Book Review: Induction
Today, I’m participating in a book review tour for Induction, a Christian romantic suspense novel by Chautona Havig. It is a prequel to The Agency Files series.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher as part of Celebrate Lit publicity tours. All views expressed are my own. This post includes Amazon affiliate links.
My Review
While I’ve read several of Chautona’s other books, I haven’t yet read the Agency Files series, so I was interested in starting with the prequel. The thing about a prequel is that it usually gives you the backstory for characters and a story world you’re already familiar with, so I didn’t know if I would feel like I was missing something in reading the prequel first. I didn’t. Instead, as the author no doubt intended, it made me want to read the rest of the series.
“The Agency” is a private security/protection service, and Induction tells the story of how Keith Auger became an agent. (I believe he’s the main character–or one of the main characters–of the rest of the series.) It was a suspenseful read without being overly gritty. There were moments of humor, romance, and faith that made the story more compelling. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I expect you would, too.
From the Publisher
Someone wants her dead. Not happening on his watch.
When Roman Simon goes missing, the small town of Fairbury burns with rumors hotter than the sidewalk in July. They’re certain he’s either left his wife, or she killed him (not that they’d blame her). As the weeks pass and the police fail to find answers, things heat up more when Anna Simon disappears, too. If that’s not strange enough, the chief of police orders his officers to leave Anna out of their investigation.
As a new recruit into a secret protection service known only as The Agency to the few who know it exists, Keith Auger doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he’s determined to do his new job well. But when he finds himself guarding a woman before he’s fully trained, he already begins to doubt the wisdom of this career path.
Pressure mounts as Keith tries to stay one step ahead of the men out to kill Anna and another step ahead of Anna who is determined to find answers no one will give her.
Keith can’t help but wonder: will his first assignment with The Agency be his last?
Induction is an introductory novel to The Agency Files.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours, and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.
More from Chautona
Author Writing Woes: or How This Book Came to Be
Way back in the dark ages of my writing career (you know, around 2009…ish), I had an idea for a couple. She was a plain woman in many ways—a good student. He was the star quarterback for a college football team. And one day, while goofing around with his teammates, he bumped into her and caused her to drop everything, ruining a library book.
She wasn’t happy.
Did several chapters follow with him trying to make it up to her? Yep. Did she cave?
Eventually. And a couple of years later, the day before their wedding, his mother begged him not to marry someone so dull and uninteresting.
But all this came out about a quarter of the way into the book. The first chapter opened with her eating lunch with her husband, who ordered her least favorite dish because it’s good for her. Employees scowled, and the rumors of how awful he was to her flourished.
If only they knew. No one loved anyone more than Ramon Simon loved his Anna. Abusive? Never. Not even a hint, but no one in Fairbury would ever believe that.
But that was my problem. That’s all I knew. I called it “A Man and a Mouse” while waiting to find out what their story really was.
Twelve years later, I finally knew.
See, I had this character from one of my favorite series. The Agency Files is a suspense/romantic suspense series focusing on protecting people from “the bad guys” until law enforcement can round up those bad guys and it’s safe to go home. They’ll do anything they have to in order to keep you safe—even kidnap you. The best of the best? Keith Auger. And well… he wasn’t born an agent, was he?
I decided to write his “induction” into The Agency, and what better way to do it than to introduce him to Anna Simon? Her husband is missing, and someone’s after her. So, after a crazy ride at his job interview, and a few weeks of training, Anna is his first assignment. Keep her alive until those trying to kill her are caught. But that’s when things get complicated.
The series has grown a lot since Justified Means released. From that one book to last month’s exciting conclusion to this “branch” of the series with Take Cover, we’ve seen human trafficking, a drug running biker gang out to kill an ex-member who met Jesus, a crisis of faith combined with bioterrorism, a guy running for his life—he just doesn’t know why, an office manager gone rogue, an unemployed woman hiding out from “goons” in a Michigan castle, a traitor in the agency, and a bad guy who just might be the only one who can help them thwart a hostile takeover.
It’s been a bit of a wild ride for The Agency, but with the series “complete” (there will be spin-offs), it seemed like a perfect time to introduce folks to the series prequel, Induction. All of the series books are available in print, on Kindle Unlimited, and as audiobooks (they’re even FREE on Christa DelSorbo’s YouTube channel!).
Happy reading! And I apologize in advance for Flynne’s slang. That girl!
Blog Stops
- Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, February 20
- Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 21
- Simple Harvest Reads, February 22 (Author Interview)
- Roads to Everywhere, February 22
- Blogging With Carol, February 23
- Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 24
- Denise L. Barela, February 25 (Author Interview)
- Texas Book-aholic, February 26
- For Him and My Family, February 27
- Guild Master, February 28 (Author Interview)
- Artistic Nobody, March 1 (Guest Review from Donna)
- Holly’s Book Corner, March 2
- Fiction Book Lover, March 3 (Author Interview)
- Mary Hake, March 3
- Lots of Helpers, March 4
- Just Your Average reviews, March 5
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a paperback copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
