Loved this book...very strong female character...James Bond style

Despite my interest in the lead character, I was already on the fence about this series because it often seems like Charlie reacts to the plot rather than driving it. The first half of First Drop has this same issue, but a much bigger problem is that it jettisons all the other series characters in favor of sending Charlie on a bodyguard road trip involving a group of badly written teens.

I like YA fiction just fine; I don't particularly want it blended up with my adult crime thrillers though. Putting Charlie in charge of one kid might lead to an interesting exploration of her character, but having her go out of her way to join up with a handful of others (especially after she explicitly rejects an offer of help from a well-qualified adult) kind of broke this novel for me.

Unfortunately I won't be finishing it. I was kind of looking forward to seeing if Charlie and Sean were able to figure their shit out, so now I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to try skipping ahead to a later book where they actually spend some time together.

Charlie has now become one of my favourite heroines, she has lost much of indecisiveness and even though she still feels guilty about some of her actions it is no longer debilitating. However, she did make far too many mistakes in this book.

The main problem with this book is the storyline and Trey. I accept that Trey is not meant to be likeable but for most of the book he is so obnoxious it’s painful reading any passage he is part of, I don’t care that he is young or a victim, I just didn’t want to read about him. I read for enjoyment not as a punishment.

As far as the story is concerned apart from the beginning and the end most of it was a bit tedious and there were just so many problems. When they started to run how do they keep finding them? Why did they visit Henry for the second time? Why didn’t they run as soon as they found the body? How could a trained Special Forces operative stand with her back to the door? This is a very frustrating book to read.

Thanks Doreen for giving me this book. I really liked it and had a hard time putting it down. I could see this being made into a great action movie. I want to read the next one with these characters.

Read my thoughts at: Thoughts of Joy...

I read the first two Charlie Fox books (Killer Instinct and Riot Act) last year. They were acceptable stories, but not something I'd push into someone else's hands. Good enough to (eventually) get me to read the third book (Hard Knocks) last week, and it was better than the first two, enough so for me to start this fourth book (First Drop) right away. IT was a big step up and an excellent read. Not 5 stars for me, but very close. The story pushes right along (the earlier ones seemed to 'plod' at times, to me), and the character development seemed to be more gripping. You could start with this one and not miss much, but you will miss some of the back story and the slow building of Charlie's career path if you don't read the first three first. I'll definitely be reading more Charlie Fox in the (very near) future!

[Charlie Fox is an ex-British "special forces" who got kicked out, due to a frame-up, and who (over the course of the first four books) has drifted into "close up" bodyguard work. "First Drop" finds Charlie in the U.S. for the first time, watching over a teenaged boy who doesn't appreciate it but certainly needs it. Someone seems to want the boy dead, but who? And why? And can they survive?]

Great read! A story about Charlie Fox, a messed up character who was a trained military personnel, a capable and great marksman, resourceful, working as a body guard. She doesn't hesitate to kill those how come after her and is capable of it yet she tries to rationaliz about taking life?!

Held my interest. Protagonist very interesting,

Charlotte/Charlie Fox, a 26 year old, ex-military Sharpshooter...on her first job as a personal bodyguard. Her charge is one Trey Penzler, a typical sullen teenager with more "attitude" than sense. His father, Keith, is a computer programmer "whiz kid" who developed a program that, supposedly,predicts stock market trends, which makes it a "golden goose" for every living greedy soul. Reason enough to kill?? I would think.

This is the Fourth entry in the Charlie Fox series, and the first set in the USA...this time in Florida....Daytona Beach...during Spring Break...with all of the expected focus on Youth Culture, clothes, attitude, and slang. Never mind the Spring Nationals-the World's Most Famous Sound Off...the Olympics of Car Audio competition. Much noise...."sound and fury", while Charlie and her charge are running for their lives from every law enforcement agency in Florida. Much gunplay and a high body count give Charlie some qualms...

About halfway through, this book turned YA....when the clothes, attitude, and slang took over..and became a distraction, and i began to question the "logic" of the story.

Why would an ex-military sharpshooter/bodyguard.....with serious villains on her tail...surround herself with a bunch of "yo" teenagers, dye her hair pink, adopt an "affected" American voice...and expect to stay under cover? Seems to me that would be a sure way to get dead..

Aside from that quibble, I liked the story...at least its potential. I like Charlie Fox, no shrinking violet. She's a killer with a heart, and beats herself up about her past, like most of us

If you want to meet Charlie Fox, like i did...check out Ms Sharp's entry in the anthologyA Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir...I want to read the first three books in this series...and own the next two, after this one.....First Drop might have something to do with roller coasters....but this book was a bit short on thrills

I give it 4 Stars for story line.....2 Stars for distraction.....levels out to

3 Stars

This one was a really page turner. I had trouble tearing myself away from it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book and fear for the worst. It was action packed and showed Charlie Fox at her best.

Another nice Charlie Fox entry; her first job working with Sean and in the US. The plotline, that of being personal bodyguard to a teenage boy didn't sound like it would be too terribly interesting; but of course there were deeper forces and intrigues at play.

I had to break from the book for awhile when I had some software issues with my laptop (the creator update is the devil); and had to struggle along a bit after being away from the story for a few days. After I picked the pieces up and got back into the book, it quickly regained my interest. Good story.

I realized once I started that this isn't actually the first book in the series (I think it's the fourth), but decided to give it a try anyway. I'm glad I didn't waste time waiting for another ILL - and I won't pursue the others in the series.

The plot was okay, but I found the writing beyond clunky, even accounting for the sometimes unfamiliar British terms. There were so many minor characters that I had no hope of keeping them straight, the dialogue was stilted at best, and not a single teen character (and there were a bunch) EVER got sarcasm or irony in conversation. Give me a break - teens are the most highly-attuned-to-irony creatures in nature!

By the end, I hardly cared what happened - I just wanted to be free of this book.