Icon and Inferno: Stars and Smoke, Book 2

Icon and Inferno: Stars and Smoke, Book 2 by Marie Lu

The globally famous pop star is having a rough time. He misses that spy girl he met. An old girlfriend has reappeared. Somebody is writing a tell-all book about him. He is happy to be involved in a spy plot. He even gets a James Bond-esque special suit. There is a possible sploy to kill the US president. They want to protect him at a big gala after a big concert. There are various attempts on the lives of people as well as a song written to the "spy girl" performed in concert. The book takes a number of turns as double agents, CIA plots and others in place. The author even ties in references to her Warcross novel.

The ending then throws everything at us. The president gets killed. A soon-to-retire spy gets killed. Then here are plenty of stunts and fast action as well as sly moves. It feels like a PG-13 summer movie that just keeps throwing everything at us. The ending seemingly closes things out, but keeps the threads open for more books.

Stars and Smoke

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

This is one of the better books by Marie Lu. Winter Young is a huge Chinese-American pop star. He gets recruited by the Panacea group to help bring down a crime boss, Eli Morrison. The Panacea group takes the jobs that the CIA can't take, and has been after Morrison for years. Now they think they can infiltrate by having Young play a concert at Morrison's daughter's birthday party. Young is reluctant at first. However, he later learns that his deceased brother, who he thought was doing peace corps missions was actually working for the Panacea group. He is teamed with agent Sydney Cossette who poses as his bodyguard. Of course there is some chemistry between them. There is also some with Young and the crime boss's daughter. Young notices there is some "fake" behavior going on with her and her relationships. He then gets shot and discovers that the daughter is behind a scheme involving the death of her father and taking over the money from the empire. In the end he goes back to his pop star world and Sydney gets a promotion. In an epilogue they meet up again - and it seems a new mission is in the works. The book moves quickly and does not get bogged down with two much world building or romance.