The central figure here is a woman, Teagan. In her late thirties she’s desperate to have a child with her husband Todd, but fates have so far been against her. Looking to divert her focus, she’s decided that the actions of a terrorist group called K.I.L. offer her a short-term way of turning her attention to something other than her seeming inability to conceive. She’ll find a way of helping women kidnapped by this group in the Middle East. As a respected journalist she has some contacts and some knowledge that she feels will help her achieve this aim.

Told in non-chronological order, we’re treated to a series of events that are, at first, hard to fit together. Teagan is in a hotel where K.I.L. members are marauding through its corridors killing everyone they can find. Teagan is interviewing a reclusive man who wants her to write his life story. A dodgy C.I.A agent is seeing the bottom of a bottle of wine little too often as he laments his lot, seemingly stuck in Europe with little hope of returning to his family in America. A young man in Northern Italy starts to make his way through the ranks of a ruthless Mafia gang. So, just how do these elements link together?

There’s no doubt that Teagan holds the interest most prominently here. Attacked by a dog when she was young, she bears the scars on her face as witness to the event. This either works to offset and enhance her natural beauty or it casts a shadow that’s proves to be an ugly distraction to observers – both scenarios are presented here. She’s fearless in pursuit of her career goals and also in the face of physical danger, but she’s defenceless when it comes to facing the possibility of life without a child to love and care for. Consequently, her moods and her actions are unpredictable.

At heart there’s a good story here as the various threads eventually come together to present a semi-cohesive whole. But my reservations are twofold: firstly, I struggled to like or even believe in any of the major characters; secondly, I’m just not a fan of this jerky way of telling a story where events are overlaid or the timeframe is constantly switching. There’s a follow-up book already lined up for release and I’ll have do some thinking as to whether it’s one I’ll be adding to my bookshelf.

Interesting premise that sneaks up on you with powerful thrills, an intricate plot, and a kick ass heroine. I'm intrigued by the author and looking forward to what he comes up with next.

⛧ ⛧ ⛧
the new bad thing had me on the edge of my seat. with discomfort. and confusion. trying to follow the plot with the back and fourth in the timeline was confusing. stay for the action, don’t mind the lack of character development.
Teagan goes from a desperate I’ll do anything to be pregnant to, i’ll do anything to protect this infant and nothing will stand in my way. mom-ssassin. can’t wait for book two, hate to see how she is when baby is in little league soccer.

Id rate this as a solid 4.5 stars.

The New Bad Thing is the first book I've read/listened to by Michael Ebner. This is a very action packed novel. The main character, Teagan, finds herself in a current situation that could be life or death. The plot focuses on the present circumstances and then will flashback to past events that lead to a situation happening in another country. This book covers topics from Mafia involvement, terrorism, conmen, saving "stolen" girls, marriage, & just plain survival. In the end, how far will a person go to save themselves & their family.

Trigger Warning - Some may find the infertility struggle a TW.

*Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy.

The New Bad Thing from Michael Ebner hooked me immediately as the novel opens with a Seattle reporter, Teagan, in a Paris hotel that is under attack from the terrorist group K.I.L.

Alternating between past and present, we learn Teagan is needing a distraction after a recent miscarriage. Her focus lands on helping young women escape the terrorist group K.I.L. Previously Teagan is well known as a reporter celebrities are comfortable with because she doesn’t seek out salacious details about their lives. Because of her well-known connections, she wants to reach out to Roman, someone who is involved in “Project Rebound” which is devoted to rescuing girls recruited against their will to join terrorists organizations. In a strange turn of events, while Teagan is visiting Roman to ask for his help with her new found crusade, he asks her to be a ghost writer for his autobiography.

As Teagan heads to Europe, everything she thinks she knows is turned upside down as she finds herself in a Paris hotel under attack. She also seems be the target of the attack. Is it due to her desire to help rescue girls and find out who is responsible for it or has Roman deceived her and offered her on a plate as an offering?

I was hooked and couldn’t stop reading! This action-packed, international espionage based game of cat and mouse is not my normal genre but I am so thankful for NetGalley, Pen and Picture Publishing, and Michael Ebner for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this! I can’t wait to continue the series!

