Extraction (Stonewall Trilogy1) by JL Drake -review tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 26, 2025
Agent Paul is a soldier of many faces—
a ghost, an undercover operative, a team leader.
But those are just titles.
When a letter lands in his hands, everything changes. The past he buried resurfaces with a single revelation—his son.
Returning to the cartel world he barely escaped is a mission he can’t face alone. His brothers rally behind him, shifting their current operation to follow a trail that leads into the darkest corners of Mexico. What they encounter is far more than intel.
A pawn.
An heir.
A child.
Nicole Winter is a war correspondent with a reputation for chasing the truth. Smart. Relentless. And already three steps ahead. When their paths collide, she’s holding the one document Paul needs—and carrying secrets of her own.
As trust is tested and loyalties blur, the mission spirals. When Paul vanishes mid-operation, Nicole is left with one impossible task—to get the boy out alive.
Even if it costs her everything.
•••••••••
REVIEW: EXTRACTION by JL Drake is the first instalment in JL Drake’s contemporary, adult STONEWALL dark, suspense series set in the author’s WORLD OF MAYHEM. This is Stonewall Agent Paul and war correspondent Nicole Winter’s story line.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers from more sensitive readers.
Told from three first person perspectives (Paul, Nicole and Bruno) EXTRACTION follows in the wake of a notification for Agent Paul. A couple of years earlier, while undercover in Mexico with the Mexican Cartel, Paul fathered a child he knew nothing about. A letter arrived from the woman he left behind, letting Paul know she gave birth to his son but Paul will not be the only person searching for the child-the Cartel is determined to claim the child as their own, and no one will stand in their way. War correspondent Nicole Winter has found herself at the mercy of the Cartel, having befriended numerous members and controlling parties but Nicole has been ordered to find the missing child, and return the child to the Cartel. Along the way, Nicole encounters Agent Paul, and with the help of the Blackstone organization,find themselves on the hunt but at every opportunity, someone else is ready to take them down.
The world building is detailed and complex as the Blackstone soldiers must rescue a child they have never seen but a child that belongs to one of their own. Nicole Winter never expected to come face to face with the group of former soldiers who will lay down their lives to protect the innocent but Paul’s past is about to come full circle, and Nicole has no idea as to the depths of his secrets.
The relationship between Paul and Nicole is slow to build as most of the time is spent on the run, trying to stay one-step ahead of the Mexican Cartel. Paul and his team are working from one side, while Nicole is forced to operate within the parameters of the Mexican Cartel.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including several characters from the Broken, Blackstone and Blackwater series. We are introduced to war correspondent Nicole Winter, her cameraman Benjamin Bale, and several members of the Mexican Cartels.The requisite evil has many faces.
EXTRACTION is a story of betrayal and vengeance, obsession and madness, power and control, secrets and lies, deseperation and determination. The premise is dark, dramatic and edgy; the characters are strong-willed and stubborn. EXTRACTION ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
J.L. Drake is a bestselling author with multiple series published in several different countries. The Broken Trilogy is her best seller, and her next series, Quiet Mafia, has the same kind of homey feel sprinkled with some yummy darkness.
She was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, later moving to southern California. Though she loves the weather in Cali, she would sell her left kidney for a good rainstorm. Jodi’s love of the seasons back home in Canada definitely put in an appearance in her books.
When she’s not writing, you can often find her sitting somewhere along the coast of Huntington Beach, reading, or at home curled up on a couch with her two children and husband, binge watching Marvel movies.