Hell & High Water

THIRDS, Book 1

By: Charlie Cochet

Narrated by: Mark Westfield

When homicide detective Dexter J. Daley’s testimony helps send his partner away for murder, the consequences—and the media frenzy—aren’t far behind. He soon finds himself sans boyfriend, sans friends, and, after an unpleasant encounter in a parking garage after the trial, he’s lucky he doesn’t find himself sans teeth. Dex fears he’ll get transferred from the Human Police Force’s Sixth Precinct, or worse, get dismissed. Instead, his adoptive father—a sergeant at the Therian-Human Intelligence Recon Defense Squadron otherwise known as the THIRDS—pulls a few strings, and Dex gets recruited as a Defense Agent.

Dex is determined to get his life back on track and eager to get started in his new job. But his first meeting with Team Leader Sloane Brodie, who also happens to be his new jaguar Therian partner, turns disastrous. When the team is called to investigate the murders of three HumaniTherian activists, it soon becomes clear to Dex that getting his partner and the rest of the tightknit team to accept him will be a lot harder than catching the killer - and every bit as dangerous.

©2014 Charlie Cochet (P)2023 Charlie Cochet

Wow! What a great adventure this was!

Wow! I totally loved this book! I can't hardly wait to listen to the rest of the THIRDS... Please Audible....hurry up and get this entire series on here!

I have to admit...starting out... I thought this was going to be a long drawn out boring book, half-way at an attempt to mix m/m romance with paranormal suspense...but NOPE! What I got was a complete emotional roller coaster! I totally fell in love with every single character... to included the relationships among Destructive Delta (the THIRDS team).

I wish there was a bit more smexy time...but the smexy time added to the story...the story didn't revolve around it... which is always a plus....

The side relationship with Dex's brother and Sloane's BFF...well now... that is going to be one interesting book! Oh let's not forget the two silent team members... Trust me...once you listen you will definitely know what I am talking about.

All in all this book was great. Dex was a cop, who got transferred to the THIRDS because he testified against his crooked partner. Fortunately for him, his brother and "dad" are members of this new shifter team of cops. Dex is cooky and off the wall with his antics but he is a great cop... and Sloane well...he comes off as this tough shifter team leader, but he was simply a man trying to cope with the loss of his lover. I loved the build up and angsty moments between Dex and Sloane...

Hopefully book 2 will flesh out their relationship a bit more...

So worth a credit or sale... Narration was good..not great...but good!

4.5 stars

The banter had me laughing hysterically, but the mystery was a bit lacking. Still, the next one is at the top of my list!

Hell&High Water it

Great story line and kept my interest. MYSTERY with saxual highights. A good read. I enjoyed this book.

I can't stop listening to this series

Any additional comments?

I got this story on a whim with my credit and I am so glad that I did. It seriously made me laugh, cry, and anger, what a great author to be able to weave such a story. The Narrator is so awesome and makes you think you are listening to multiple people.

Hell & Hot Water

Omg this audio book was absolutely positively amazing. I would highly recommend this audio book.

Loved the concept, the story, and the telling.

I started this series at the recommendation of the author of the San Andreas Shifters. She said “If you love Max, you’ll love Dex.” and she wasn’t wrong.

The premise of how the Therians were made, the society they live in, and the THIRDS works really well overall. There’s a good balance of storytelling and sex and it kept me listening nearly straight through without a break. Finished in a day and a half.

My only criticisms are minor.

Although I love the narrator’s voice, he does fall into a fairly predictable cadence that occasionally seems a bit flat, especially in the sex scenes.

I also wonder with all these Therians around and how many team members are having sex with each other, why can’t any Therian worthy of the name tell who’s sleeping with who by a good crotch sniff?

For overall heat, I give it 3.5 out of 5 chili peppers. The sex scenes are good, but they seem pretty tame, considering all the people involved are testosterone-driven personalities.

Action packed excitement

I’m not gonna lie- it took me three tries to actually read enough to get interested in this story. The first several chapters are a foundation that once I pushed through reading them, the story really got interesting. In those first few chapters, Dex’s awesomely sunny and snarky personality are barely portrayed. But once he moves onto the THIRDS, the action, hilarity, pheromones and really interesting story gets rolling. The plot has a great pace, the characters are developed well enough that you get a true sense of the dynamics of the team, and Sloan and Dex have great opposites attract chemistry!

Will definitely continue!

Loved it!
Was it perfect? No. There was definitely some parts I think could have been stretched a bit. But did I love it anyway? Yep!

Glad their story doesn’t abruptly stop there though…

Amazing story! 🔥🔥❤️❤️‼️

These books were fantastic! I loved how each couple got a book, but then it came back to Sloane and Dex. I loved the mix of mystery with the romance and lots of sexy times.🔥🔥🔥 My biggest problem was the narrator, he was terrible. I thought about stopping, but the stories were too good. His accents, voices for women and Ash, I’m not sure what happened with that, but he sounds like a woman with a lisp and he’s supposed to be a great big lion. I’d buy and listen to the books all over again if they were read by any number of great narrators like Greg Boudreaux, Gary Furlong or many, many others.

A new world discovered - yay!

This author has created such an amazing world with shape shifters and humans. How this happened is totally believable. The characters are diverse and the situations realistic. The Thirds are a mix of human and others trying to keep the peace in a world which is in a state of flux. This story revolves around Sloan and Dex, characters with strong emotions but will the past let them go?
Highly recommended for those who enjoy a romance / mystery with a little fantasy to top it off.