Tara Janzen

"Getting shot was one thing, but actually dying on the job went against every order they’d been given."

I really love this insane series about reformed teenaged car thieves, turned secret government military agents, who masquerade as chop shop men in Denver. The writing is excellent, the humour fantastic, and the storylines and characters completely over the top. That said, this book had some weak moments, and the overall feel was too ‘youthful’ for me for adult fiction.

Following on show more from previous books, Kid has been off in South America, getting revenge for the torture and execution of his brother. He's been gone for seven months, leaving Nikki - the woman he loves - behind. The moment Nikki is connected to him she is in danger.
There is less action in this one than some of the others, with the focus shifting to Nikki’s art exhibition in Denver, and to the gang of kids who are having problems of their own.

Tara Janzen writes secondary stories that have a tendency to take over the plot, and in Kid and Nikki’s long-awaited book, Nikki’s friend and art model Travis and reformed street kid Jane appeared to have more page time than them. It was a bit of a disappointment, seeing as we’ve been following Kid and Nikki’s troubled relationship right from the first book.

However the main problem was that this edition was just too ‘young’. The other books have been so appealing because the heroes are experienced men – Air Force or Special Forces heroes or reformed criminals or something. They’re real men with a wealth of experience behind them, and the women were women with experiences of their own.
Crazy Wild takes place only a few months after book one, Crazy Hot. And in Crazy Hot, Kid was twenty-three and Nikki was years younger. Then in Crazy Wild, we also have twenty-three year old Travis, twenty year old Jane and twenty year old Skeeter. On top of that, at the beginning of the book Kid works with a guy who looks like he's nineteen. Plus the main focus of the story is on a gang of one hundred street kids. The whole book was ‘young’ enough I almost felt like I was reading young adult fiction!

The last few chapters redeemed the book in a major way, reminding me I’m such a Tara Janzen fangirl. The action, the bringing together of all the tangents, and ultimately the resolution of Kid and Nikki’s relationship was wonderful. The story was nicely wrapped-up, but there is also huge potential for future books with the secondary characters who keep on evolving as the series goes on.

Even considering the problems I had, this was a very good, entertaining book. There are some writers whose style appeals to me so much I’d read anything they wrote. Tara Janzen is one of those writers. All of her characters are interesting to read about, and her men – even these younger men – are everything you could want in a romantic suspense hero. She has a quirky sense of humour and always makes me smile, and her books are just over the top enough to be fun without being silly.

If you’re going to read this series, start at the beginning. The first few can hold up on their own, but by book four the plot is so intricate you’re going to have trouble figuring it all out. show less

Wow, the prologue sets the tone for the whole series by introducing the characters and man o' man I can't wait to read about these boys!
I love how Regan reacts in certain situations, like a normal person would. When Kid says "take someone out" it keeps tripping her up. Regan doesn't scream hysterically or anything when she has to deal with gun toting men or suddenly turn into Laura Croft either, her mind just keeps stumbling over itself thinking "oh he has a gun" then "Oh shit he really has show more a gun".
There were tons of great one liners in this book. Tara Janzen knows how to write humor into her books really well.
I did however, find myself checking twice to make sure this was the first book in the series because I kept feeling like I was missing some of the story. There was a lot of back story which probably could have been made into a whole other book.
I have always been a muscle car lady and oh man the Camaro scene (pause as I wipe the sweat off my forehead) with the no backseat no problem scene; they use the hood with the car rumbling under them. I tip my hat to you Ms. Janzen for this, yes, yes I do. Greatest scene I have read in '09 hands down.
At first I was kind of distracted by the Kid and Nikki (Regan's sis) romance, but then the conversation they have about her parents was a great downshift from one-liners, sex, and action. I could feel the connection they were building between themselves. (I cheated and looked to see if they were the next book but they're not until book4!! WTF!? I really want to cheat to see these two get together)
Quinn Younger definitely moved into my category of favorite lead characters with his from the school of hard knocks, fighter pilot, to covert ops. He is a great "reformed" bad boy.
This book was pure fun. Janzen writes the scenes so well I could visualize scenes like I was watching a movie and was completely lost in them. Think of this book as a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, you get beef cake, action, and completely unbelievable scenarios, but it won't be winning any Oscars. It will never be deemed a classic but damn if it wasn't entertaining.

A show less

Holy $#*%! This was way better than I thought it was going to be. Janzen was kind of slumping in this series but whoa baby came back with a bang on this one. If you haven't read the entire series then good luck understanding what the hell is going on and if you have read the entire series then be prepared to be emotional while reading this book.
J.T. and Jane were perfect for each other and I loved how their past relationship was shown throughout the whole book in flashbacks, instead of info show more dumped. Lead characters I was interested in, yeah!
The original chop shop boys all make appearances, with Dylan getting a lot of the attention. There was some fat that could have been trimmed from this book, the whole MNK-1 thing was a little weird but I feel a new series spawning from this idea of SEALs being altered. If so, charge on Janzen I do love me some SEALs (altered or not)!
J.T., Kid Chaos, and CREED have their moments of dealing with their emotions in a, sort of, closure. It was 95% satisfying for me as a reader.
Anyway, if you have followed this series you definitely, must, I insist, you read this book. It would have gotten five stars if the MNK-1 storyline would have been edited out. Also if there would have been more Kid Chaos. He was and still remains my fav from this series. I need more of him and Nikki. Come on Janzen give me another book or throw me a bone with a novella about him coming to terms with what he does for a living and Nikki knowing about it. Kid Chaos and Nikki are the way to my heart and therefore my wallet. Hint Hint Hint Ms. Janzen! show less

���By far what I liked most about this book was the author's voice. She has a remarkable writing style. Her prose is vivid without being overdone, lush without being repetitive, captivating without being over-the-top. Her dialogue is spot on, too, and she writes men beautifully.

I felt the story lost steam about half-way through, though there were plenty of sexual acrobatics so I guess there was that kind of steam. But the meat of the plot took a backseat to all the sexual escapades, show more and I started to get a little antsy for a resolution.

The book was probably about a hundred pages longer than it needed to be, and I nearly abandoned it with a hundred pages to go. I'm glad I stuck it out, though, because I liked the ending. It was sweet and made sense in a romantic way -- though again, the suspense suffered from a pat, all too neat and tidy ending. I think I will look for the next book in the series, though. I'm curious to see where the author takes the Steele Street boys. (A-) show less