Tough Justice

This is the first book in the K-9 special ops series. It is the story of Adam “Deck” Decker, a DEA Agent and Tori Sampson, an ER Physician. There is a new synthetic opioid circulating on the streets called Gray Death and the current batch is extremely lethal. Deck and Tori meet when one of Decks friends end up with an overdose while on a raid and Tori saves his life. Both Tori and Deck mistrust the others profession due to personal reasons, but Deck convinces her to help the DEA and try to track down the drug lord responsible. This was my first book with Ms. O’ Fallon. I must give her points for doing her research extremely well. She was well versed in the different opioids and their lethality and assume she did similar research with the DEA agents. She avoided making them out to be cowboys and discussions of HIPAA and probable cause were held. The writing was good, characters and plot twists interesting. She certainly kept me guessing about who it was until close to the end (usually I figure these things out quickly – I had a short list but vacillated between them). The initial set up seemed a bit unrealistic e.g., Deck allowing Tori to go on raids with him. Thor was fabulous and overall, the story was extremely enjoyable. This was a HFN as is always the case with such books. I highly recommend. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thrilling action and medical drama! Tori is a doctor who has a personal grudge against the DEA; Deck is a DEA agent with a personal grudge against doctors. Right from the start, you know both are going to have to do a lot of introspection and compromise before they can even work together, nevermind develop a solid relationship. I loved the pacing in this book. Never a dull moment, terrific blend of hospital drama and police procedural, and I truly respected how the author showed the assorted agents as dedicated and fearless yet smart enough to follow the rules to ensure justice will prevail. There are quite a few twists and red herrings along the way, and the ultimate surprise was who the main target turned out to be. I really enjoyed the intensity of the romance. Tori and Deck have all the chemistry in the world, while still being honest and forthright with their expectations. No dramatic miscommunications here, just a lot of pushing boundaries and expanding one's personal comfort zone. Thor was a delightful character all by himself. I love reading about working dogs and how they bring their own personalities into play despite their precision training, yet still get the job done. This story will make a dog lover out of anyone. We get a solid HEA for Deck and Tori, and I adored the surprise relationship revealed at the very end. Justice is served for all those involved in the drug dealing, and I loved how the asset seizure process was explained. If you love to read about heroic federal agents kicking doors and taking names, this is the book for you. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

A flying start to a new series from Tee O'Fallon. You can really feel the difference in the story when the author has actual law enforcement experience. As a reader who also works in law enforcement, albeit in the UK, it always just feels that wee bit more realistic. Deck and Tori are on a collision course. There's an epidemic of overdoses due to a new drug and Deck and his DEA team are on their tails. Tori is the doctor in charge of the local ER and has the most experience treating this drug. When one of Deck's teammates gets accidentally dosed, Tori is the one to save him. Deck needs her experience and medical know-how, pity he has a bit of a ropy past with the medical community and their willingness to cure everything with a pill. OMW Deck and Tori have great chemistry. Deck's reason for his aversion to pretty much all pain meds is heartbreaking. Tori also had sound reasoning for her hatred of the DEA (don't worry she's not a drug dealer!). I loved them learning to work together and Tori became a bit of bada%%! Of course, Thor pretty much stole the show for me! I love reading about service dogs. As usual, I had the "BigBad" narrowed down to two and it was one of my two options - go me! Engaging, great main characters, intriguing storyline. The sign of a good book? You come away having learned something, this book has that in spades. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and this i my honest and voluntary review