Teagan is desperate to be a mother and as a way to help deal with the mental strain of struggling to conceive she decides to distract herself and help others, This is very much a tale about ordinary people in extraordinary situations and in parts asks you to suspend reality whilst also keeping you fully immersed in it with the ongoing terror attacks.

I enjoyed rooting for Teagan and she is a female character with depth and shows a determination that can often be lacking in female lead characters. You can’t help but root for her. This is only a short book in the grand scheme of things. The audiobook is under 7 hours long which means it’s a fairly quick listen, if like me, you listen at double speed. I just wish the middle was as fast paced as the start and end of the book

It has made me want to jump straight into Book 2 though!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Picture for the ARC and the chance to read this book.
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On one hand this book is a super fast paced thriller that takes off from the start. But on the other hand it feels like the story began in media res and ended much the same way

The new bad thing by Michael Ebner is quite a ride. It starts on a high and just continues getting higher and higher and higher. The story of Teagan and her husband Todd, trying to have a baby can be very emotional, as well as the fear that she lives through in meeting criminals from Italy and Europe. It turns out that she becomes quite a gunmoll and has to use that ability to save her child. This was a great book! It was fun to read, and clearly written. Every single word was a tableau in my mind, Michael Ebner is a wonderfully descriptive writer. It was a quick read, and I really liked it. I listened to the audiobook, and whoever the narrator was, did a fabulous job. Every word was clear and his diction and elocution were perfect. I look forward to more books in this terrific series. Thank you, Michael Ebner.

Espionage usually isn’t my genre, but I truly enjoyed this book. I loved the MC Teagan. This book was action packed, fast paced and took us across various continents. The character development throughout was great! I’m looking forward to book two!

Thank you Net Galley and Pen and Picture for this advanced copy in extreme for my honest and voluntary review.

Did I like this book? I don’t know. I liked the subject. I liked the characters. I liked the action. I liked that it was fast-paced. Could it have been too fast-paced? Maybe. It jumped around a lot and a lot was thrown in there. On the one hand, I felt how overwhelmed the characters probably felt. On the other, I always was at least a little off balance. There was just a lot thrown in. I will read the second story and hope it doesn’t make me quite as discombobulated.

3.5
This was such a fast paced thriller. I listened in one sitting as I wanted to find out what happened next. That twist at the end! 😱
*Thanks to Pen & Picture and NetGalley for this audiobook review copy

This was a wild ride and I was totally here for it. I felt like I was Teagan while reading it, so that's a huge plus! I can't wait to see what happens in the follow-up book! I can't imagine the shit that she's going to burn down to get back at the crooked CIA agent!! What a piece of work!

I enjoyed this book mostly, it lost me in parts but overall I vouched for the protagonist. I think her character was a bit under-done though and could have been a bit more detailed. There was some background but at times it felt a bit vague. There were some key events that happened at the end that seemed totally rushed and then one massive thing seemed to get brushed over, I wonder if I missed something there too... either way I'll probably read the next one to find out! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this, my review has been left on Goodreads and Bookmory.

"You can't just fill the shoes of a life you haven't lived."

For Teagan, in the high octane female driven world traveling action packed, The New Bad Thing by thriller author Michael Ebner, just keeping her shoes on is a feat as she runs from terrorists, the mafia, and the U.S. government.

All I kept thinking while listening to the always dependable narrator Braden Wright go through every anxiety ridden voice octaves for Teagan is the saying, "if it's not one thing it's another."

First, Teagan's mother gets caught running a Ponzi scheme and then runs off with the man who orchestrated it. Then her dreams of being a tough investigative reporter are derailed and she settles into a ghost writer position for celebrities writing their memories. Sadly, her first marriage ends, she suffers many miscarriages, and now a terrorist group is trying to kill her. All in all not good days.

As her situation worsens she realizes she can only depend on herself. Roman, the man she thought was her benefactor on a project to save women from trafficking kidnappers, puts a terrorist hit on her because of what she knows about him. Protecting herself by killing two terrorists in a Paris Hotel gets her on the radar of American European Counterterrorism Agent Lexington who rather than praise her blackmails her to kill Roman for his own personal reasons.

