Review: Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency, #1) by Hannah Jayne (DNF)

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Under Wraps Book Cover Under Wraps
Underworld Detection Agency, #1
Hannah Jayne
Paranormal Romance - Urban Fantasy
Kensington
March 1st 2011
Paperback
352
Library

 

Sick of wrongful-death lawsuits every time a full moon comes around?
Call the Underworld Detection Agency.

As a human immune to magic, Sophie Lawson can help everyone from banshee to zombie transition into normal, everyday San Francisco life. With a handsome werewolf as her UDA boss and a fashionista vampire for a roommate, Sophie knows everything there is to know about the undead, the unseen, and the uncanny. . .

Until a rash of gruesome murders has demons and mortals running for cover, and Sophie finds herself playing sidekick to detective Parker Hayes. Dodging raging bloodsuckers, bad-tempered fairies, and love-struck trolls is one thing. But when Sophie discovers Parker isn't what he seems, she's got only one chance to figure out whom to trust. Because an evil hiding in plain sight is closing in. . .and about to make one wisecracking human its means to ultimate power. . .

 

What the blood heck am I reading? I’m baffled by the Under Wraps novel.

Under Wraps is book one in the Underworld Detection Agency by Hannah Jayne.

I picked this novel up; because of the cool cover and blurb, but let me tell you they are both deceiving and miss leading. They imply a kick-ass chick, edgy world, intense mystery and exciting world building, but this is NOT true.

Lets start with the characters: None of them are interesting or gripping.

– Sophie, our heroine and the lead of this story comes off as a jungle cat in-heat. She’s man-hungry, a wimp, ditzy, & whiney. The blurb implies she knows everything about supernaturals, but oh my god she has no clue. Yes, she knows a little, but she is no expert. As for her job she is a glorified security who insists on being called an ‘excitative assistant’. Their are no interesting qualities about her. At the beginning of the story she insists on helping the police and imagines herself as “CSI Sophie” or “Charlie’s Angels,” but when they tell her about the dead bodies and when she sees one, she gets sick and whiny. The other thing that irritated me was her over the top hormonal fantasies about her boss, detective Hayes, or any hot guy that crosses her path. I’m baffled that she was even assigned to work a murder mystery cast with Detective Hayes.

– Detective Parker Hayes, our hero and possible love interest, thou Sophie also has a thing for her boss. Parker thinks he’s gods gift to women. He comes off as a playboy and that every women should fall to his charms and into bed with him. He has no drive to solve the case and more interest in flirting with Sophie.

– Then we have the secondary characters; Nina, the vampire roommate and her nephew, Linus, who insist on being called Vlad (cue eye roll). The nephew was turned as a 16-year-old, so he’s got all this teenage anguish going on. He’s over 114 and you’d think that after so many years he’d have grown out of the teenage crap, but nope. Then the roommate, Nina, she’s self-absorbed and takes advantage of Sophie. In one of the scene with Nina, she was asked to do one thing for Sophie. What happens? She forgets to do it, which is chain up their boss, who is a werewolf. What really ticked me off is that she couldn’t be bothered to go back and actually do it; because she has to go to a club.

As for the story. The plot is all over the place, the murder mystery isn’t even worked on, the UDA is not even a policy agency, and their is no world building.

– The UDA – Underworld Detection Agency sounds like it’s a supernatural police force, keeping supernaturals under control and following the law, but it’s more like the social security service. I can’t figure out how the UDA gets involved with the police.

– Then the scene that really had me rolling my eyes and throwing in the towel was around 55%; when the cop teaches her to shoot a gun. What does she do? She pulls the trigger for the first time and starts to yell and jump up and down with a loaded gun in her hands. That was just down right ridicules.

– Last, they have a murderer on the loose, her boss is missing and someone is stalking her. Yet, their is no drive or hurry to find out what’s going on. They have time to do other things like eat, go to the shooting rang, a club, etc.. but nothing is being done to process the story and figure out what’s going on.

Under Wraps had so much ridiculousness and way to many things wrong with it for me to even continue with the story. This one was not for me and I’d recommend avoiding it, but if the blurb intrigues you, give it a shot.

Rated: DNF’d at 55%

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I'm an outdoor sun loving reader living near San Fransisco. I’m a mother, wife, animal & book lover. I'm the owner, reviewer & mind behind Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. My favorite animals are horses & dogs. As for reading I love all things paranormal & urban fantasy & my favorite shifters are dragons.

8 comments on “Review: Under Wraps (Underworld Detection Agency, #1) by Hannah Jayne (DNF)

  1. Oh… great review! I remember when this came out, I was considering it – I may even own this book. Looks like it will not be moving to the top of my list!
    Jen recently posted…#FitReader Check-In: April 5, 2019My Profile

    • Thank’s Jen. I don’t like to DNF, but I’ve come to realize that it’s ok to and it’s ok to write a review explaining what worked and what didn’t for you. I love the cover, but inside was not for me. Thank’s for visiting.

  2. Well blerg! I was thinking awesome cover! Sounds like one to skip for sure.
    herding cats recently posted…[AtoZ memes] Eve Me! + my week in booksMy Profile

    • Ya, I was like awesome cover and blurb, but didn’t turn out so well.

  3. Oh yikes….she sounds awful. You are right though the cover and blurb sound so good.
    Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer recently posted…Between Shifts by W.R. GingellMy Profile

    • Ya the cover and blurb made this stand out, but the inside so not what was described or featured.

  4. Oh wow, this one sounds like a hot mess! I don’t think my patience could handle all that you mentioned. No wonder you didn’t finish, those kinds of characters would have me insane. Sorry this one didn’t work out for you!
    Tanya @ Rantings of a Reading Addict recently posted…Review ~ Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet EvanovichMy Profile

    • As my opening line says ” What the blood heck am I reading?” It was a hot mess and I just couldn’t take it anymore. My next read was meh better. Thank’s for visiting.