Title: The Fifth Doctrine
Author: Karen Robards
Series: The Guardian #3
Got a love-hate relationship with this series
I would like to thank Karen Robards, Harlequin/Mira, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I read Moscow Deception (MD) and Fifth Doctrine (FD) back to back, so this is kinda-sorta a review for both. I’ve decided to have a love-hate relationship with this series. On one hand, I freaking love it, because it’s clever, fast-paced action with vivid description and likable characters. But on the other hand, I hate being teased. I wish these books would deliver what they promise, namely a deep dive into Bianca’s character and her relationships.
To be fair, Robards does a fantastic job giving Bianca some internal conflict, and FD stroked my romantic feathers (oh, boy, did it!). But I still wasn’t satisfied when I finished reading it. While I realize cliff-hangers and unresolved plot lines might be good for business—who cares if the readers are dissatisfied as long as they buy the next installment, right?—it’s really annoying when books cut corners. Lines like: “Next time she had a couple of hours to spare she’d schedule an official freak out.” (MD, 82) and “Okay, pencil in a nervous breakdown for later.” (FD, 33) are so lazy—especially when you don’t pay them off! You might as well write: I’m going to put character development on the back burner while I go to town in North Korea.
I want to get into the supersoldier conspiracy. I want Bianca to stand up to that smug asswipe Mason and tell him to cram it up his crapper because he won’t be using her anymore (I wanted him to die, not gonna lie)—instead, she says that to Colin, who just wants to help her! Gah, that’s so frustrating. I want to get to know Hay and Doc and Evie, see Evie win against her rotten soon-to-be-ex.
Obviously I prefer character-driven novels, but to be clear, I don’t mind fast-paced action thrillers. I can appreciate them for what they are. What pisses me off is when they pretend to be character-driven when they are not. I enjoyed the subplot about Quincy, Sage, and the Bloods, as well as the one about Bianca’s co-workers and business, particularly Evie’s personal drama. But I cannot figure out how these subplots are at all relevant to the overall thriller plot. If you were to remove the Mission: Save Francisca and Mission: Save Evie scenes from MD, the rest of the plot wouldn’t be affected. Case in point, Robards didn’t even bother including any such scenes in FD, which resulted in more leg room for the action, better pace, and fewer disappointments.
MD gets 3 stars because of those irrelevant subplots, but FD gets 4 stars because it didn’t perpetuate those irrelevant subplots and finally got into the romance—wasn’t truly satisfying, but it was a lot more than we got in the first two.
Now, I’m assuming there’ll be another book. This surprises me, because I swear I read somewhere that it was supposed to be a trilogy. I don’t remember where I read it and I’m not going to hunt it down because it was years ago and it’s beside the point—there’s clearly going to be more books in this series. Or at least one. So BOLO because—damn them—I gotta know what happens next. *grumbles about serial wallet rapists*
