WOW!! I neeeeed the next book NOW!! I'm willing to pay extra for expedited writing!

I loved the first book...but this? THIS book I LOVED!! So good. So, so damn good. Edge of your seat, can't put your kindle down, forget about your plans addicting!!

I've been trying to figure out how to write a review for this book for over a week. How do you explain a book that sucked you in from the first page? A book that's been on your mind every single day since you read it? I'm not sure, but I'm gonna try.

First and foremost...this CANNOT be read as a standalone. Though the romance here is solely Six and Holden's, the suspense plot is a continuation from Insight, with the conclusion coming in Sightlines in the fall.

So what are you going to get here? Let me tell you...and I'll keep it spoiler-free.

You're going to get Holden, son of one of the founders of The Community, having his whole world rocked. He truly believes in what The Community "says" its purpose is...but little by little, he's realizing that his trust in the Community is a lie and nothing more than an illusion. And watching this realization eat away at Holden was both heartbreaking and liberating.

"...believing in something for so many years only to have it fall apart bit by bit felt like a knife twisting in his gut."

Holden is introduced to Six, a member of the Community sent to keep an eye on him. After the events of Insight, things at Holden's nightclub are under heavy scrutiny. Holden doesn't need a babysitter...but he can't deny he's intrigued by Six, who happens to be an impenetrable (someone who is immune to the affects of all psychic abilities).

Holden isn't accustomed to not being able to use his psychic abilities to get what he wants...and he's unnerved by Six's blunt and abrasive demeanor. Everything that Holden has come to rely on is useless when it comes to Six.

"...You can't affect my mood or my opinion, and you can't seduce me with your little brain tricks."

"So I can seduce you in other ways?"

"You'll never find out if you keep relying on your empath shit, instead of the words and actions the rest of our species have utilized since we first evolved. Put it to you like this: stay out of my head or I'll beat the shit out of you."

As secrets begin to come out about the Community, Holden struggles to accept what's becoming clearer by the day...the Community doesn't care about any of its members & there's a bigger agenda at play.

With things crumbling around him, Holden finds himself drawn more and more to Six. Someone who he's come to trust, someone who he's discovering knows more than he's letting on...and someone who is forcing him to do the one thing he's never done....JUST FEEL.

"Without the invisible antenna of his gift picking up signals from everything around them, every touch was intensified in a way Holden had never experienced. He felt anchored to the world. To Six."

It's clear that Six and Holden have a very special connection, but the way it evolves in this book is intriguing and romantic. Both men get more than they bargained for and discover new parts of themselves in the process. They had their strengths individually, whether physical or mental, but together they discover they are indestructible.


Oversight is the first crack in the foundation of The Community and Santino Hassell has left the reader salivating for the conclusion where you'll witness it all turn to rubble. October can't get here fast enough!

4.5*

I've been a huge fan of this author since I read the amazing and unforgettable ICoS and having loved the previous book Insight I couldn't wait to start this book.

It's safe to say Holden wasn't my favourite character in Insight but I had every confidence that Santino would win me over and he did, although it took awhile.

I struggled early on, I didn't warm to Holden straight away and although I fell instantly in love with Sixtus I wasn't fully onboard until about a third of the way in when I realised I was hooked.

Holders father Richard Payne is distancing himself from the Beck disaster and it's looking like Holden may end up being the scapegoat.
Richard installs Sixtus Rossi at Evolution to watch Holden, Six is an Invulnerable, impervious to psychic abilities but there's history and attraction between these two and it appears it's only a matter of time before something gives.

I absolutely loved Six.

"He doesn’t feel things the way the average person does, and he doesn’t always make decisions based on an understanding of how other people will react.”

The way these two were together was simply beautiful.
Holden makes Six feel for the first time and Six opens up a new world to Holden one where he doesn't rely purely on his gift.

“You rely too much on your psychic shit,” Six said. “Not having those abilities makes me more observant.”

I'm not going to give spoilers I'll just say we learn so much in this book, there's some major reveals and we get a much better picture of the Community and the Farm plus Nate and Trent are back.
Once I'd settled onto this book I absolutely loved it and I can't wait for Sightlines which is all set to be the best one yet.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Riptide Publishing.

