Book Review: Special Agent Maximilian by Mimi Barbour
- Kristen Lewendon
- Jul 27, 2019
- 2 min read
Undercover FBI Book 3
Identical twins but different men – she loves both!
In this electrifying romantic suspense set in the steamy streets of New Orleans, Lieutenant Commander Nik Baudin, accidently meets up with an identical twin he never knew existed. When his brother Max goes missing, Nik assumes his identity as Special Agent Maximilian. This gives him access to FBI files making it easier to arrest the gangsters who attacked his brother and to stop their trafficking of underage girls. Being that Nik has specialized commando training, he’s the perfect man for the job - that’s if his PTSD doesn’t kick in and leave him cowering in a corner.
Special Agent Maya Barnes can’t believe it when she spots her partner, Max Foster, wandering along the French market without a care in the world. Since he’d been beaten and had gone missing weeks earlier, they all believed him dead. There’s only one problem… though this man might look exactly like the missing agent, she knows differently. In all the years they’ve worked together, she’s never wanted to have mind-blowing sex with her partner before.
My Review:
This one just didn’t quite work for me the way I thought it was going to. I really like Nik. This is a hero that I felt could have stepped out of one of Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters books; military special operator on a joint mission with the FBI – it’s not a long stretch. Maya was a little too much for me. Too independent, too skilled at everything, too accepting. The whole side story that swoops in to save the day in the end was a step beyond plausible disbelief for me. That felt far too much like the author was playing Puppetmaster to make the story work. I was also very frustrated by the number of times Nik was called by the wrong name for the circumstances. He’s called “Max” by author around characters who only know him as Nik, he’s called “Nik” in scenes where if it comes out he isn’t Max, there’s going to be a world of trouble to answer for. Now, after three books, there are some things about the series I’m noticing. I’m not sure if it’s realistic that the head honcho is always the Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge, and it’s been a new character with every book. I’m also getting a little irritated by the author’s inability to simply call eyes “eyes” and be done with it. What’s the point behind calling them “shockers”? ‘Cause I just don’t get it. And where this book stops makes me want to commit murder. Since all the books in this series are supposed to be stand-alone stories, where am I going to find out what happens next after this brand-new twist that was introduced in the final paragraphs?
Other books in the series:
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