Haven grew up not knowing her parents, being shipped from safe house to safe house, city to city, country to country. She adapted well and learned the languages and cultures incredibly fast; everything she did, she excelled at. Turns out she's a level 12, where most people are between a 7 and a 9, very few reach a level 10. Her parents are the only level 11's known on the planet, and she has been tested (or whatever they did to determine it) as a 12, which so far has been unheard of. This is why her mother has her in hiding; so the military or terrorists can't get their hands on her and exploit her abilities.
Are ya with me so far?
Fast forward to Haven as an adult. She's met her mother, spent one night under the same roof as her even, before being sent to live in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Her mom bought her a house there. She's married and has twin boys. Her husband hasn't cut the apron strings from his mama yet and this woman is completely overbearing and rude and just not a nice person. Turns out, she's even more evil than you think, but I don't want to give anything away.
Anyway, later in the story, Haven is reunited with both her parents. This is the parts that kept me from giving this more stars. I can suspend belief long enough to buy the whole espionage stuff, but her parents. Oh my god, her parents. And the way Haven just shrugs off her entire lifetime spent without them! There is absolutely no anger towards them at all. When her mother tells her she'll explain later, then sends her away again THE NEXT DAY, she's like oh okay, you know best. Her father shows up and all of a sudden she's daddy's little princess. *eye roll*
Her father's men, he's special ops or something, have this corny salute or hand over their hearts or some such thing to show their support. Really? I don't know, it's all a bit much.
But the action stuff is good. Don't get me wrong, this is a pretty decent story, it's just the whole family dynamic stuff and the characters are somewhat over the top unbelievable at times. This is the first book in a four part series, and I'll probably read the next one to find out what happens next.
3.5 stars out of 5