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Formula: Another HELL Ranger Thriller
In Gina Fava's new international crime thriller, Formula, the highly-anticipated sequel in her HELL Ranger series, Formula One champion and covert agent Devlin Lucchesi and his HELL Ranger crew return to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix to win big, and a rival racer is fatally poisoned at the finish line. Devlin and the HELL Rangers suspect tainted grappa. They investigate Aurora Vineyard, set atop a hotly contested aquifer in the Italian Dolomites.
Threatened by extreme water rights activists and cut-throat industry competitors, CEO Erika Aurora, dubbed “the Bloodsucker” by the industry, hires Devlin and his crew to hunt down her company’s usurper. The cases intertwine. Devlin deduces that the Aurora siblings may be tangled in a bloody power grab. Things heat up fast when the killer begins targeting the estate’s sibling owners one-by-one.
Soon it becomes clear that a thirst for control and revenge is quenched only with a poison formula derived from the vineyard’s secret family recipe. The stakes soar when the formula’s lethal reach extends to the thousands gathered at a Palio horse race in Siena, including Devlin’s son, and to the world leaders of a global water summit in Verona. Devlin must risk everything to hunt down the killer and halt a poisonous calamity that threatens worldwide ramifications.
Threatened by extreme water rights activists and cut-throat industry competitors, CEO Erika Aurora, dubbed “the Bloodsucker” by the industry, hires Devlin and his crew to hunt down her company’s usurper. The cases intertwine. Devlin deduces that the Aurora siblings may be tangled in a bloody power grab. Things heat up fast when the killer begins targeting the estate’s sibling owners one-by-one.
Soon it becomes clear that a thirst for control and revenge is quenched only with a poison formula derived from the vineyard’s secret family recipe. The stakes soar when the formula’s lethal reach extends to the thousands gathered at a Palio horse race in Siena, including Devlin’s son, and to the world leaders of a global water summit in Verona. Devlin must risk everything to hunt down the killer and halt a poisonous calamity that threatens worldwide ramifications.
ebook
Published November 15, 2018
3 people want to read
About the author
Gina Fava
7 books17 followersGINA FAVA, author of the acclaimed international suspense thrillers THE RACE (the first in her HELL Ranger series) and THE SCULPTOR (voted Best Mystery/Suspense Ebook by Indie Book Awards,) thrives on a solid adrenaline rush. Her thrills kick into high gear with her latest mystery, FORMULA: Another HELL Ranger Thriller. Her foray into relaxing non-fiction is UN MOMENTO: A TASTE OF ITALIAN-AMERICAN PASTIMES, a collection of family recipes and personal essays on tradition, family, food, wine, travel, and art, which is a perfect companion when strolling down cobblestone streets.
Even after enduring armed car chases and bomb scares while living in Rome years ago, she continues to travel back to Italy to hunt down hard-core grappa. She lives for white-knuckle roller coaster rides, climbing Mt. Washington, white-water rafting, reading thriller novels, and rooting for the Buffalo Sabres every year since their inception. A native Buffalonian, she resides in New England with her family and their two dogs, Lupo and Siena.
Visit Gina and learn more at www.GinaFava.com. Connect with Gina on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and at www.GinaFava.com/contact.
Even after enduring armed car chases and bomb scares while living in Rome years ago, she continues to travel back to Italy to hunt down hard-core grappa. She lives for white-knuckle roller coaster rides, climbing Mt. Washington, white-water rafting, reading thriller novels, and rooting for the Buffalo Sabres every year since their inception. A native Buffalonian, she resides in New England with her family and their two dogs, Lupo and Siena.
Visit Gina and learn more at www.GinaFava.com. Connect with Gina on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and at www.GinaFava.com/contact.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 5, 2019
Formula starts off at such a fast pace that I really wondered how it would be possible to sustain the momentum throughout the whole novel. I quickly found out…
There’s a dead race car driver in the beginning and then bodies just keep dropping. And not just insignificant side characters, but main characters are constantly in danger – they’re being shot at, poisoned, blown up – you’re constantly in a state of panic, wondering “who’s next?”
So the pace of the novel isn’t going to let you down if you’re looking for fast-paced suspense.
I also really enjoyed “the suspects.” The sibling owners of the Aurora Vineyard were interesting and fun to read about, as were the rest of the supporting characters and the vineyards competitors.
Unfortunately, it let me down in some other areas. Some of my mystery/thriller pet peeves are, admittedly, a little petty. But they are mine to own and I came across a few of them in Formula.
I had a hard time keeping up with all the different members of the H.E.L.L. Rangers crew. The main character, Devlin, was easy. He’s the leader of the Rangers, his best friend is Lupo, his “father” is Scotti, his son is Marcello. Outside of that, I had to keep going back to figure out “who’s who” in their crew.
Since Formula is the second book in the H.E.L.L. Rangers series, I’m pretty sure my confusion came from not reading the first book first. While Formula was a good read on its own, it’s obvious it’s the follow up to another story and I often felt like I was missing something from not having the knowledge of the first book. Because of that, it was hard to stay focused sometimes.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but at times, there was SO much happening, that it seemed too far-fetched. The Aurora Vineyard is plagued with a lot of vandalism and protests so the owners are obviously used to such intrusions. But it seemed odd that police aren’t called in when people are shot at? I mean, it was just too convenient that everyone was okay with not involving the local authorities. (That’s probably just a pet peeve of mine, though.)
On a side note that has very little to do with the book… The phrase “particular set of skills” was used multiple times, and every single time I read it, I pictured Liam Neeson in Taken. (It’s an awesome movie. If you haven’t seen it, you should!) So basically the main character, Devlin, became Liam Neeson in my head, and no amount of description to contradict that image could undo it.
