Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Review by The Reading Reviewer, Mary Gramlich, August 26, 2009
Lucy Donovan is a scrappy fighter with the ability to infiltrate enemy lines and consistently get the job done in her capacity as a trained CIA operative. Lucy does not do helpless and she absolutely has no time for complicated emotions. Lt. James "Gus" Atwater is a Navy Seal working as part of an elite CIA support and he has no time for anyone that does not understand the meaning of teamwork. What these two don't know is that none of their training or covert operative experience is going to help them when they meet up again after many years apart and have to face all the demons that a past relationship has, especially one where there are unresolved issues.
Gus and Lucy knew each other in college and had shared many secrets and desires as young lovers, but grown up plans pulled them apart and adult aspirations kept them away from one another. Now though they must face each other as both of them are called into service by the CIA and have to stand up to terrorists that have no interest in anything but money and revenge. Their mission is one of hostage rescue in a third world country while posing as a married couple under the guise of UN diplomacy. They will work with negotiators in close quarters and tight spaces trying hard to ignore the pented-up feelings toward each other that never went away while they get the job done. Trying to keep things professional and uncomplicated while terrorists are surrounding you is easier said than done because love comes in the strangest places under the most dire of circumstances. The love burns strong between them and the emotions are fueled by not only love but fear that this might be the only time they will ever have together again. They both want to think of tomorrow but how can they when the thought that this is the last day on earth is surrounding them.
But as with all great plans this one comes apart very quickly and Lucy and Gus realize that not only do they need to understand the meaning of teamwork they have to rewrite it. The Columbians suspect them of being spies, the other "negotiators" don't trust enough to reveal all the details of the trips and Lucy's fear that she is falling back in love with Gus is not a match that should make for happy endings under good times but in the jungle with terrorists how is it possible.
This amazing book cannot be summed up with one word or another because it is so many things all at once. It is a wonderful romantic story with Lucy and Gus working through old feelings and new emotions, as well as, adventuresome with the trip through the jungle and detailing sophisticated spy gadgets. It is also an underlying story of survival with the hostage victim's plight being explained and a feeling of true sadness at their blight. It is a great author that can draw all this out in a book and this series has shown that the storyline can continue, the drama unfold and romance still survive under any circumstances.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read....could have been better, August 30, 2009
I love Marliss Melton's books. I should say this right off so people won't think this is a negative review although I think it could have been better. I am one of these people that absolutely hates when a romance authors describes her male lead character as a "Navy Seal" and thats it. They get away with throwing the name out and their lack of research by saying "well I try to be accurate to the "spirit" of the SEALs" and yet they then cast their male lead as a "rogue SEAL." To me it is just irritating and I think, ultimately, it is insulting to the men who are actually SEALS, or in other Special Ops.
Marliss Melton doesn't do that. She actually understand and accuarately writes about the training, the military mindset, lifestyle, the weapons used, the toll Special Ops can take on the men physically, mentally and emotionally and how a mission is completed and the tactics used to complete that mission. The fact that she does this makes her books richer and more entertaining.
Unfortunately, she doesn't always take that attention to detail and apply it to whatever Latin American country she is setting her novel in. She tends to try to shove the country into her novel as opposed to actually learning about the country and its history and sometimes, her mistakes make me cringe. For example, in one part of the novel, Gus they find a map that is in code, Lucy gets all excited and starts asking, "Is it in Incan?" "Is this Incan?" The answer is No Lucy (and Marliss) it isn't and never could have been written in the Inca language because the Incas didn't have a written language. There are some "written" languages that date back to Pre-Colombian times but they used by other Indigenous groups and they are in hieroglyphic form. Both Gus and Lucy should have known...and in real life..would have known..that it could not have been Incan. I think Marliss wanted to try to show she knew something of the region but she just kind of dropped the ball by introducing the Incas in the story given the fact that she didn't do her research and didn't understand the culture she refers too even briefly. Those little mistakes really sour the story. Although she did get the FARC and its ideology correct.
Secondly, I agree with another poster when she says that we should have known more about Lucy's and Gus's previous love affair. I think it would have been very sweet part of the story. Also, it would have been nice to have a little bit more interaction with the SEALS only because after reading all of her books, I have a vested interest in finding out what happens to them. I want to know if they live "happily ever after."
So, I give the book 4 stars. It still is a really good book. I just hope that in her next book, she researches the country/history better and she treats us to the boys more.
Dena:0)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
amazing, August 29, 2009
Lucy Donovan, an exceptional CIA agent, barely survived her last mission and is still battling with the trauma she was put through but months later she is already eager to get some action again. But this time she is not alone but has to play wife to Navy SEAL Gus Atwater on a mission to rescue two American hostages held by the FARC in the Columbian jungle.
Gus is the SEAL that rescued Lucy months before and he is also the man whom Lucy was in love in college. Years ago she broke up with him after something shocking happened to her but it's clear that there is still unsolved business between them. To survive their mission they have to work together and especially have to trust in each other once more. Deep in FARC territory they soon get close again but to really have a future they first of all have to survive the cruelty dealt to them by the terrorists.
"Show no Fear" by Marliss Melton is a great book which I enjoyed reading a lot. I'm very sensitive about books that use extensive torture, rape scenes every few pages and I'm very happy that Marliss Melton doesn't write that way. She never crosses the line about what is too much for the heroine and hero to deal with. Normally I'm reading only straight romances but for Marliss Melton I'm making an exception because I just enjoy her books a lot.
Lucy is a great heroine that realizes after years of self-doubt that life is worth living and that there is no need to feel guilty about being a survivor. Gus is there for her from the first moment they meet again and I loved reading how they got together again. Gus is the kind of hero you have to love. He's a strong man with deep feelings who will do everything for the woman he loves.
I also enjoyed meeting the rest of Gus's SEAL team again and can't wait to read the next book by Marliss Melton.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
