Power Play by Rachel Dylan

Power Play
by Rachel Dylan

ISBN-13: 9780764234323
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: June 1st 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When State Department attorney Vivian Steele witnesses two ambassadors collapse as if poisoned at a diplomatic dinner in Washington, DC, she is recruited to be a member of a joint FBI task force assigned to investigate. She's partnered with Jacob Cruz, who doesn't trust attorneys and doesn't see how she could add anything to the investigation. As a special agent in the Diplomatic Security Service and former Navy SEAL, he was in charge of the event's security.

As Viv starts to work her diplomatic sources, her past as a State Department lawyer comes back to haunt her, and secrets held tightly by the government thrust her into a web of danger. Afraid, Viv turns to Jacob for protection and help.


My Review:
Power Play is a Christian romantic suspense. It's the third in a series, but it works as a stand alone. While the task force initially believed that the deaths of the two ambassadors were connected, soon the story split into two separate investigations. We followed events in both investigations, though the focus was more on Vivian. The FBI partners investigating the death of the American ambassador worked well together and had a mentor/mentee relationship. Vivian and Jacob investigated the death of the Egyptian ambassador because Viv had contacts with the Egyptian Embassy due to a past assignment. They soon discovered that she (and others) had become the target of terrorists due to that past assignment. While Jacob initially didn't trust Viv and resisted her slower, diplomatic approach, he soon came to admire her and found a way to pair their strengths and weaknesses to solve the case.

The main characters were likable, interesting people that reacted realistically to events. They supported and built each other up. The suspense came from the danger to Viv. I wondered why Jacob wasn't really suspicious of the Good Samaritan since he usually didn't trust people easily and the motives behind that attack weren't certain at that point. Anyway, Viv felt like her relationship with God was strengthened through the events she endured. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.