Oh did I mention she just found out she's pregnant after going through intense IVF with her new husband Todd. With high heels, a mother's determination, and really pissed off at all these freaking men telling her what to do, Teagan takes matters into her own hands because what's the worse that can happen, another new bad thing? I will tell you she fills the shoes for a whole new life.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Pen and Picture Books via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

What would you do for the safety of your family? Would you kill, would you run, would you hide? Well the gutsy, determined Kiegan must decide. THE NEW BAD THING by Michael Ebner had me on the edge of my seat from page one. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm not going to give away the plot, because where would be the fun in that? However I will say, if you're looking for an exciting fast-paced book. Read it! Or better yet get the audio book it's fantastic!

When Seattle reporter Teagen Penn starts working on a story she suddenly finds herself caught up in extraordinary position where in a heartbeat her life is forever changed…

Criss-crossing the globe, she’s forced to defend herself, forced to do things and become a person that makes her unrecognisable to her former self…

The story has 3 main characters - Teagen, Roman & Lexington - complex characters doing what needs to be done for their very own survival.

The Next Best Thing is fast-paced, intense & an action packed thriller.

The narrator (I listened to the audiobook) was just perfect!

This is a great start to the series. I’m really excited to see where the author takes this series!

It’s a while since I’d read a Crime Thriller so gave this one a go after hearing others rave about it.

On the whole, The New Bad Thing has a decent plot, lots of action, and features some original situations. It is an Action Thriller with lots of shooting, sieges, running around, although Ebner has also created some interesting characters. Personally, I have never encountered a hero who is running around after terrorists whilst also being on IVF. This was refreshing. However, there’s a lot of backstory for all of the main characters, and personally, I found it rather lengthy and unnecessary at times, although it could be argued that the family histories, childhood griefs and past relationships all filled-out the characters to make them more credible.

Unfortunately, I really didn’t like the character of Teagan, and found her to be rather unemotional at times. For example, despite constantly being told how much she wanted a child, towards the end of the novel I couldn’t help feeling that she wasn’t going to turn out to be a particularly maternal figure. If you’re a fan of an action-packed, plot-driven narrative, then don’t let these aspects put you off though!

The audio book is narrated by Braden Wright. He did a good job of delivering this narrative with both emotion and intensity when necessary. It is 6 hours 52 minutes in length.

This was a fast paced thrill ride as we follow Teagan around the world in her bid to stop terrorism, the mafia, and corrupt people. I love Teagan's story arc in this novel, she starts off as an entertainment writer and turns into a kick-ass spy/tracker/assassin? willing to do anything to protect her family. Looking forward to reading "listening" to the second book in the series due to be released in the new year.

Braden Wright did a great job narrating this novel and I am excited to see that he is slated to narrate the next book as well. I love it when a series is narrated by the same person from book 1 to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pen and Picture publishing and the author, Michael Ebner for the opportunity to both read and listen to this in return for an honest review.

Normally I enjoy an audiobook as I feel I get into a great depth with the characters, hear what they are like and get an idea of their mannerisms. Or at least that works when the narrator is good. However with this, I found the storyline jumped and I became lost a lot using the audiobook and needed the physical book to right myself and review what I had missed. I found the book jumped around…a lot and I couldn’t always keep up. The plot was detailed - Tegan and Lexington got to travel considerably however I found I didn’t really enjoy the story itself. Whilst I know there is a lot of barbarity in the world and this does occur, it felt mindless and my lack of enjoyment of any of the characters meant I didn’t care what happened. I was both pleased and sad at the end about Todd - he was probably the one I did connect with more as he seemed more normal and human and I don’t feel that was really necessary. It felt it was there for the sake of it again.

That said Michael Ebner’s writing ability is spot on. The paragraphs were detailed and the flow of his sentences were great. It was easy to read if not that enjoyable for me. The narrator was perfect too - gravely but not too gruff. I’m curious at what would happen in the next book but it’s not making me run to try it. Maybe I will read a few reviews and see if they change my mind.

This thriller reminds me a lot of the movie Salt. It definitely portrays the strong female character who would do anything to help keep her children safe from the spy world she had been a part of. This was my first time reading one of Michael Ebner's books. But I definitely can't wait to read more from him. If you like fast-paced action packed books this one is for you. I did the audio and loved the different accents that came through for various characters.