Never Miss by Melissa Koslin Review

 Happy Monday Friends :)

I hope all my fellow Canadians are enjoying their long weekend. It's been very cold and rainy all weekend where I live, and in fact, on Thursday and Friday we actually received a large winter storm

So, most of my weekend was spent indoors cleaning my house, catching up on book reviews, and curling up with some pretty great greads.

Over the weekend, I finished a newly released Christian suspense novel by a new to me author, and today I'm excited to share with you all what I ended up thinking about it.

Never Miss by Melissa Koslin:

Source: Complimentary Copy Provided by the Publisher as Part of the Revell Reads Blogger Program

Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: May 4th, 2021

Genre: Christian Fiction/Christian Suspense

Synopsis:

Former CIA sniper Kadance Tolle possesses a special set of skills and a rare pedigree. She comes from a family of assassins, and by saving Lyndon Vaile's life she risks being found by them. Despite the danger, Kadance feels compelled to help Lyndon discover who is after him--and his research that seems to prove that the Ebola virus was manmade and is about to be weaponized.

With shadowy figures pursuing them and a Mastermind watching their every move, Kadance and Lyndon must scramble to stop an impending bioattack at the State of the Union address. But their warnings fall on deaf ears, and it becomes increasingly clear that there's no one they can trust--except perhaps each other.

Strap in for a breakneck story that will have you up all night, hurtling toward the last page as the clock ticks and time runs out. 

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Never Miss is a nail biting, drag you into the action type of suspense novel that honestly kind of terrified me. Considering the days we're living in of the COVID 19 virus, it's that much scarier to read a book that revolves around a deadly virus being man made, and being potentially used as a weapon. I think this well written suspense mystery speaks of the talent of debut author Melissa Koslin, and I think she'll have great things to offer her readers in the future. That being said, this wasn't exactly the suspense book I was hoping for, and isn't one of the better ones I've read recently.

The mystery is honestly fantastic, and I thought the pacing worked well within this. It wasn't so action packed that I felt I couldn't keep up, but it also had enough action spread throughout the chapters that I never grew bored with the plot. The way everything comes together kept me surprised, which I always love when that happens, and isn't something I always see that well put together in a debut novel.

That being said, I honestly think this novel would have probably been a better fit for the secular market than the Christian one. There is a faith element included in Lyndon's character, but it seemed to more be added just to check a box then to have an actual purpose. Considering how much he claims his faith means to him, he didn't really act accordingly, and the reader never really sees Kadance come to care about God in a way that's truly meaningful.

I was also quite surprised and not pleasantly with a lot of the sexual undertones included throughout this one. We hear way more than necessary about Lyndon's attractions to Kadance, and it kind of started to feel like their entire relationship was based on physical attraction and nothing else. 

Lastly, I have to be honest and say that I really couldn't stand the character of Kadance, and she never grew on me. I didn't love Lyndon either, but Kadance was especially sadisitic, and I couldn't find myself sympathizing with any of the decisions she chose to make. 

In all honesty, my favorite character of the entire story was Mac, Kadance's cat. I truly adored him and wanted to keep reading just to learn more about his adorable self.

All in all, this was a pretty decent debut novel that definitely had points I enjoyed, but I don't think it will be a reread for me, and it wouldn't be one I'd highly recommend. I do, however, look forward to reading more books from this author in the future as I really did enjoy the way she writes her mysteries.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much to Revell for allowing me to read and review this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher (Revell) as part of the Revell Reads Blogger Program. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much for reading guys! I pray you all have a great rest of your day :)