If you’re into fast-paced thrillers with intense action, emotional depth, and morally gray characters, The Bait by N.R. Walker (book two in The Milvus Files series) might just hit the spot. Following the events of The Kite, this installment takes readers from the calm of Tallowwood, Australia, to Eastern Europe, where love, secrets, and political shadows collide.
The Bait by N. R. Walker Series: The Milvus Files Series #2
Genres: Contemporary, MM Romance, Suspense
Buy Links:Buy on Amazon
When three men turn up in their sleepy little town of Tallowwood, Harry and Asher know something’s wrong. Not because someone could find them, but the fact that Asher’s informant and oldest friend, Yunho, failed to alert them. Messages and phone calls unanswered; Harry and Asher go to Thailand to find Yunho is missing.
Harry and Asher find themselves thrown back into the game of shadows and murder, in a race across the globe to find him and find who’s behind the kidnapping.
The list of their enemies is long, their web of entanglement even longer, and Harry and Asher are about to find out once and for all who is predator and who is prey.
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The Bait continues the thrilling story of Harry and Asher, now settled in the peaceful town of Tallowwood, until everything is flipped upside down. Asher’s longtime friend Yunho has vanished, along with his lover Lucas, and their private island has been completely ransacked.
Used to being guided by Yunho, Asher is thrown into unfamiliar territory, lost and unsure of his next move. What follows is a globe-trotting investigation packed with violence, political schemes, and emotional tension.
Jacob and August from Tallowwood also make an appearance here, providing glimpses of life back in the sleepy town as Asher and Harry dive headfirst into international chaos.
This book is intense. There’s action, blood, and a lot of darkness, more graphic than the first book in the series, but what stood out most to me was Asher’s growth. He’s vulnerable here, facing ghosts from his past and embracing the emotional side of his relationship with Harry. Their bond isn’t just physical; it’s deeply rooted and raw, and that gave the story its strongest moments for me.
Now let’s talk story—without spoilers, for now.
I love a mystery, and this book gave me plenty of it. But I’m honestly torn on whether The Bait needed to exist at all. It feels more like a bridge to set up book three than a complete narrative on its own. The political threads were murky, some plot holes raised more questions than answers, and a few twists required some serious suspension of disbelief. I caught myself rolling my eyes more than once.
Still, seeing Asher and Harry in their full ruthless mode was entertaining and worth the ride. I’ll definitely be reading book three, and if you enjoy action-heavy thrillers and love following characters through a morally complicated world, this one might be right up your alley.
“Your eyes were never dead,” Harry whispered. “They were,” Asher replied. “Before you.”
⚠️ Now, let’s get into some spoilers because I have thoughts.
Okay, first: Yunho is a tech genius, multimillionaire, and lives on a private island. And yet somehow, a couple of guys in an inflatable boat show up, kill his only guard, and abduct him? That made me immediately question everything.
And then those same invaders knew his phobias, knew where the bunker was, what to take everything. It screamed inside job. But that angle? Never resolved.
Also, if Asher was meant to be used as bait for the villain, why were those Croatians trying to kill him? It doesn’t add up if he’s supposed to be important later.
And what about Harry on The Kite? Was he unknowingly working for the Milvus Project and the Australian government at the same time? Who betrayed whom? I don´t understand.
Now, let’s talk about August. If he chose to warn Harry and Asher about the “tourists,” that’s taking sides. So why stay quiet about the Croatians disappearing, but then snitch on the weapons in their home? Either you’re by the book or you’re not, August. Pick a lane.
Lastly… that epilogue. It should have been from Harry or Asher’s perspective, especially after everything Asher went through to exist on paper. That moment had weight, and we lost it to a random sex scene from characters we barely know. Disappointing.
Final Rating: 3.5 stars!
What did you think of The Bait? Did the twists work for you, or were you also left with more questions than answers? Let’s talk theories in the comments!
About N. R. Walker
N.R. Walker is an Australian author, who loves her genre of gay romance. She loves writing and spends far too much time doing it, but wouldn’t have it any other way.
She is many things; a mother, a wife, a sister, a writer. She has pretty, pretty boys who she gives them life with words.
She likes it when they do dirty, dirty things…but likes it even more when they fall in love. She used to think having people in her head talking to her was weird, until one day she happened across other writers who told her it was normal.
She’s been writing ever since…
