This is a straight-up police thriller, but don't let that explain it for you. Sarah is Indonesian, has worked for (and we get to see her perform within) Interpol, British special forces and a few others.

Not only that, but Sarah's a badass.

The charm in this book is not in the kinds of overt storytelling directions, either, even though so many thrillers share these same kinds of directions: proving oneself, complicated love interest, tragedy, proving oneself.

The real charm here is in the details. The author says that he changed official police procedures within the text to protect real police. And yet, despite that, I still got the amazing feel that I was absolutely a part of an elite police team every step of the way through the novel.

Sarah's confident of her sexuality. If it wasn't for the strength of the extremely strong police action, the characterizations, the dialogue, I might mistake this for a male-oriented dream-fiction where a policewoman who worked undercover as a model (yes. a model.) and yet succeeds despite her gorgeous bod. You've read or seen this repeatedly on tv, I'm sure. And yet, the trope is here and strong as ever, BUT the author manages to make it work. Maybe it's just a pet peeve of mine.

Either way, the novel is pretty damn awesome as a police drama. Lots of action, good surprises (in that it keeps us on our toes), and great pacing. I think it's rather refreshing the way things always move along and we see so much of Sarah's life and career. It feels like years pass even though it's only six months. There's a lot of action.

I totally recommend it for anyone with a passion for elite police. :)

Thanks to the author for the ARC!
( )

I want to start off by saying that I really did enjoy the story, the characters and the depth of knowledge within the book. It was certainly action packed and the last few chapters and the ending in particular were incredibly engaging. I enjoyed all the characters and for the most part found them likable and realistic. It felt authentic without going overboard or making it too hard to follow. It was saturated with military/police terms but not to the point where a civilian like myself with only a modest familiarity couldn’t keep up. There were a lot of characters though and there were a couple days in between when I read the first half and when I read the second, so it took me a while to remember who was who when coming back to it.

The protagonist Sarah is this perfect fem-bot character but I found her likable which is a feat most authors don’t manage to accomplish. However, I do wish there was a bit more depth to her than just... my dad did this so I’m doing it too, I do 2000 crunches a day to get these abs, I like the guy I work with, etc. Other characters also had a habit of treating her perfectly average suggestions like they were pure genius which did begin to grate with me after a point. For example, she suggests closely observing suspects during a debrief for suspicious behavior or emotion and the two guys there act like it’s such an extraordinary suggestion to pay attention when you’re trying to root out a mole...? Like... duh?Despite this, I was definitely invested in her character and what happened to her.

A couple other things did bother me though and this may be just personal taste. First, I have a bit of a pet peeve about stories written in third person present tense. It was jarring at first but I got used to it after a while. I wish it had either been written from Sarah’s perspective (not really realistic given the path of the story) or written in past tense. I literally went to my bookshelf and flipped through multiple books to confirm that the verb tense was what felt off to me.

I also would’ve changed the drug that’s central to the story - ecstasy isn’t all that dangerous compared to cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, etc. and I feel like this lowered the stakes a bit for me. Without the addition of Niall’s character, I had to push myself to care about whether or not the task force was successful in catching/stopping the cartel.

Last little thing regarding when it took place - none of this felt particularly futuristic to me. Even though it’s only 10 years ahead, with the speed at which our technology is advancing, I expected some aspects to feel new or different, and besides giving Prince William a promotion, nothing really felt more advanced than today. It just as easily could’ve been set in today’s time frame.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read. It’s great to broaden your interests when reading and I’m looking forward to exploring more in this genre in the future. Thanks to the author for sending it to me in exchange for a review. ( )

The author contacted me and offered me a free copy of the book in return for feedback and a review. I enjoyed it enough that I purchased a copy. It is on the edge of my wheelhouse as it is a military thriller set in the near future.

I will begin by stating that I truly hate books written in the present tense. I find it detracts from dialogue (external and internal) that should be present tense. At least the author is up front about writing in the present tense. It says a great deal for the strength of the story that I continued to read it in spite of the present tense narration.

Readers should be aware there is graphic violence. (I have read a revision that tones some of that down.) One of the reasons it took me so long to read the book is I had to put it down to clean my mind. There is also a huge amount of detail that greatly slows down the narrative. I want to know that the hero cleared out a building, not how the hero learned how to do it. (Note that the revision moves faster.)

