Initium

Title: Initium

Series: The SNAP Agency #0.5

Author: Natalie Walters

Publisher: Revell

Genre: Suspense, Christian Fiction, Contemporary 

Source: own

My Review:

Initium is a quick read that gives insight into how the SNAP Agency started.

It is a time-split novel between 1998 in Ireland and 2013 in Washington D. C. The beginning is intense and captivates you immediately.

While I like dual-timeline novels, I did struggle a bit more with this one. I would be in the scene and then the chapter would end, and I would suddenly be in the next location. I felt like it was disrupting my story instead of having a natural flow. By the time I got back into it, the chapter would end, and the scene would change again. Several things were not resolved. I hope they will be revealed in the first book, but I have the feeling one will, and the other won't (let's hope I'm wrong!).

I did enjoy this story (other than the two things mentioned above). We do discover how the SNAP agency gets started, and how each team member is selected. We find out quite a bit about their background. I felt like a lot happened in this story, and the pace moved swiftly. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good suspense novel, especially those who plan to read Lights Out, book one in The SNAP Agency series.

★★★/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

When an explosion rattled the cobblestone streets of Ireland in 1998, it left the CIA questioning one of their own, but Intel officer Tom Walsh refuses to believe his friend Sean is guilty. Tom is certain Sean wasn’t behind the misdirection of information that led to the deaths of dozens, but he’s missing and the CIA won’t go back to find him or the truth.

Unwilling to let Sean become a scapegoat for a botched mission, Tom quits the CIA and takes an unsanctioned contract job with the hopes of finding his friend and those responsible for the deadly attack. But when the new mission goes awry, Tom finds himself in a battle against an Irish dissident paramilitary group determined to strike again.

With only a hunch to go on and a red-headed bartender’s help, Tom puts himself in the path of danger and discovers his own passion for stepping in where the government can’t.

Get ready for Lights Out with this glimpse into the life of the man behind the SNAP Agency and what pushed him to find a better way to strategically protect and neutralize threats against America and her citizens. In this fast-paced novella you’ll meet Director Walsh as he assembles his team: Jack Hudson, Lyla Fox, Nicolás Garcia, and Kekoa Young.