Customer Reviews

The Jessica Project

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Read this book! Thomas Farell's well-plotted and fast-paced thriller seizes the reader. It surprises and it snaps your head like a sports car on a tight mountain road. Farrell thrusts his Special Forces marksman turned assassin, Jesse Barrett, into an impossible situation. He's stripped of his identity as part of a bizarre government plot to destroy the multi-billion dollar money-laundering network of a major Mexican drug cartel. His survival from the government agents who now control him and from his former employer, the deadly Don Cielo, depends upon his ingenuity, decisiveness, raw nerve and, unbelievably, his ability to pass as a woman.

Farrell writes in a lean, direct style. An observant world-traveler, he has a gift for penning the telling details that capture the feel of far-flung places with realism and economy.

Whether the battle of wills between Jesse and his DEA handler, Kristin Fox, will lead to the destruction of the cartel, of Jesse's gender identity or of the barriers between them or it will result in Jesse's death at the hands of the vengeful Don Cielo, is at the heart of the story. Farrell has created a cinematic tale, non-stop and compelling, that entertains and informs and is very hard to put down. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

by Billie A Williams

THE JESSICA PROJECT proves the old adage that "not all things are as they seem." It begins with the transformation of the very masculine Jesse Barrett into a woman, at least externally. Kristin Fox, undercover FBI agent and friend of Barrett's ex-girl friend (Lisa Kozella) seduce and drug Barrett. Kozella and Fox turn Barrett's outward appearance into a beguiling female. The women leave him in a motel room with only feminine attire, miles from his home with no money or identification. He must become a woman to survive and get home, as it would not be wise for his employers to discover the very serious, well-respected Cartel head hit man dressed in drag.

This is only the beginning of the deceit Barrett must ascribe to in order to stay alive as he turns reluctant traitor to the Mexican Drug Cartel. Kristen Fox, self-proclaimed Lesbian, and Jesse Barrett, womanizer, play off each other's strengths and weaknesses with the precision of a Swiss watch. The skilled craftsman/author Thomas Farrell takes us on an ever-twisting roller coaster ride through The Jessica Project giving the reader little breathing room. Jesse/Jessica becomes the key player in the FBI's plan to entrap one of the king pins of the Mexican Drug Cartel. Jessica and Kristin dash from continent to continent, country to country staying one-step a head of the newly installed Cartel head hit man. We admire the creativity of Jesse/Jessica Barrett as he tries to stay alive and free. We admire the intenseness of the characters as they successfully deceive the reader and themselves as to their true identities.

The suspense is high, the action intense and the romance steamy. I highly recommend this page-turner novel that you will not easily put down until you read the final chapter, even then, the characters will linger. When you finish, you will wish there was more. This could easily become a serial with the strength of the two characters Jesse Barrett and Kristin Fox.

This is like a Grisham story; all action and no characterization. While the premise was good, the story was typical of this ink. Unfortunately, I couldn't feel for the main characters. Sure, Jesse had to wear women's clothes but the whole transitioning was just glossed over with very little in-depth thoughts. Nice for quick read but no substance.

If you like your action, romance and adventure with a twist, this is the book for you. From start to finish The Jessica Project rocks! Assasin-for-hire, Jesse Barrett reluctantly becomes the ultimate master of disguise in an offbeat DEA plot to bring down a major drug cartel. Author, Thomas Farrell hits all the right notes and deftly follows his newly beautiful hero across the world and the borders of gender identity in a first-rate, wonderfully envisioned tale. James Bond was never like this! I highly recommend this book. I honestly could not put it down until I had finished it -- and then I wanted more. Not your average spy thriller.

If you are finding your spy novel reading becoming a bit mundane and repetitive, I suggest you pick up a copy of "The Jessica Project." Author Thomas Farrell has taken a tightly constructed assassin-for-hire thriller and projects it through a sexual prism, which separates but confuses our notion of exactly what masculine and feminine mean.

The main character, Jesse Barrett, oozes masculinity as a successful assassin working for a Mexican drug cartel. Once he is cornered by federal agents, his only way out is to cooperate with the government authorities disguised as a woman called Jessica. His government handler. Kristin Fox, oozes her own sexuality except she now plays for the other side, sexually speaking that is. As the fast-paced adventure moves forward, Kristin finds herself attracted to our main character. But who is she attracted to sexually: Jesse or Jessica? Will she fall for Jesse because she now knows him as a woman or will she make love to Jessica knowing that she is a man?

Rushing alongside this sexual gender-bending subplot, is a first-rate adventure novel crisscrossing the world with enough twists and turns to satisfy the most demanding spy novel enthusiast. The story culminates in a series of confrontations: Jessica and the government; Jesse and the cartel; Kristin and her employer; and lastly, Jesse/Jessica, Kristin and their sexual identities. How will it all be resolved? Do yourself a favor--- get this book and find out.