenting! 🙂
I’d love to know what you think when/if you read it.
Thanks for taking one for the team, Lily. Like Wave, this reminds me of a Mia Watts story I read and reviewed where the two protags smexxed it up in inappropriate places and times — like at a crime scene. That drops the rating just there. Add the other things you mention, and we’re below a three-star read. How unfortunate; like others, I think the cover is great and the blurb looks like it would be a good story.
Lol you’re welcome, Lynn! 🙂
I think I’ve read that one as well. I’m all for the guys smexing it up but please make it believable. That situation was absolutely not. A total let down because the cover/blurb really caught my attention.
I really wanted to like this novella too, but there were too many bumps – too short, stepping out of character, the inappropriate sex venue, the annoying pseudo-rapist, the falling in love too fast. Also, and spoilers here… the betrayal of one of the characters seemed like a throw-in. His “death” very early in the novel didn’t seem to have much of an affect on his “friend.” Even when the betrayal is voila’d, Victor’s not very torn up about it. I think what was missing most in this story was emotional impact. I didn’t feel anything for the characters, didn’t care. Perhaps if Victor, Brendan and Prince Arkadio had been fleshed out more.
Again, it’s too bad because I’d really love to find a good m/m suspense/mystery novel with a clever plot, action, endearing characters, affection and wit.
Wonderful comment, MaDonna! I completely agree with you. 🙂
*sweat drop* it´s really a pity, it looked very promising, one of these books you want to lay hands as soon as possible. It will be interesting to keep an eye in future releases by this author and see if there are changes in the style since the premises looked good.
Thank you for your review 🙂
You’re welcome, Helena! From the little information I could find this appears to be his first published story. Hopefully the next story will be improved. I’d definitely give him another try. 🙂
Like many others, I really wanted to read this one, but unfortunately, Lily’s review makes me want to give it a pass. The issues she has mentioned are all ones which really bug me as a reader. I wish the publisher or editor had worked with the author on the story a bit more, and avoid these shortcomings. It sounds as if the writer has a lot of potential and this novella could have been wonderful with more guidance. I’ll stay on the lookout for the next one.
EM, I would definitely read the author’s next story. This story had lots of missed potential and hopefully the next one will meet that potential.
The cover and blurb lured me in. I bought this ebook a few days before your review was posted. When I saw your rating, I said “Well, damn”. Im glad its the first novel, so possibly better books are on the horizon.
Brendan gave himself away by the way he handled seeing the monkey in the ceiling. What kind of top notch security agent, makes such a amateurish mistake? They dont, his butt was guilty.
its the first novel, so possibly better books are on the horizon
I hope so too! 🙂