Book Review: Once Upon a Dime

“It’s all coming to a head… or tails.

Emily Abbott is accidentally in danger. Targeted by the 10,000, a mysterious group of rogue spies, she’s been relocated to a safe-house, placed under the protection of an ICS agent, and given a new, temporary job in a political campaign’s call-center.

But when Brent calls her in a panic to say a bomb threat has been made against the campaign, she can’t help but become involved. As the threats ramp up, stolen RFID tech disguised as a pair of dimes shows up in Phoenix.

Is it a coincidence? Emily doesn’t think so.

What are the 10,000 planning? Only time will tell, and once the dimes are used, time is something Emily and Brent don’t have.” (from Goodreads)

Guys, I think I’m in love. O.o. This book did all the things season finales are supposed to do and also blew me away with the complexity, danger, and cuteness.

I really enjoyed some of the Easter eggs to previous books, and the character cameos were the best. Emily’s quick thinking and out-of-the-box ideas really shone in this one, and it was fun to see another ICS agent thrown into her and Brent’s dynamic. It was go-go-go throughout the book, and because of that, Brent only had time to give Emily one codename. Honestly, I really like this one, and half-hope she gets to keep it. 😉 They had a lot of sleuthing to do in this one since they weren’t sure for a while what they were up against. 

But the DANGER, GUYS. Remember when Brent’s van blew up in the first book? O.o. 

This case was especially interesting since they had to keep a low profile (a.k.a. hide from bad guys, bosses, best friends, and law enforcement) and not freak out any civilians while trying to solve this thing. Brent had some better disguises in this one, for sure. XD 

Just a note, there was some peril.

Best quotes: “Hey, don’t hate on my kidnapping skills,” he said, cutting his eyes at her. She snorted. “You do realize like 90 percent of the conversations you and I have would sound so wrong in any other context, right?”

“Do you need a minute to rant about politics?” he asked. “Nope.” Emily checked her watch. “I actually have to get back to my desk.” “Oh, okay. Just wanted to give you the opportunity.” “I’ll take a rain check. You never know when it might come in handy to have someone ready to listen to a political rant.”

“Ah, yes, the security camera looper-thing,” Emily said. “Please tell me that’s the technical name for it.” “No, but it ought to be, if you ask me. It would make radio traffic during ops so much more amusing.”

Altogether, this was a fantastic season finale, and I need more. 😉 

Series stats so far…
Codenames: twelve and a half + one friend-assigned nickname
Car crashes: still two, though some tires were abused
Awesomeness level: 106%

A list of (tongue-in-cheek) demands for next season…
I need titles and release dates for the entire next season, please and thank-you.
I’m gonna need an Emily and Izzy sleepover scene complete with spy movies. 
More Zero.
More Detective Frank. 
Ship, ship, shippity, ship.