Review: The Unexpected Inlander

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

From Goodreads:
Agent Christopher Rockford has been the best assassin in the agency for eight years, and he loves his job. He loves his solitary lifestyle. He loves eliminating criminals. He loves his comfortable life as a member of society’s wealthy coastal upper class.

But in pursuit of a target, he meets Jenna, a mysterious civilian who belongs to society’s lowest and most shunned group. Being around her is fun and intriguing, but it forces him to see things through her eyes—causing him to reconsider the world around them and The Order he so obediently serves. As he falls in love with her, he fears telling her the truth about his profession may cause him to lose her.

But Jenna has her own secrets to keep.

I feel kind of betrayed by this book. It's a funny feeling, really. I went in with zero expectations like I try to do with each and every book I read from a new author. The synopsis promises the reader an assassin in love with his job. And that we get, but we also lose him quite shortly after the beginning.
Christopher Rockford, the number one assassin in his Agency. The one they call when they want a clean cut, 'an accident', efficient kills, and missions over and done with. His comes in the middle of the night unseen, he'll get you in the middle of the brightest day. You won't see him coming until it's way too late. The stealthiest. The best. Then he is assigned on a mission and all coherent thought flies out of his mind when he meets someone intriguing in the opposite sex. Suddenly, there is no stealth left, none of that assassin stuff that you might expect. Even the most basic of functions seem to hard for him when She enters the picture.

Jenna on the other hand. She has some surprises in store for the reader. If you have some experience in mysteries, though, her secrets are kind of in the plain sight the entire time. Jenna seemed more down to earth, more real than the other characters. She seemed to be the only one without thoughts either manipulated by the government from their childhood or the holistic views of an anarchist. That's where her uniqueness ends. She doesn't have much more to offer than that. And sadly, those thoughts are not the most original kind.

Okay. Now, imagine yourself in a bubble with a single television screen inside it. There is no audio whatsoever available. The bubble is coated with layers and layers of led. Upon those layers of led, are more layers of led. The bubble is the most impenetrable bubble there has ever been encountered in this universe. Remember that audio-less TV inside? You are watching it. Muted program unfurling in front of your eyes. This is what reading this book was. You know what's happening, but you are watching it from afar. Distanced not only physically, but also robbed most of your senses. You don't feel the world around you. You don't feel the wind, feel the exhilaration, feel scared, feel anxious. Nothing. You just sit there, in your own enclosure, and see how the plot develops somewhere far away. At times, I really was desperate to get anything that would include me in the book emotionally. Nothing did in this book which is the reason why I couldn't connect to it in any way.

This is one of those books that has so much potential in its plot, but the writing style is either for you or not at all for you.