REVIEW: Job Hunt - Power of Zero Series Book 1 - Jackie Keswick

Title: Job Hunt
Series: Power of Zero Book 1
Author: Jackie Keswick
Genre: Mystery, Gay Romance
Publisher: Independent
Release Date: Jan 15, 2020
Format: Kindle
Pages: 308
Source: Amazon

A well-armoured lone wolf.
Vigilante hacker Jack Horwood doesn't hunt pimps because he enjoys it.
He expects neither praise, support, or even payment.
Jack fights and lives alone, but when he meets his former CO, his carefully constructed life goes off the rails.

A fierce protector.
Gareth Flynn looks after people, whether they're the men in his army unit, the members of the corporate security department at Nancarrow Mining, or an overcaffeinated, underfed Jack Horwood.
Gareth has waited seven years for a chance to look after Jack again.
Even if that job should come with a hazard warning.

A life-changing decision.
Working together brings back memories. A snap decision changes the game.
And neither Jack nor Gareth can walk away from what they've just discovered: explosive chemistry, a tentative trust, a chance at a home and a family.
A second chance is a boon. Can they make it work, or will Jack's secrets and Gareth's need to protect destroy the family they're building?

Job Hunt is the start of an m/m action adventure suspense romance series of survival, love, revenge, and second chances.

Review by: Jay Mountney

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

The series starts when Jack is a child, abused by his family, on the streets, terrified but strong. He is rescued by Rio who teaches him computing and introduces him to the world of crime fighting via computer. This enables him to get very satisfying revenge on the man who ‘bought’ him.

Jack is a fascinating character and engages the reader from the first page. Later, after a short stint in the army, he re-meets Gareth, previously his superior officer, and their love affair starts. Together they fight paedophile rings, traffickers and similar criminals, sometimes with the aid of officers in the Met, sometimes with help from Nancarrow Mining where they work for their ‘day jobs’, and sometimes both.

The reader can expect some nail-biting moments when one or other of the main characters is in danger as a result of their investigations. There are currently five main books in the series, which reaches a point at which Jack and Gareth have a house and two adopted boys who are also ‘rescues’ just as Jack was.

Throughout the series the characters develop well as does their love, and so do the minor characters including their colleagues and the boys, Nico and Dan. The series doesn’t really finish because there are spin-offs, including the Dwight and Conrad Casebook Volume One (which suggests more to come) and a variety of other ficlets and recipe collections (Gareth is a keen cook).

Some of these are available on the the author’s website or via her newsletter. I love the world building (including the house), the detailed characterisation and the commitment of everybody to tackle child abuse, I love the wisdom that permeates the bringing up of Dan and Nico and I love the way we follow Jack and Gareth through such a long period.

It is truly satisfying to be so immersed in such interesting lives over time. I hope to read about further adventures and although Jackie has begun other series I am sure we will hear more about Jack and Gareth in future.