Customer Reviews

Promises in the Dark (Shadow Force, Book 2)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the second book of the Shadow Force series Stephanie Tyler returns readers to the heart of darkness--Africa, specifically Sierra Leone and the shadowy world of black ops mercenary soldiers. "Promises In The Dark" opens 6 months following the action packed conclusion of "Lie With Me". After witnessing and being powerless to prevent the violent abduction of Dr. Oliva Strohm by the terrorist organization DMH (Dead Man's Hand), Zane Scott has been haunted by her cries for help and a picture of her that he holds close. Zane's brother Dylan, who we met in "Lie With Me" has finally gathered enough intel to enable Zane to find Olivia and bring her home. Zane therefore takes leave from his duties as a Navy SEAL and travels to Sierra Leone, a place that for him holds traumatic childhood memories.

Olivia Strohm is a brilliant transplant surgeon who has been to hell and back twice in her life, once as a child and now at the hands of DMH. Olivia has cleverly escaped her captors and been on the run from village to village trying to do what she can to help people in need. She has been living by her wits and trying to reconcile what she had to do to escape her captors. She is a lost, tortured soul, and trusts no one.

Zane expected Olivia wouldn't willingly accept that he was there to rescue her and comes armed with a number of tools to nurture her trust. Olivia however, doesn't want to leave Africa she as is terrified she will not be able to assimilate when she returns home. It takes all of Zane's patience and strength of character to convince Olivia, a woman whose psyche has been damaged nearly beyond repair. There were occasions while reading this story that I along with Zane nearly gave up on her.

Back in the US, Zane's brother, Delta Force operative Caleb Scott and his team have received intel indicating software developed by computer genius Vivienne Clare's father has come into the hands of DMH. The software has the potential to cause catastrophic events at home and abroad if used by the terrorists. Caleb therefore follows orders and brings Vivienne in for interrogation, and while it seems she has no knowledge of DMH or that they have come into possession of the software evidence suggests otherwise. Vivi isn't at all what Caleb expected and despite being involved in a dangerous mission with DMH breathing down their necks he is sexually attracted to her and she to him.

Readers are also introduced to the enigmatic Dr. J., a missionary with military background who runs a number of clinics throughout the country offering health care to the people in the surrounding villages. Additionally, he recruits mercenary soldiers who are sent to defend the clinics from any number of threats. Dr. J's right hand man is Tristan, a former Army Ranger with a traumatic history related to his youth and discharge from the service. Tristan is tough, lethal and sexy as hell. While he has not formerly attached himself to anyone or anything, Dr. J has earned his allegiance and Tristan has established relationships with the people in the neighboring villages. Enter Rowan, newly discharged from the Army where she served as a medic in Iraq. Rowan is a widow having lost her husband years earlier under the most horrific of circumstances. These two people can only be described as part of humanity's walking wounded, they act on an instantaneous attraction and find love under the worst, most dangerous of circumstances.

Ms. Tyler therefore wrote two romantic subplots into the narrative of this story which intersect with the main plot making for a tale that is suspenseful, frightening, sensual and action packed. The personal stories that are crafted for all three couples are bittersweet and at the same time beautiful. I experienced a number of emotions while reading "Promises In The Dark", fear, anguish, I cried, I smiled, but at the end of the day I was relieved. I wasn't sure until the closing pages whether Zane and Olivia were going to survive. I mentioned in my review of "Lie With Me" that I loved Zane from the first paragraph he was introduced in that novel, that feeling hasn't changed, in fact it intensified. IMHO "Promises In The Dark" is an extraordinary story.

If you enjoy an emotional, fast paced, sensual and dark romantic military suspense, you may like to give "Promises In The Dark" a try. I think this book could be read in isolation because Ms. Tyler does give enough background information for readers to be able to follow along without reading "Lie With Me". However, as with most series I think if you read "Lie With Me" first it would enrich your enjoyment of this story.