We last met empath Holden Payne, manager of Evolution, in Insight. Holden's father is one of the Community's founders and having grown up with the us-against-them verbiage, Holden finds it hard to believe the Community is anything other than an altruistic organization helping those with paranormal skills. Sixtus Rossi has been sent to Evolution by Richard Payne to handle club security. Sixtus is an invulnerable -“He has a natural mental shield that prevents him from being susceptible to psychic abilities" - perfect to safeguard Evolution against mental and physical attacks. Six and Holden last saw each other when they were both teenagers and Six was in front of a Community tribunal. Holden remembers:

"It’d been the first time he’d feared the founders. And when he’d first learned that breaking Community rules could have serious consequences."

Six was sent to The Farm for years for "realignment" and is now Head of Security there. Holden believes Six to be merely another tool of his father's to monitor and control him.

But bit by bit, we learn more about The Farm, about Holden's mother, about the men following and harassing Elijah, about Ex-Comm and the tension builds and builds to an almost unbearable cliffhanger of a conclusion. One character mentions "invisible insects skittering over his skin" and that's what this book feels like. The tension ratchets up and honest to gawd, it's almost excruciating getting the picture of what is actually going on.

“Because this is out of control. I was raised in this Community, Six. These people were my family. Growing up, people talked about the Farm and the people who worked there like they were clergy. They were what other members aspired to be, or at least respected even if that wasn’t what we wanted. And now you’re telling me it’s this fucking—”

Six and Holden's relationship takes second place to the unveiling of The real Community, yet in a way it's fitting. There's a steamy sexual component, and a tentative mental connection that develops where nothing should exist because of the nature of Six's abilities (it's like there's a barrier around his thoughts and feelings) while Holden being empathic feasts on the emotions of others. It's a tantalizing work in progress.

The best part of Oversight is going in cold, so it's a bit of a problem to review this book without telling too much of the plot, but believe me, this book is 5 stars all the way and I highly recommended it!

Link will be added when review posts week of release date.

As the son of one the Community founders, Holden Payne has been raised with wealth, privilege, and freedoms not allowed other Community members. After the events of book one, Insight, all that he thought he knew about his father and the organization he grew up in is shattered and he’s been left adrift not sure what to think or believe. Especially since it looks like his father is trying to pass the blame for everything to him and his club. When he the enigmatic Sixtus Rossi is taken off security duty at the Farm and placed within Holden’s club, Evolution, as a bodyguard, Holden knows the emotionless man’s actual job is to act as a monitor for his father.

Six was one of the youth taken off the streets by the Community and told that he would be offered a safe place. After he breaks into one of their facilities as a teenager he is sent to the Farm for reprogramming and remains there for years. Now his talents as an Invulnerable (meaning he can’t be swayed or manipulated by psy mental talents) make him perfect for his job as head of security at the Farm. Six is a mystery… unable to feel empathy due to his internal mental shield and abilities, he is six feet plus of blunt words and cold eyes. He’s also muscled, man-bunned, bearded and apparently a virgin, which trips Holden’s trigger.

And mine as well, because I totally fell for Sixtus Rossi. I think he’s my favorite Hassell character since Raymond from SUNSET PARK.

Holden is the sole narrator for OVERSIGHT, yet it’s Six who captured my attention. Maybe because I’d already been introduced to Holden in the first book in the series, maybe because as an empath Holden is such a wide open character as far as his emotions, or maybe it’s because I love a mystery and despite the relationship that evolved between these two, I never felt like I really, really got to know Six. I mean I know he and Holden had a connection that sizzled and sparked and nearly set my Kindle on fire once they finally got their hands on each other, and that he turned out to be loyal and not as cold as I’d originally thought (not cold AT ALL ∼bites lip∼), but what was really going on in that head of his? I feel like I need another book narrated from his POV to find out. ;)

