Release Day Reviews: One Breath, One Bullet and Dominant Predator by S.A. McAuley

Titles: One Breath, One Bullet and Dominant Predator (The Borders War: Books 1 and 2)

Author: S.A. McAuley

Publisher: Pride Publishing

Pages/Word Count: 53k/50k Words

At a Glance: So much action. So much intrigue. So many heart-stopping situations and incredible characters … I can’t get enough of this story.

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurbs: One Breath, One Bullet: Face to face, and rifle to rifle. The time and location change, but never the circumstance. Merq Grayson and Armise Darcan are enemies—and neither will be considered successful until the other is dead.

It is the year 2558. A mere decade has passed since the signing of the treaty which ended the three hundred year long Borders War. In the midst of an uneasy peace, the world gathers for the first Olympic Games since the war began.

The rifle competition showcases the very soldiers who fought in the war, pitting former enemies against one another again. Continental States Peacemaker Merq Grayson will once again battle the Dark Ops officer from the People’s Republic of Singapore Armise Darcan, this time under the flag of their own uneasy truce. The relationship between Merq and Armise is one of violence, secrecy and a growing intimacy that could have them both branded as traitors.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence.

Publisher’s Note: This book has previously been released under the same title. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.

Dominant Predator: A relationship is the least of Merq’s and Armise’s concerns…

With one bullet Merq Grayson set the wealthiest citizens of the world on a collision course with the poorest—those fighting for their freedom. As the Borders War reignites, the Revolution faces heavy losses. They scramble to maintain their advantage, to strike at the Opposition and crumble their power structure before they are able to rally.

But Merq is in the midst of an internal battle that shakes him to the core. For the first time in his life Merq will have to reconcile the inherent tragedy of war and decide just how much vengeance can be justified by spilt blood. How much can he trust the men and women around him? The president, Neveed, his former soldiers, his parents…and Armise.

Merq and Armise find themselves off grid and on the hunt for Committee members. Merq is just as unsettled with Armise at his side as he was with Armise as an enemy, but they will have to learn how to fight together—or they just might die together.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence.

Publisher’s Note: This book has previously been released under the same title. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.

Review: Wowwwwww. This review is impossible to write. How can I possibly get across to you the utter brilliance of the world that S.A. McAuley has built here? Or the amazement and sometimes utter speechlessness I felt while reading? How can I possibly describe the complexity of the characters of Merq and Armise? And, by the end of the series, will I even truly understand what they have gone through in the name of political causes and country, and ultimately, for each other? I guess that last one will have to wait to be answered until I finish the final book – but, let me try to convey some of the passion and emotion rolling through me after reading the first two books of S.A. McAuley’s The Borders War series…

One of the marks of great storytelling is when the reader doesn’t know what’s coming. Throughout both One Breath, One Bullet and Dominant Predator I NEVER knew what was coming. Any understanding you think you have of the world, or politics, or even people, has to be thrown out the window, and you must completely immerse yourself in this new landscape. We begin in the year 2539, where a sixteen-year-old Merq Grayson is already deep into his training to become a Peacemaker (soldier) for the Continental States – one of only five remaining countries in the world. This is FIVE HUNDRED years beyond the world as we know it. There are five countries fighting for territory, and there is even more at stake in the political backdrop of the war – groups fighting for not just geographical boundaries, but for the right to promote and protect their very belief systems. And, at sixteen, Merq is not even the youngest soldier trainee; some begin much younger. In fact, we learn early on that Merq was literally born and groomed for his role in the war.

Told from Merq’s POV, as are all of the books in the series, One Breath, One Bullet is the beginning of the story of how Merq became a pawn in the Borders War, and in the political agenda of Continental States leader, President Wensen Kersch, and his constituents. During an assignment, Merq comes in contact with a black ops soldier from an opposing side; and from the first time he hears the man’s laugh, Merq can’t get him out of his mind. He learns that the other soldier is Armise Darcan, an assassin from Singapore who, as it turns out, is just as affected by Merq as Merq is by him. Through some very effective time jumps, and various flashes of their volatile meetings, McAuley conveys the developing relationship between Armise and Merq, and gets us to the final, explosive twenty percent of the book, where the events leading up to and at the Olympics change EVERYTHING for both men.

Dominant Predator picks up right where the heart-racing action of the first book left us. What happened at the Olympics has restarted the Borders War, and Armise has rocked Merq to the core by exposing some of his true self and feelings, adding to Merq’s confusion and stress over how he feels about his position in the revolution. The methods of fighting have changed, and Merq has been exposed to parts of the world, mainly the living conditions of the general populace, that have altered his perceptions considerably. The action in this book is still incredibly intense, but we also have a lot of time to really dig into both men’s psyches. Merq continues to question the wisdom of his relationship with Armise – he stated in the first book that he “wouldn’t allow someone else to be his fatal flaw,” and that is still a concern in his mind. I loved getting to know Merq even more, but my love for Armise absolutely exploded in this book. His growth as a character was incredible, and I found myself just sinking deeper and deeper into their story.

So much action. So much intrigue. So many heart-stopping situations and incredible characters. Neveed, Simion, Jegs, President Kersch…you’ll be fascinated by them all for different reasons. But, at the core of it all are Merq and Armise. Fighting for the cause, but perhaps even more so, for each other. I can’t describe how amazing they are – and, I can’t get enough of this story. Go grab these first two books while they are free and 99 cents respectively! Because believe me, you are going to want to read the rest of the series.

 

 

 

 

 

You can buy both One Breath, One Bullet and Dominant Predator here: