Review of The Swensen Connection

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Cheryl Erickson
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Review of The Swensen Connection

Post by Cheryl Erickson »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Swensen Connection" by Steven E Wilde.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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The Swensen Connection is an international espionage thriller. It is written by Steven E. Wilde. This engaging novel is filled with action, adventure, mystery, and romance. It begins with two CIA agents named Oliver Tanner and Ren “Rainbow” Bloosey. They are searching for new recruits. First, they spot Mary Slade. She is smart, confident, and beautiful. Mary is a political science and criminal justice major. She is trained in martial arts and can handle herself in any situation. Second, they find a young man named Taylor Swenson. He is intelligent, self-assured, and physically fit. Taylor is a nuclear engineering major. He loves to spend time at the shooting range and has become quite skilled with a rifle. Ollie and Rainbow enlist Mary to be a courier that delivers classified documents. Taylor is hired to be a spy and an assassin. A spark develops between Mary and Taylor at a staff meeting. They fall in love and get married. In due course, the couple works together on dangerous missions that span the globe. They take down thieves, murderers, and terrorists. But they get tangled up in a failed mission with a Russian Siloviki. This infamous arms dealer is named Dmitri Pavlovich. He becomes a lifelong enemy of the Swensens. They escape from his evil grasp on several occasions. Eventually, Mary and Taylor start a family and end up having three children named Drew, Mick, and Lynne. Mary retires from the CIA to take care of their children. However, she occasionally gets called in for more missions. Unbeknownst to them, Pavlovich continues to track the movements of each member of the Swensen family. Will the children ever be safe? Does Pavlovich’s murderous plot succeed? Or do the Swensens finally put a stop to his nefarious plans?

I enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. I was lured into the story with Wilde’s descriptive writing, and I felt like I was an agent for the CIA. They went on many intense adventures, and I vicariously experienced Mary and Taylor’s exciting missions. Taylor went to London, England to prevent terrorist cell recruiting. Mary flew to Sydney, Australia to deliver secret documents, and Taylor went to Perth to stop gangs from terrorizing minority-owned businesses. Together, they traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to stop a famous entertainer from laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel through his club. In addition, they journeyed to Venezuela to retrieve stolen diamonds. In Rome, the duo brought down a mafia family. Pavlovich was the target at a global conference on agriculture in Budapest, Hungary. Another aspect of the book that I liked was Grandpa Ralph’s devotion to the Swensen family. He sold his own house and moved in to help take care of his grandchildren. He took Drew fishing and shooting. Mick was interested in photography. So Grandpa Ralph bought him a camera and a photography book for beginners. Lynne was quite difficult to manage, but he did the best he could with her.

In my opinion, the only negative facet of the book was the relationship between Mick and Lynne. It was inappropriate, and it made me feel very uncomfortable. I was unpleasantly surprised at the dialogue between the two siblings. At times, Lynne’s comments and behavior were quite shocking. Mick also had some infelicitous responses.

Other than that, I wanted to give this book a perfect score. I looked forward to reading it each day. However, it contains more than ten spelling errors. Another round of editing would be beneficial. As a result, I give The Swensen Connection a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.

I recommend this book to mature teens and adults. It contains violence, murder, and terrorist activities. It also includes sexual content. This book will surely be a page-turner for ardent fans of action, adventure, mystery, and romance. It is a captivating spy novel that will keep readers engrossed until the last page. I didn’t want the story to end. I was thrilled to discover that there is a sequel on the way!

******
The Swensen Connection
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Dauria04
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Post by Dauria04 »

I love books that have adventures in them. Great review!
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Amy Luman
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Post by Amy Luman »

I got this book from KU and gave it back almost immediately because it did not capture my attention. I guess I did’t give it a good enough chance, your review makes me want to pick it up again. Thanks for letting me know about the sexual content, though.
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Post by julesbritton »

This book sounds interesting to me. I appreciate law enforcement and the people brave enough to go into dangerous situations to try to keep our country and world safer. I would like to read of their missions and adventures around the world including the details about different countries.
In addition, I would respect that both CIA agents are intelligent so it would be interesting to read about their thoughts as they do the various parts of their important and dangerous assignments.
I also am interested in psychology, romance, and the dynamics within families.
So from this review, it sounds like it would be a good book to read. I think it would draw me in and keep my attention.
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Post by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda »

Mixing romance with mystery/intrigue is a killer combo. And I guess it must happen that agents get married, though I don't know if it's the smartest idea to bring kids into the world when both parents have such dangerous jobs. And I guess you were hinting at incest, which is completely disgusting. But it must be interesting to be privy to agents' lives. Great review!
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Post by Darin Erickson »

I really like this book review. I have always been interested in special agents in the CIA and their top secret jobs. It's awesome how they travel around the world, undetected, to complete dangerous, high-level missions. Reading this review made me feel like I was seeing an exciting preview in a movie theater and I got all fired up. Based on this terrific review, I would read this book.
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Post by RobinMia28 »

This sounds like a story right up my alley! I’m particularly interested in traveling the world via the Swensens’ adventures. Thank you for your great review.
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Post by Natalie Sheph »

It seems like an ideal thriller, with mystery, adventure and crime. Thanks for your well-written and honest review.
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Post by Chimereucheya Okoroafo »

I guess trying to figure out what the Swensen connection is wouldn't work without the book. Anyway, the character are exciting with their different attributes. I do wonder why they are looking for recruits. Could there be a special mission? I have to find out. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Post by Ohna Martin »

Great review. I would love to read this story I am swamped right now still have two of my own reviews I need to submit. Maybe after that ill bounce around the world with the Swensens.
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Post by Leonie Vermaak »

Great job on an excellent review. After reading this I'm adding this novel to my 'want to read' list for sure. With action, adventure and romance combined it falls smack in the middle of my genre preference 😉
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Post by Stephanie Runyon »

The mention of the inappropriate relationship between siblings is shocking. The details that allowed you to live vicariously through the book are appealing though. Nice job on the review.
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Post by NetMassimo »

The incest part seems like a weird choice by the author. Otherwise, the impression is of an engaging story that gives you an immersion into the spies' world. Thank you for your great review!
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