REVIEW: Running The Risk by Lea Griffith

Running The Risk by Lea Griffith is a fast paced, action packed story featuring the Endgame team. A year earlier Jude believed Ella, the love of his life, was killed on a mission gone wrong. When he discovers she’s alive and working for the man they were trying to bring down, he believes her to be a traitor and he wants the truth. Ella had been tortured repeatedly, but she was determined to finish the mission she was sent on by the leader of Endgame. Only Jude won’t let her out of his sight, but he no longer trusts her, either. The pair, along with the rest of the Endgame team, have to come together and put an end to a terrorist before it’s too late.

Not having read the first book in the series, I did feel like I was missing a little bit of the background about the team in general. While it’s not absolutely necessary, I would recommend reading the previous book first.

There’s a lot going on in this book, and it’s hard to tell who knows what, why Ella and some of the other characters were assigned missions that none of the other team members knew about, and how some of the people were interconnected. I’ll admit I was confused as to why the Piper, the head of Endgame, would leave Ella in a dangerous situation without any backup while allowing the rest of the team to believe she was a traitor. It would have been more beneficial if they had all been working together.

Ella was keeping information from Jude, while Jude was keeping information from Ella. Once again, it would have benefitted everyone if they just shared what they knew with the whole team.

Another point I wasn’t too sure on was an operative named Brody. He had been tortured right along with Ella. It wasn’t clear how he had gotten away from Dresden’s estate. And he had known Ella was alive so I don’t know why he wouldn’t have let the rest of the team know or why he didn’t try to organize a rescue attempt. Then there’s a section where it’s mentioned that Jude wanted to talk to Brody and thank him for being there for her and supporting her during their torture sessions, but readers never get to see that actual conversation take place. It would have been nice to see how Jude handled it, considering he seemed to be jealous of the close friendship Ella and Brody had formed.

Overall, the book left me with more questions than answers. The ending is left on a cliffhanger, setting up the next couple in the series. I’m not big on cliffhangers, but it did leave me wondering what’s going to happen with the next couple, and how the Endgame team is going to handle it.

I would recommend this for readers of romantic suspense, although it felt like there was more suspense then there was romance. I thought the suspense was well-written. The book was just convoluted at times, and it was difficult at times to keep all the players straight.
 

Book Info:

Publication: April 3, 2018 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | Endgame Ops #2

Jude Dagan’s life as he knew it ended a year ago. On a mission gone wrong, he was forced to watch as Ella Banning, the only woman he’s ever loved, was killed. Or so he thought.

Jude wasn’t the only one who lost something on the day Ella was presumed dead. She sacrificed Endgame Ops, the love of her life, and parts of herself she can never get back. Now she’s determined to take down the world’s most dangerous terrorist–even if it means working for him.
When Jude and Ella are reunited, they’ll battle the lies Ella has been forced to tell…and struggle to save a love that knows no bounds.