Hostile Ground

Hostile Ground – writing team of Witt and Voinov was a roller coaster ride of intrigue, deception and suspense. This reader could not get enough of the well-written twists and turns provided throughout the pages.

Majir/Saeed was an undercover cop, sent into the wide-spreading Lombardi ring after the death of three officers at the hands of Lombardi’s forces. Drugs, prostitution, illicit actions all took place as Majir attempted to keep up the bad-boy persona of Saeed, stay under the radar, and break the case.

Ridley, head of security for Lombardi was ruthless and egotistical. Using sex as a test for loyalties, Ridley soon found himself tangled in a web of deceit and attraction as the lines blurred between him and Saeed.

Hostile Ground delivered all the elements of intrigue any crime drama reader would desire. It also helped that the sexual tension and scenes were explosive between Ridley and Saeed.

The nuances written by Witt and Voinov accentuated the emotional upheaval each of the main characters felt. The deception created inner turmoil that steamed the e-reader. Witt and Voinov created fragile relationships in a world of seediness where everything was not always black and white and what happens next was not always to be expected.

Fans of the dynamic duo, Witt and Voinov will not be disappointed. Hold onto your seats because the fast track of fabulous writing is about to erupt.

reviewed by Evelise

A well written, tightly woven suspense. It was an intense and gripping read. Rather dark, but in a good way. My only complaint is I found the missing piece rather obvious from the very beginning. However that did not detract from the overall read. It was refreshing to have a Muslim hero and that aspect definitely added to the book.

Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt are a perfect example for a perfect duet.
I adore their writing so much.
Perfect writing skills, perfect stories, I couldn't ask for more.

This is definitely a different, very different point of view in LGBT story.
Mahir is a gay, and he's a Muslim. I'm a Muslim my self, and being gay in Islam, is definitely wrong, especially when you're gay.
Happen in my family.
So I know how difficult Mahir and Kinza situation dealing with their life and family and Religion.
For me, this is more than a story, thank you Aleks and Lori for the story. I know exactly their feeling according to this.

Back to the story. Aside from how Mahir and his nephew cope with the situation, Mahir must face some undercover task in [a very big drugs and human trafficking circles (hide spoiler)], he met Ridley, a head security of the club.

Since the very beginning, I can feel a very strong chemistry and attraction between the two guys...even, there's no trust between them...the passion and chemistry was 'there', and none of them can denied it.

I loved how Mahir struggled with a feeling of right or wrong, about what he felt for Ridley...and how Ridley's jealousy over another guy...there were so many awwww moments , that I felt so sweet and made me blush and *cough* ...squirmed on my seat...
And I loved how Adil took part of this situation, about Kinza, I think the Adil and Kinza part was so realistic...almost every Muslim family have the same problems..it's depends on how they cope with that. And Aleks and Lori, wrote it in a smart way.

And I just loved how the book ended, and the Epilogue was just PERFECT!.... and I need more of them!

Hostile Ground. L.A. Witt, Aleksandr Voinov Review from Jeannie Zelos Book Reviews.
I'm a great fan of this writing duo, they come up with fabulous stories, lots of dialogue and intrigue, and a tender romance, with plenty of steamy, erotic interludes. Some authors write sex scenes tied together with a thin story, but this duo always have a well written and plotted story where the romance is an essential part but not the whole. That's what I like best, something to make me think “who, how, where and when?” not just be spoon-fed a few thinly disguised scenes masquerading as a novel.

So, I love the Market Garden books, but this time we've a thriller. Mahir is an undercover cop investigating a drug ring, run from a strip club. I liked him, he faced not only homophobic taunts, but as a Persian ( I think) Moslem he got the race/religion bias too. Triple whammy, and yet he was one of those people determined to do what's right in life, and the sort anyone would want as a friend. It must be tough each day when even colleagues can't help but throw those kind of comments. Then working in this job undercover, even though all the security people were gay ( saves them f ing the merchandise says their boss) still the taunts were thrown, and the sand camel quips kept coming out. Ridley, his immediate boss, seemed so cold hearted and terrifying, talking about how difficult it was to dig into the local clay soil to dispose of bodies. Mahir is attracted to Ridley though, despite his aura of danger and intimidation, and there seems to be a mutual liking, yet Ridley blows hot and cold. I love that push-pull of an early stage in a relationship, the does he, doesn't he, questioning of oneself, the glances and little touches that take on so much meaning. Things get pretty heated then Mahir finds out Ridley is undercover too. There are some tense moments, where not only are their lives in danger but Mahir's teenage nephew Kinza's too, he's inadvertently strayed into the club after following Mahir one day and been recruited by the boss. Can they hold it together long enough to close the operation? Well, that's a huge question and like always the best laid plans go awry. I loved this book, suspense enough to hold me interested in the story, not overly complicated but easy to follow, and yet tense moments that had me thinking “what now?” The romance scenes as ever were excellently written, tender and yet hot and emotional. I do like suspense novels occasionally, enjoying a swap of reading genres, but not if they are too deep, just deep enough to hold a story together and make it interesting. I enjoy the contrast of drama, danger and tension balanced with the tenderness of a romance. I love deep atmosphere, and always find it in this duos writing, and adding the romance and its pitfalls for the present and future, to the danger of the situation they were in I was wallowing in emotion! I did have a problem though with Kinza's involvement.... I can see it was needed to add to the story, but as a parent I’d have been furious that my child was allowed to continue. Still, he's almost eighteen, so in many ways an adult and able to make his own choices, and he wanted to continue...I'm kind of thinking aloud here, it made me uneas,y but if I feel he should be allowed freedom as an adult in other things why not this? Difficult decision and one I keep pondering over. :) I don't at time of writing have price or length info but it was a decently long novel, I’d guess around 200+ pages from the time it took to read, and was a perfect length to tell the story properly, letting reader get to know the characters and experience the dangers. Stars: Five, great read.