it's ok ( )

Another great book with lots of twists and turns. ( )

The Ultimatum is the first book in The Guardian series which promises to be a good one. Bianca is a thief who works with her father to pull off very elaborate cons and steal valuable items. Near the beginning of the book, Bianca's father is killed in the middle of a job, so Bianca opens a security business in Savannah, Georgia and tries to live a somewhat normal life. It isn't long though, before her past comes back to haunt her. Bianca has left open several avenues of communication in the faint hope that her father is still alive. One of them has been breached by someone offering him a job. Bianca pulls the job in hopes of finding her father, but in the process, finds out more about herself and her father than she had planned. She also has several encounters with an attractive but mysterious stranger that keeps popping up in her business and making it tough for her to forget about him.
By the end of the book, I enjoyed the story very much and am looking forward to the next installment of the series. My only complaint was that so much time was spent at the beginning of the book detailing the job in which Bianca's father died, that very little time was left for what turned out to be the meat of the story. As a result, a lot of the details and character development were left unexplored. I'm hoping for more in the next book in the series. Overall, a very good beginning to what could be a very intriguing series. ( )

Bianca is skilled, creative, and has a moral code. Her ability to plan heightens suspense because situations change quickly in dangerous ways. Will she see every variable and make the right decisions? Her cool spy score is further enhanced by glamorous locales, cool gadgets, and ‘mission impossible’ type situations. On her side are likable characters I would enjoy seeing again. My favorite character was Doc. He’s a hacker, not a spy, but he bravely insists on helping Bianca. They create a sibling-like dynamic. (Doc reminds me of Benji from the Mission Impossible movies.) Another character with potential is ‘Mickey’- a handsome operator Bianca spars with in several intense incidents. I also liked characters from Bianca's security company in Savannah, GA. Opposing Bianca are sinister villains I wouldn’t want to face. Ultimatum offers a super spy heroine, spy fun, and suspense.

Ultimatum has some similarities to Mission Impossible. Ultimatum also reminds me of Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz. Both books feature protagonists trained from a young age to be spies. Both are forced to face their pasts and deadly enemies who would kill/control them. ( )

Very enjoyable with several twists (tho not much romance) and super suspenseful cliffhanger ending. Bianca is a thief whose father is killed in their heist but no one believes he is dead. ( )