Transformed: POTUS by Suzanne Falter & Jack Harvey (#trans #thriller)

Transformed: POTUS is the third entry in Suzanne Falter & Jack Harvey's series of quirky romantic thrillers featuring Charley and Electra. Following the events of their Paris outing, the CIA has promoted Charley to the President's Secret Service detail, while they have enrolled Electra in an intensive CIA training camp.

Part of what I love about this series is how flawed the characters are. Charley is one of the most charismatic and engaging transmen I have ever encountered in fiction, but his polyamorous heart continues to challenge his relationship with Electra, and it is becoming increasingly clear that he is not very good at the day-to-day aspect of his job.

As for Electra, she is a complex woman, an ex-wife and an ex-dominatrix. She never expected to fall in love with someone like Charley, and certainly never expected that her refusal to shy away from danger would see her in CIA training. She has her own challenges with intimacy and commitment, but she has the personality and sense of personal responsibility that could, ironically, make her a better CIA agent than Charley.

It would be easy to use this story as a political commentary on the current POTUS, but Falter & Harvey limit themselves to one offhand remark about how his presidency made it possible for a single rich kid with no political experience to buy himself the job. The first half of the story is largely concerned with him using Charley to arrange blind dates, but just when that is starting to become a bit tedious, two critical events take place - he loses the country's nuclear codes, and he becomes enamored of Charley's dominatrix fiancee.

From there, the slow-burning thriller kicks into high gear, mixing action and farce in equal measure. After a bit of a sombre second book, Transformed: POTUS is something of a return to form, a story that stands tall alongside the original San Francisco adventure.

Suzanne Falter is an author, speaker and blogger who over the years has helped more than two million people find their way back to joy. These days she writes fearless stories -- novels about uncommon heroes who overcome the odds, and a memoir about finding her way back to real happiness after the sudden death of her daughter Teal. Her latest fiction series, Transformed, follows a transman spy and a society dominatrix's adventures around the world.  

http://www.suzannefalter.com
@SuzanneFalter

Reviewed by Sally