Review: Hell on Wheels

Hell on Wheels by Julie Ann Walker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A clandestine government agency using a motorcycle club as a cover? Of course, I’m going to be all over that. Thus, I was eager to dive into Hell on Wheels, the first book in Julie Ann Walker’s Black Knights Inc. series, to see if it was as good as promised.

If I’m being brutally honest, I was feeling generous with my rating for this one and rounded up when I could have just as easily rounded down. There was potential with this one, it seemed like the kind of story I would enjoy, yet it didn’t do it for me.

I think my biggest issue is that I did not care for the main characters – neither as individuals or as a couple. In fact, when it came to the characters as a couple I cared more about the side romance that was going on than I cared about the main romance. It’s disappointing when the build-up for the next book is more gripping than the current book. Unfortunately, such was the case here. I simply did not feel anything for the couple in this one, I did not feel the connect between them that I should have.

This would have been fine, except the story never quite reached the high it could have. It was interesting, sure, but the action seemed to be just out of reach. With the mystery within this story it felt as though the book was aiming for romantic suspense, yet the suspense element was never built in the way it could have been.

The main thing to keep me from enjoying the story, however, was the voices of the characters. Everyone had the same annoying internal voice. There were so many stupid lines, so many thoughts that made me shake my head. Could they not have let out the occasional profanity instead of forcing me to read ridiculous alternatives? Sometimes such a thing can be okay, if it’s just one character, but it was everyone here.

Although I am interested in seeing how the side romance plays out, I doubt I’ll be reading the next book. I borrowed Hell on Wheels from the library and they do not have book two. Although there is intrigue in how things play out for the other characters, it isn’t quite enough to convince me to purchase the book.

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