As much as I enjoyed the world-building in the first book, in OVERSIGHT it felt much more defined and easy to understand. In my head I kept comparing it to a religious cult.  I mean the “reprogramming”, the trying to get rid of its detractors, the god like status awarded its founders and so on and so forth. Hey, I’ve been on a documentary watching binge lately and this is the first thing that popped into my head when Holden started to find out certain things about his father and the psychic community he grew up in. I must say this story is darker than its predecessor, but in a good way. With every new revelation about what has really been going on in the Community over the years, I got more and more anxious to find out how Six and Holden would find a way to defeat them. Would they rescue Chase and Elijah? Would Nate and Trent come back to help them? (Yes, they do and I must say I’ve missed these two.) What would their future look like if they managed to escape the bad guys? I was on the edge of my seat throughout the second half and the cliffhanger ending left me with major grabby hands for the final book in the series.

Just a little warning… this is in no way a stand-a-lone, and rather than a HEA there is more of a HFN ending for Six and Holden. Readers are going to just have to wait to see how it all wraps up in the last book of the series, SIGHTLINES, which has a release date of October 9, 2017. Final grade- B

Favorite Quote:

“If we make it out of this, I can’t wait for us to figure out how to be in a relationship. It should be a mess.”
“When we make it out of this,” Six rumbled in his ear. “I may not understand soft touches, but I have the rest of this shit on lock.”
“I hope so.”

Because Insight was a shaky start to this series for me, I was nervous going into Oversight. My worry quickly disappeared, as I found this story to be gripping from the outset. The Community should be read in order, as the world really was established in book one. Oversight, on the other hand, filled in a lot of blanks while spending more time developing the characters, which I appreciated. The push and pull going on inside of Holden while he struggled to come to terms with what The Community was really about was wonderfully done. I like that while presented with facts, he couldn’t immediately go all in. He needed time to let things sink in, and I thought that was more realistic than just going in guns blazing to bring The Community down. Especially as it involved his entire family and was what a large portion of his upbringing revolved around. Six’s character was interesting. He had no concept of manners or boundaries, and his interactions with Holden were sometimes hilarious because of that. The heat was heavier in this one for sure, and Six and Holden had a lot of chemistry; Six may have been the inexperienced one, but there were a lot of firsts for Holden as well.

The intrigue was thicker here, and it ratcheted up the intensity of the story. The pacing was non-stop, and I found it impossible to walk away from this book. There were surprises in this one, as well as some strong female characters helping to lead the way and also appearances from Nate and Trent. The author did a fantastic job drawing the reader into Chase and Elijah’s story before it’s even begun. (Their story is next.) And man - that ending was killer. Oversight was a game changer for me. I’m now all in with this series and cannot wait for Sightlines!

This book actually gets super intense, which is awesome.

Holden I never really found endearing. He was a bit pushy and a lot cocky, but I ended up feeling bad for him and he definitely redeems himself in my eyes.

Of course he couldn't have done that with out the stoic mountain of a man, Sixtus Rossi aka Six.

Everything that The Community represents is all a lie, and Holden doesn't even realize it until it's pushed into his face. He knows his father is ambitious, but not to the extent of it. Everything stems towards more cynical goings on at "The Farm". The Farm is where Six has been kept for nearly a decade. After something happens when he's young and is sent there for punishment, or "realignment", and must play nice to Holden's father. What Holden thinks he's there for is a complete lie and his father will do anything to cover up what's really going on. Including making his son a scapegoat.

This is where my sympathy comes in for Holden. He generally does care and wants a safe place for psy-kids to go. When Elijah and Chase go missing, he knows something is fishy. He believed in what The Community *should* be about, that it's hard for him to believe the conspiracy theories his friends are throwing at him. To learn that it's all a front for darker things is a real punch to the gut. Not to mention his mother and her secrets. By the end of the book it's a whole new ball game.

This is definitely my favorite story so far. The character development, the intriguing, mysterious story line, the emotions (especially considering one is pretty much incapable of them) it's all there unfolding for what I hope is a glorious follow up.


Let's talk about the end. Some might say it's a cliffy. I say it's an intense continuation ;)
I'm super excited for Chase, he's my favorite out of all the characters.

4*