I eventually skimmed over the loving descriptions of procedures and weaponry to follow the story and that story kept me on the edge of my seat. I cared about the main heroic characters and cheered when the bad guys lost. Do have a hankie handy; you may need it at times.

Folks who like thrillers or military fiction would probably like this book. I enjoyed it enough that the odds are very high that I will get the sequel. ( )

Words that come to mind after reading this novel are, “Never assume!” This novel shares the life of a policewoman and the men and women that she trains with, serves with, and leads.

The only way in which I can think to begin my review of this novel is to share that I have not been so moved by the reading of a novel since absorbing the novel, “Word of Honor” by Nelson DeMille. The reason I mention these two (2) novels is to convey the depth of thought that both novels have brought as I finished reading them. I have always felt blessed to live in a country of democracy and as the daughter of a WWII Veteran, understanding exactly what that means has been part of the family legacy that was explained and shared with me throughout my lifetime so that the service, the honor, the remembrance, and the price of freedom would be clearly defined, respected, and never taken for granted. We ask our military to defend, to protect and to serve. They answer with their life and some give their last breath in service. We also ask our law enforcement personnel to defend, to protect, and to serve. They answer with their life and some give their last breath in service.

“The Policewoman” is about defending, protecting, and serving through law enforcement service and military service not in the United States but in the settings of Indonesia, England, and Ireland. The ‘crime fighting’ is against Narcoterrorism (terrorism financed by profits from illegal drug trafficking) by a deadly Irish drug cartel that is setting up drug manufacturing plants for a larger global footprint. This novel is not for the faint-hearted. It is gritty, compelling, riveting, page-turning, intense reading. Although fiction, I would deem that from the training descriptions to the vivid descriptions of horrific encounters with members of a drug cartel that it is more realistic and probable than any of us would prefer to think and/or even imagine. After all, the author includes a message at the beginning of the novel, “To protect police officers and Special Forces operatives from around the world, almost all combat tactics and police/military procedures depicted in this book are INTENTIONALLY DISGUISED.”

My personal reading time is before evening’s sleep and it perhaps would have been an easier book to read during a time of vacation as then reading time is also available when I am more alert during daylight hours but I did not want to defer this title to a later time. I feel the same when reading novels by Brad Thor as “The Policewoman” is heavy with acronyms of which the majority are unknown to me and although explained (and also with provision of a Glossary at the end of the novel) are sometimes overwhelming and difficult to grasp in such quantity. I offer this not as a criticism but for awareness of the depth of this novel not only in storyline but in details that contribute to understanding of the world of Narcoterrorism and also of the countermeasures being employed to stop this terror in the world.

This novel appears as the first novel by Justin W.M. Roberts. Biography blurbs provide limited information.

Justin W. M. Roberts was born in London, England, son of a British Army General, and grew up in Hong Kong, Germany, and England. He has a degree in PPP (Psychology, Philosophy, and Physiology) from Hull University, England, and is an analyst of political affairs and an active promoter of secular humanism. He has travelled widely in Europe, Africa, and Asia, and has lived in Indonesia for the last twenty-five years. He lives with his wife and two children in Jakarta.

This reader remains inquisitive as to the author’s full resume as the story of “The Policewoman” is so artfully told and skillfully constructed that I wonder if within the scope of training and scenarios they are only from an author’s research or perhaps hold more personal experiences than can be revealed. Regardless, I hope that Justin W.M. Roberts will continue writing. I would not hesitate to read his next novel.

I was invited to receive a complimentary copy of this novel by the author and have provided my honest and voluntary review. ( )

I found this book to be quite good and very interesting. It is also quite action-packed, with a lot of fighting scenes in it, like an action movie! The book is very detailed, down to each fight scene, and to what each character wore. I think it was filled with well defined characters that were quite believable with a solid storyline. There is a little of everything thrown in: action, drama, romance, drugs, etc. This is the first book for Justin Roberts, and he hit it out of the ballpark with this one. After you get past the beginning with all of the character and storyline development, it all moves pretty swiftly. I do recommend this book. Very interesting! Great read. ( )