The second installment of Stephanie Tyler's Shadow Force books is fantastic. This one picks up much faster than the first book. Olivia and Zane story was just as good as fore shadowed in the first book.
The addition of Tristan and Rowen was unexpected and at first felt like a weird intruption but it soon developed into a hot well developed second story. If I had one complaint it is about Vivi and Caleb I think they should of had there own book. Their story was great although the tie in to the main story of Oliva and Zane was tenous at best. I know they are brothers but all he did was talk to his other brother Gabe on the phone about Zane. Vivi and Caleb story was really good and felt kind wasted in this book and left with a very unsatsfying conclusion leaving me to hope that they will be a main part of the next book although they arn't mentioned in the sneek peek at the end.
I love the small tie in to the Hard to Hold series. I don't partically remember Zane even as a background Character but I like that this series isn't in a vaccum.
I gave it 5 stars because 4 1/2 wasn't available. 1/2 point off for the Vivi and Caleb being a story on it's own and seperate from the main story, Gabe and Reilly supporting roles were to small, and Cam and Sky from "Promise in the Dark" did not even make and appearence. Stephanie Tyler is a really good author I have enjoyed this one as well as all her others. I am really looking foward to the next one!!!!

The Dead Man's Hand (DMH) terrorist cell kidnapped Dr. Olivia Strohm to teach a lesson to those who defy them; the doctor blew up one of their illegal organ transplant facilities. They tortured her and pumped drugs into her in order to keep her under their control while warning away other opponents. However, they failed to anticipate her inner strength as she escapes from captivity.

Olivia goes cold turkey by herself to rid the drugs from her system while hiding and surviving in the bush near Kambia, Sierra Leone for three months. Part of a failed SEAL rescue mission and having heard her screams while Olivia was held prisoner by DMH; Zane Scott takes leave from the Navy to search for her in order to bring her home to the States. However when he finds her she shocks him with a frying pan and when she hesitates about going home. Before he can learn why, DMH psychopaths are gunning for them. On the run, Zane knows the only way to keep Olivia safe is to destroy DMH.

The second Shadow Force suspense thriller (see Lie With Me) is an action-packed tale with a strong romantic element as the would-be rescuer is half in love with the good doctor even before they have met in person. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Olivia beams Zane in the head with the frying pan and never slows until a final hypothermic confrontation with DMH. With the wonderful African locale, Stephanie Tyler has served back to back aces while also setting up the next entry.

Harriet Klausner

I liked this book so much more than the previous one. Mostly because there was more romance and more sizzle. This was like reading an anthology of three gorgeous alpha males in one story. Wow!

It's been said that it is harder to write a review for a good book than for a bad book, and I believe that to be true. I read Promises the day it came out, and have been struggling to write this review ever since. The plot is summarized beautifully by more capable folks than I in previous reviews, so I will skip the rehash, mostly.

Zane and Olivia are our first couple. We know from Lie with Me that Zane is a litle obsessed with Dr. Olivia, so much so that he spends his leave searching the wilds of Africa for her. I loved Zane. He has deep emotional scars from a childhood trauma but has so much faith in Olivia. Olivia carries her own scars and is not as open to trust as is Zane. She is convinced that being near anyone is their ticket to death, and is reluctant to accept Zane's ability to protect her. Again, I loved Zane. Olivia plucked my nerves a little, and in Zane's shoes, there was a time or three I would have admitted defeat and left Olivia to her own devices. Even when he was completely exasperated with her, he showed the patience of a saint. Their connection was HOT, tense, and believable.

Caleb and Viv are couple number two. Viv is a computer geek, Caleb is the ultimate soldier and I cannot wait for the next book for the fulfillment of their story. I thought Viv was the perfect heroine, sweet, a little naive, a lot horrified at how her naivete landed her in a hot mess. Caleb seemed dumbstruck by his attraction to Viv and a little out of control, which is a good thing for him, as he is a control freak.

Tristan and Rowan round out the romance trifecta. Both bear nightmarish backgrounds which lends a bittersweet touch to their finding a second chance.

Stephanie Tyler's books resonate with me. I love how she weaves the subplots so that they flow seamlessly into the main story. I have said in previous reviews that she writes some of my favorite heros, and that certainly holds true in Promises in the Dark. It is tightly written, moves quickly, and stays with you long after you read the last page.

