I’ve read a few books co-written by Mr. Voinov and Ms. Witt, and I was extremely excited to read Hostile Ground. The appeal? I’d read a few stories in the Market Garden series, and I knew the authors would bring the sexy and intrigue. Also, this story has a Syrian central character that is also gay and Muslim. YES PLEASE! BRING ON THE DIVERSITY IN LGBT READS! I was on board for this ride.

The beginning of the story takes place with Mahair Hussein (aka Saeed), a cop, working undercover at a strip club. His boss, Ridley, is a total arse. Stoic and utterly ruthless. He’s been hired to keep the goons in line and the club running smoothly. The club’s owner (Lombardi) makes it a point to hire only gay personnel because he doesn’t want them trying to sleep with the strippers. Makes sense. You don’t want your staff dipping into your merchandise (pun intended).

There’s an attraction between Saeed and Ridley. To ensure Saeed is gay, Ridley puts him through the ringer. LOL, the ringer being code for sexual exploits. *bow chica wow wow*

This is where things pick up speed and get interesting. The sex scenes are absolutely scorching.

As the book progresses, you can tell something is developing between the two men. We also know all is not as it seems at the club. Saeed is working undercover for a reason, but he’s not really sure what’s amiss at the club. Every cop that’s gotten a little too close ends up dead. So, at this point, the story is a solid four stars for me. I was in it to win it!

With the introduction of secondary characters is when things started to change for me. Mahair’s nephew and the twist in the storyline became predictable. Once the reader is introduced to Kinza, Mahair’s nephew, I knew exactly how the story would play out, and it left me pretty irritated. I wanted more. I wanted things not to be predictable. I wanted more suspense.

*flails*

I was hoping for a twist that would counteract my suspicions but no such luck. Overall, Hostile Ground wasn’t a bad read, and it wasn’t a super great read; I just didn’t appreciate the predictability factor since I enjoyed the setup at the beginning of the book. Nonetheless, this was an entertaining 3.5-star read. I’ll definitely be reading more stories co-written by these two authors. They make quite a dynamic duo.