Review: Accused by Kate Kaynak

Filed in 4 1/2 Stars , featured , Kate Kaynak , Review , The Latin Lover Posted on January 27, 2012 @ 10:30 am 8 comments

Format read: paperback copy provided by author
Release Date: 15 August 2011
Series: Book #4 in the Ganzfield series
Number of pages: 272 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Book Depository

Blurb:

“We have ways of making you talk.”

Who now has Isaiah’s files?

Someone in the government knows about Ganzfield… and he has special reasons to target Maddie…

My Thoughts: I am a fan of Kate Kaynak’s Ganzfield series, I loved Minder and Adversary, but the 3rd book Legacy left me disappointed. I expected more, I expected that thrill and elation the first 2 books made me feel and Legacy left me lukewarm. So I started Accused, the 4th book in the series with a bit of trepidation: I wanted it to be just as awesome as the first two books were but feared to be left down. Thankfully my fears were for naught, because Kate Kaynak is back and Accused was just as mindblowingly fantastic as Minder!

Accused picks up where Legacy left off: before dying Isaiah sent in an e-mail a link to some video footage incriminating the Ganzfield folks and displaying their unique abilities to the media and other high placed military contacts. Maddie and co. were able to intercept almost all of the e-mails except two which went out to some unidentifiable top dog military leaders.

Kate Kaynak floored me with the pace she kept all through the novel: Accused starts pretty much with a  bang and from then on she never lets up the pressure, the tension is always there, drumming in the background.

I loved that despite the almost constant fast paced and nail-biting action, equal stress was put on the emotional development of Maddie and Trevor, both as individual characters and as a couple. I loved this side of Minder and was sad to miss it in later books, but in Accused Kate Kaynak brings us so many life changing moments and events that one can only blink and curiously await how it will change the characters and their relationships. Accused was an emotionally incredibly intense story: from Maddie’s fear in imprisonment, her efforts to surmount the torture she had to suffer, to Trevor’s way of dealing with what happened to Maddie, they were all written so realisticly, that reading about their struggles and suffering was a very intense and raw experience. (I’m saying this in the best possible way! Kate Kaynak made me sweat, swear, tear up and feel for her characters.) Of course don’t fear there are just as many wonderfully sweet and tender, touching scenes!

But I absolutely must state that besides the very emotional and at times dark scenes the novel is full of humour. The characters’ thoughts and dialogues will make you chuckle and lighten up the story:

“Hey, it’s Treddie!” Drew jumped up from a  table of sparks.

Ugh. I smiled at him, glad to be able to focus on his exuberant thoughts. Treddie? That sounds like a repulsively cute kid’s toy. If you must, go with “Madvor”. At least that sounds like something that would’ve fought Godzilla.

Another aspect for which I have to applaud Kate Kaynak is the way she approached and wrote about sex, intimacy, teen pregnancy, STDs, etc. in a YA novel. She didn’t shy away from talking/writing about sex but did it in a responsible and realistic way.

And to conclude here is a line from one of the characters, which I think perfectly sums up everything that happens in Accused:

(Seth:) It’s like a damn soap opera around here these days. Everyone’s falling in love or dropping into comas or getting arrested for murder. Blech! All we need is an evil twin or something.

Verdict: Accused was perfection regarding its composition: it had action, the mystery plot was exciting, enough time and space was spent on the characters and their emotional struggles and growth, it had humour, it had romance and once again Kate Kaynak left me wanting more! I can’t wait to read Operative, and after what a terrific read Accused was I’m looking forward to Book #5 in the Ganzfield series with much impatience and excitement! 

I give Accused 4.5 stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

About Stella


Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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8 Comments

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  • Jan January 27, 2012 at 3:06 pm

    I’d never heard of this author but will now be looking out for her.
    Thanks!

    • Stella January 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm

      You should check out this series Jan it is exciting, original and well written!

  • Susan January 27, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    I think I’ve seen these books pop up on my “recommendations for you” list on Amazon but, to be honest, the covers didn’t draw me in and I hadn’t heard about them from anyone else. But after reading your review (and others for series on Amazon), I just downloaded all 4 books. Thanks for the heads up on a new author/series.

    • Stella January 27, 2012 at 4:44 pm

      Yay, it always makes me happy when my review piques someone’s curiosity to check out the book, and I hope you’ll enjoy the Ganzfield series Susan, let me know how you like it, I’m curious 🙂

  • aurian January 28, 2012 at 3:09 am

    Even though you are so enthusiastic about this book / series, I am totally not feeling the pul. Worse, I hate the cover.

    • Stella January 28, 2012 at 1:24 pm

      I have to say at first the covers left me quite blah as well, but they grew on me. And the series has been reissued with new covers, because many people didn’t like the original ones.

  • Tamsyn January 28, 2012 at 6:04 am

    I must say I agree with aurian. I don’t like the book cover and would probably never pick up that book in a book store. Sad, if the book is as good as you say.

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