THIRDS

Earlier I posted about various series, and while I don't think I want every entry here to be about books, I do think I will use that earlier post as a launch point for some comments on the series, because if I can get the author another reader, that is a good thing.

Anyway, Charlie Cochet's THIRDS series is an alternate universe with shape shifters explained via science and germ warfare.  (Yes, I know I linked it earlier, but it only seems right to link it again, since this entry is focused on that series.)  So far the series is 7 books, with a few more in the pipeline, and a spin off focusing on the main couple in this series, Dex and Sloane.  Overall, what I like is that Ms Cochet has a full cast of recurring characters, the members of Destructive Delta, and that while most of the books focus on the Dex and Sloane relationship, there are others that focus on the other members, and most importantly, there is a healthy amount of showing the effects the primary relationship has on the rest of the team.  So many books focus on the couple without paying attention to how the coupling really impacts friends and family, and these books try to explore those relationships as well.  THIRDS is a paramilitary police organization, so the device that allows these character explorations is generally that of solving crimes, but as long as every crime is not the same, it gives the books plenty of situations to explore.  With the way things are going, Dex and Sloane will end up as a two man James Bond, and considering how many of those books are there, we readers should have plenty of time to watch their relationship, and the relationships of others on their team, blossom.  I really tried to give a general overview, and I hope that I didn't make it too general or broad, but I also didn't want to review each book or give the dreaded play by play review.  There are a lot of characters and multiple couples, but Dex and Sloane are at the heart of it all, which is why I only mentioned them, though I do like the others.

In addition to the books, Ms Cochet also has an active Goodreads community for this book, and does a good job of keeping readers engaged, perhaps most obviously by the THIRDS Thursdays flash fiction posts, where she responds to various reader prompts, and those prompts are frequently based on some event mentioned in the books, but not explored there, so the world she has created becomes that much richer.  Charlie Cochet's website, with links to the flash fiction posts and other news, can be found here.