New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards continues her penchant for “fantastic storytelling” (RT Book Reviews)
with this next heart-pumping romantic suspense novel, the tale of a
brilliant ornithologist trapped on the remote Attu Island in Alaska,
fighting for her life—and that of a handsome stranger—before they’re
swallowed up in darkness forever.
BOOM. That’s the sound that changes everything for Dr. Gina Sullivan, a renowned ornithologist on a group research grant trip on the remote island of Attu, Alaska. When an everyday outing turns sinister at the onset of one of Attu’s infamous storms, Gina expects thunder and lightning—but what she doesn’t see coming is the small jet plane that drops out of the sky and into the water mere feet from her boat. Even more unprecedented: there’s a sole survivor from the crash, and he needs Gina’s help. But it turns out that rescuing the stranger and getting them both out of the oncoming storm is just the beginning. Because the more Gina learns about James “Cal” Callahan, he of brooding eyes and muscled frame, the more she fears—for herself, and for him.
Cal has made a career of trading on government secrets and emerging unscathed—until a routine pickup goes horribly wrong and lands him in ice-cold water. Literally. He knows the plane crash was no accident and that there could very well be an enemy force currently combing the Alaskan island ensuring there were no survivors. Now if only the arrestingly beautiful bird-watcher with the clear-blue gaze would stop watching him, well, like a hawk. Cal convinces Gina to return to base camp and help him covertly get off the island. But when Gina makes it safely back to camp and finds her entire team murdered, all bets are off, and as darkness envelops the island, she must decide: trust a man she barely knows, or go it alone and risk running straight into the arms of a killer?
BOOM. That’s the sound that changes everything for Dr. Gina Sullivan, a renowned ornithologist on a group research grant trip on the remote island of Attu, Alaska. When an everyday outing turns sinister at the onset of one of Attu’s infamous storms, Gina expects thunder and lightning—but what she doesn’t see coming is the small jet plane that drops out of the sky and into the water mere feet from her boat. Even more unprecedented: there’s a sole survivor from the crash, and he needs Gina’s help. But it turns out that rescuing the stranger and getting them both out of the oncoming storm is just the beginning. Because the more Gina learns about James “Cal” Callahan, he of brooding eyes and muscled frame, the more she fears—for herself, and for him.
Cal has made a career of trading on government secrets and emerging unscathed—until a routine pickup goes horribly wrong and lands him in ice-cold water. Literally. He knows the plane crash was no accident and that there could very well be an enemy force currently combing the Alaskan island ensuring there were no survivors. Now if only the arrestingly beautiful bird-watcher with the clear-blue gaze would stop watching him, well, like a hawk. Cal convinces Gina to return to base camp and help him covertly get off the island. But when Gina makes it safely back to camp and finds her entire team murdered, all bets are off, and as darkness envelops the island, she must decide: trust a man she barely knows, or go it alone and risk running straight into the arms of a killer?
This is the first book I've read by Karen Robards which is a little surprising since I adore the romantic suspense genre. Well, looks like I've found a new author that I'll be following because this book was BAD. ASS.
I love this genre because you're never really sure how the book is going to play out. Sometimes it really focuses on the suspense, sometimes it really focuses on the romance and sometimes it's both. You're never totally sure which way it's going to be spun until you're white knuckling your book or Kindle, just waiting to see what is going to happen next. This one focuses mostly on the suspense but the romantic moments are awesome. The romantic scenes enhance the story rather than detract from it and it ratchets up the suspense quite a few notches.
I enjoyed getting to know Gina and Cal throughout this book. Gina is one of those perfectly flawed characters. There are a lot of skeletons in her past that she can't seem to overcome and that creates some friction between her and Cal. Cal has some demons of his own but they aren't nearly as serious as Gina's. You're able to see them struggle separately and together which also heightens the suspense because they each have their own way of dealing and those ways never seem to quite line up together. While neither are my favorite characters that I've ever read, I liked both of them and enjoyed their story.
The suspense part of the novel was pretty intense. There are quite a few things going on which requires some lengthy details. Sometimes those lengthy parts were a bit much ... I would have been okay if they were just a tad bit shorter. It seemed to just slow the book down but it never slowed down enough for me to start skipping paragraphs or pages.
All in all, this was a really good book. One that I'll probably read again in the future and Robards is definitely an author that I'm going to be on the lookout for when I'm scrounging for something new to read.
* I received this novel in exchange for an honest review *
Available: March 29th, 2016
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