There is a “romance” that is supposed to be developing between Devlin and one of the Aurora owners, Erika. The whole thing felt forced and I had a hard time understanding it even being a thing at all.
A huge pet peeve of mine is when I figure out the “mystery” in a mystery/thriller novel way before it’s revealed in the story. This happened to me in Formula and, although I was really enjoying the novel up until the point the “whodunit” was revealed, it was a real let down for me.
Basically, I thought Formula was an okay read, but it’s not something I’ll be re-reading. I’d recommend it for fans of cozy-ish mysteries with a touch of procedural flare (and Liam Neeson).
I received this book for free from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
There’s a dead race car driver in the beginning and then bodies just keep dropping. And not just insignificant side characters, but main characters are constantly in danger – they’re being shot at, poisoned, blown up – you’re constantly in a state of panic, wondering “who’s next?”
So the pace of the novel isn’t going to let you down if you’re looking for fast-paced suspense.
I also really enjoyed “the suspects.” The sibling owners of the Aurora Vineyard were interesting and fun to read about, as were the rest of the supporting characters and the vineyards competitors.
Unfortunately, it let me down in some other areas. Some of my mystery/thriller pet peeves are, admittedly, a little petty. But they are mine to own and I came across a few of them in Formula.
I had a hard time keeping up with all the different members of the H.E.L.L. Rangers crew. The main character, Devlin, was easy. He’s the leader of the Rangers, his best friend is Lupo, his “father” is Scotti, his son is Marcello. Outside of that, I had to keep going back to figure out “who’s who” in their crew.
Since Formula is the second book in the H.E.L.L. Rangers series, I’m pretty sure my confusion came from not reading the first book first. While Formula was a good read on its own, it’s obvious it’s the follow up to another story and I often felt like I was missing something from not having the knowledge of the first book. Because of that, it was hard to stay focused sometimes.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but at times, there was SO much happening, that it seemed too far-fetched. The Aurora Vineyard is plagued with a lot of vandalism and protests so the owners are obviously used to such intrusions. But it seemed odd that police aren’t called in when people are shot at? I mean, it was just too convenient that everyone was okay with not involving the local authorities. (That’s probably just a pet peeve of mine, though.)
On a side note that has very little to do with the book… The phrase “particular set of skills” was used multiple times, and every single time I read it, I pictured Liam Neeson in Taken. (It’s an awesome movie. If you haven’t seen it, you should!) So basically the main character, Devlin, became Liam Neeson in my head, and no amount of description to contradict that image could undo it.
There is a “romance” that is supposed to be developing between Devlin and one of the Aurora owners, Erika. The whole thing felt forced and I had a hard time understanding it even being a thing at all.
A huge pet peeve of mine is when I figure out the “mystery” in a mystery/thriller novel way before it’s revealed in the story. This happened to me in Formula and, although I was really enjoying the novel up until the point the “whodunit” was revealed, it was a real let down for me.
Basically, I thought Formula was an okay read, but it’s not something I’ll be re-reading. I’d recommend it for fans of cozy-ish mysteries with a touch of procedural flare (and Liam Neeson).
I received this book for free from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
October 22, 2018
Devlin "Lucky" Lucchesi is a championship race car driver and has arrived in Monte Carlo for another race, and he hopes another win. Instead Lucky becomes involved in helping solve the murder of a fellow driver from what appears to be a tainted bottle of grappa. Not only does he not want to see something happen to another driver, even if this driver is obnoxious, he feels his duty as a HELL ranger calling to him. He is soon hired by Erika Aurora, owner of the winery that produced the tainted grappa. Erika has a bad feeling someone close to her is trying to usurp her control, possibly one of her siblings, and wants Lucky for the job. Erika's siblings are prime suspects, as her younger sister Runa is a genius chemist and feels she has been overlooked for too long while her brother Leif is against the winery wasting clean water. Erika will stop at nothing to protect her business, but could that include murder?
This is the second book in the HELL Ranger series. I did not read the first, and I don't think this hindered me much. There were only a couple times I felt as though I missed a connection from not reading it. Right from the start this book was ready to take readers on a exciting journey, and I like that the murder that moved the plot happened pretty early in the book. There wasn't a lot of character introductions until after the murder, which didn't bother me. Devlin and Erika's fling felt a little forced, especially considering how it ended but it wasn't a major plot point. Towards the end I felt the book was being dragged out, and I was ready for things to be wrapped up. The twist was good, though a little predictable. I enjoyed seeing Devlin's softer side with his feelings about his deceased wife, and the moments with his son they really helped make me a grounded character. I gave this book four out of five stars.
This is the second book in the HELL Ranger series. I did not read the first, and I don't think this hindered me much. There were only a couple times I felt as though I missed a connection from not reading it. Right from the start this book was ready to take readers on a exciting journey, and I like that the murder that moved the plot happened pretty early in the book. There wasn't a lot of character introductions until after the murder, which didn't bother me. Devlin and Erika's fling felt a little forced, especially considering how it ended but it wasn't a major plot point. Towards the end I felt the book was being dragged out, and I was ready for things to be wrapped up. The twist was good, though a little predictable. I enjoyed seeing Devlin's softer side with his feelings about his deceased wife, and the moments with his son they really helped make me a grounded character. I gave this book four out of five stars.
May 23, 2019
This story is awesome. It is crazy, with all the trouble going on. People getting crazy with what happens with the water. Very exciting, dangerous, hard to put the book down it is so exhilarating. It will keep you on the edge of your set. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews