Continues the story well. Still fun, still interesting and engaging, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Serial Box for the advance copy for my honest review.

"Family and Friends", is the fifth installment of a series that, will total 11 episodes, that makes up False Idol, Season 1 and the author varies with each episode.

Basically just feel like their really isn't an undercover case, due to Pierce being a drug addict, then Layla who could have ended the case in New York, she arranges a meeting for a fellow agent Zack, then tips off the gallery owner Bennett, whom hides the fake Egyptian artifacts and replaces with real ones. So the bust doesn't happen, her relationship with James gets more seriously, she meets with her brother and ends up going to Crete with Kyoshi Tanaka to see his private home artifact collection.

Just finding this harder and harder to read, due to what Pierce and Layla do, makes it more implausible or believable.

The Series didn't really hook in me so I won't be reading the rest of them!

Thank you Netgalley and Serial Box for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The fifth episode of the season picks up right after the fourth installment ended. Layla confronts her boss, Pierce, and gets some answers as to what Pierce has been up to while Layla has been in the field. After finding out that Pierce is addicted to drugs, Layla begins to have conflicting feelings towards the woman she viewed as a mentor. Wanting to get away from the stress of Pierce, Layla goes to the bar that journalist Alberto had mentioned to her. She's in luck and happens to find Alberto there. They share a drink and he lets her in on some information that could potentially be great for her case. She also shares with him that she recently found out a friend of hers is using drugs and he offers her some advise that she has to mull over. After reconnecting with James, Layla jets off to New York to meet up with Bennett and to set up a sting to find out if Bennett is dirty. Layla ends up tipping off Bennett and compromises her own investigation. Back in Cairo Layla is feeling lonely without anyone around her and she agrees to meet up with her younger brother. She is surprised to see how much he has grown into a young adult and was worried about him getting into protest against the police at his University. On behalf of Bennett, Layla attends a gala and runs into Kyoshi Tanaka. He invites her to his home in Crete to view his valuable art collection. Knowing that she shouldn't be playing a dangerous game of going off alone with Tanaka, she must accept if she wants to get her investigation back on course.

3+ stars
This 5th installment of the False Idols serial starts out with Layla confronting Pierce about her addiction after finding her in the bathroom with a hypodermic needle. This leads to Pierce revealing her experiences while undercover for narcotics in New York and the reality that your character absorbs your real person over time.
Layla feels more isolated than ever after realizing that she no longer feels she can trust Pierce.
Layla next sets off to New York with James and Bennett where there are plans to setup Bennett with a buyer looking for "unique" goods. The hope is that Bennett will present artifacts with questionable provenance and an arrest can be made. At the last minute, Layla warns Bennett not to showcase the articles he originally plans to and the plans to make a bust unravel.
The romance with James to be a motivating factor and this installment sees them getting closer. Layla also connects with her brother, Rami, after a protest at his university has her worried for his safety. He pressures her to see her mother and family while she is in town.
This episode wraps up with Layla going to a gallery opening and meeting the elusive Kyoshi Tanaka, one of the persons that is suspected with funding the terrorist movement. She lures him in and Tanaka asks for her to come with him to his home in Crete.
I continue to enjoy the story, but how this episode wraps up is a little unbelievable to me. The fact that Layla doesn’t appear to make contact with Pierce and that Tanaka would even drop everything to bring a pretty girl to his home seems hard to believe.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher, Serial Box, for the opportunity to read this ARC.