A really strong follow-up to Lie With Me. I loved Zane and Olivia and how their childhood horrors made them the perfect pair for one another. Tristan and Rowan added a nice touching bit of romance as well. Ms. Tyler - please don't leave us hanging on Caleb and Vivienne... I hope they'll be in book 3. And could you give Doc J a love interest too? Thanks!

Stephanie Tyler's new series is turning out to be pretty good. I didn't enjoy 'Promises in the Dark' quite as much as the first book, but this is a better-structured, better-written series than the author's earlier Navy SEALs books. However the multiple storylines and sometimes unprofessional actions on the parts of the characters in this edition made for a less than perfect book.

Something I noticed about this one is that it's the first Stephanie Tyler book I've read where there were funny moments. Some of the things the characters said and did made me smile. I hope she keeps that in her writing because it broke up what was otherwise a very serious story.

You could start here, but you'd be better off reading 'Lie with Me' first. The first book introduces Olivia and Zane's story, as well as a number of the characters who are in the background in this one. Olivia was abducted by a home-grown terrorist organisation and forced to steal and illegally transplant organs. She escaped and has been on the run for some time. Zane's only connection to her was the fact he heard her scream when she was dragged away, and since then he has been tracking her around the world. When he finds her in Africa she's reluctant to return with him.

Though the blurb only talks about Olivia and Zane, this book features three couples, devoting fairly equal time to all of them. This structure sometimes works in books and sometimes it doesn't. I liked all three couples and their storylines, but it becomes a little annoying when the secondary characters are more interesting and take over the book. The last few chapters were excellent, and went a long way to making up for the complaints I had.

A good portion of this story takes place in Africa, where Tristan and Rowan are working with a bunch of medics and mercenaries in the middle of nowhere. The third focus is on Zane's brother in the United States, and the IT expert he is guarding so she cannot be taken by the same terrorists.

I'm fine with fast-moving relationships, but not so fine with them when all three couples get together and are telling their life stories within an hour or two of meeting. I don't like people who have suffered months or years of trauma who are suddenly cured by making a grand confession to someone they've just met. In this book that was the case for Olivia, Zane, Rowan, Tristan, Caleb and Vivienne.

If you're guarding someone - and are the only person guarding that someone - you probably shouldn't take breaks to have sex with the person. There's nothing to say the bad guys aren't going to arrive in that time you're doing the business. It annoyed me because it happened more than once, with more than one set of characters, and as soon as they were done, the men went straight back into serious bodyguard mode. Yeah guys, you're hardcore military men...who like to take sex breaks every couple of hours.

I liked how everything came together in this one. The three storylines appeared to be pretty far removed from each other at the beginning, but the author did a good job of pulling it all together at the end. Usually with these kinds of stories I become impatient because I'm only interested in one or two of the plotlines and don't care about reading the others, but I was genuinely interested in what was going on with everyone here.

This was a solid entry to the series, but not the best. It had good characters and a complex storyline, but I didn't buy some of the life-changing situations the characters found themselves in.

From start to finish, I devoured Stephanie Tyler's second book in her new Shadow Force series. And this series just keeps getting better and better. Filled with an intensely exciting and sensual cast of characters along with thrilling explosive encounters, Tyler turns up the heat and non-stop action in this multi-layered story. And the epilogue left me craving for the next feast! This author writes all the elements required for an off-the-scale incredible read! If you're a romantic suspense fan, don't wait to read this series.

i really enjoyed this book. Zane was in love with Olivia before he even met her. They had both been kidnapped as children and it affected their relationship. They ended up bonding tightly because of the horrible childhood experiences. There was a lot of action with two Romance stories going on at the same time. Be prepared to go back and forth between Zane and Caleb. The two brothers are the featured Heros with both finding Love. It looks like she has set this up for a 3rd story with continuing Calebs love story and Noah possibly finding someone in the next one.

I thought this book was just as good as the first book in the series, Lie With Me. If you like romantic suspense, this series is for you. I loved it and can't wait for the rest of the series.