Review: A strong debut effort
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 23, 2013
NOTE: this review is the result of a `review swap' in which two authors agreed to exchange and review each other's books.  Every attempt was made to keep this review honest and objective.Bloodbath Ritual by Andrew Downs is the first book in the "Alex Hollick FBI Series".  The plot itself doesn't have a lot to do with the Bloodbath Ritual as the ritual doesn't come into play until late in the book.  In addition, the plot changes as the initial story is quickly left behind and has little to do with the main story line.  And the book is much longer than it needs to be with some overly long and unnecessary dialog that doesn't add to the book.Still, this is a strong debut effort and the story keeps you on edge with an extremely like able main character.  Alex Hollick is a young FBI agent who, along with his team, is involved in a stakeout that goes horribly wrong.  As Alex tries to put his life back together and get his career back on track, he becomes involved with a darker side of the agency that employs methods that are often are in conflict with his own principals.  Alex must somehow keep himself and his love interest safe as he deals with a series of events that threaten to expose the operation.If you can ignore the unnecessary detail and dialog, you'll find the Bloodbath Ritual to be an engaging thrill ride.