Archive for the ‘Action-Adventure’ Category

GHOSTWALKERS BOOK 1:  SHADOW GAME
Christine Feehan
Performed by Tom Stechschulte
ISBN: 978-1440767043 (Unabridged Audio Book)
978-0515135961 (Mass Market Paperback)
B0010SB6Q8 (Kindle)
May 2010 (Audio)
August 2003 (Mass Market Paperback)
Penguin Putnam/Jove Books/Recorded Books
Paranormal Romance/Fantasy
Romantic Suspense

With the beginning of the Ghostwalker series by one of the queens of the paranormal genre, Christine Feehan tells the story of a brilliant billionaire scientist, Dr Peter Whitney, who experimented with humans who exhibited naturally strong psychic powers.  Working with a government grant, Whitney solicited willing volunteers for experimental purposes and then genetically tried to mold them into humans with superpowers. Unfortunately, the tests while enhancing some attributes also came with harmful after effects.   Not liking the direction his work seemed to be going, Dr. Peter Whitney brought his gifted daughter Lily Whitney in to consult on the top-secret project.

The group of highly trained military men headed under Captain Ryland Miller, who had originally volunteered for the program,  was now treated as a prisoner.  Ryland and his men had become virtually prisoners – never realizing that once trusted government officials were betraying his men and our country.

Lily begins to realize that something had gone terribly wrong for her father to want her opinion, brilliant as she was, Lily herself had been one of her father’s experiments.  Before Lily could question her father on what was really happening – he was killed and Lily was a psychic witness to his death.  Devastated, it would be up to Lily to help Ryland and his men decipher her fathers notes and try to save them all before they were all exterminated in an experiment falsely labeled as gone bad.

****  Talk about suspense – you got it! Talk about creativity and astonishing plotting complete with twists and turns; with who’s the bad guy; who do you trust? Then pick this up and become completely enthralled with the amazing rush you’re going to get as you delve deeper into Lily and Ryland’s world.

From the moment Lily and Ryland met on either side of his barred cell, both parties felt the ground shake and if that doesn’t tell you anything like maybe I just found my soul-mate, I don’t know what would.   The one thing that Lily and Ryland had going for them was the ability to mind-talk allowing them the privacy they needed for Lily to question what really had been going on at the facility.  After discovering that bad things were happening and more ‘accidents’ planned Lily along with Ryland had to escalate escape plans before Ryland and his men became toast.

This was an enormously fast-paced book with many things happening fast as Lily worked against time and pressures in trying to get to know a little bit about all the other members of the team – each having something quite unique in their make-up – and Lily being the only one that might be able to help them function in the outside world – before she could help them escape.

Now, I listened to this as an audio book and normally male readers don’t always get the female voices correct but I want to applaud Tom Stechschulte for actually doing a pretty fair job with Lily’s voice, and I absolutely adored the N’orleans twang he gave to Gator ( he made him sound sooooo sexy).

The story was great, the sex was extremely prolific and hard to spend so much time reading pages of loving when I was looking for more action.  However, Shadow Game was one amazing book and I can’t wait to read the sequels because this Ghostwalkers series is just plain awesome!  Loved it!!

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

DRAGON ONE BOOK 4: FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
Amy J. Fetzer
ISBN: 9780758231376
May 1, 2009
Kensington BRAVA
Romantic Suspense/Action-Adventure
Mass Market Paperback

Some years earlier deep undercover CIA agent Safia Troy had helped save Special Ops Marine Riley Donovan’s butt in war torn Serbia when Riley was attempting a non-authorized mission to rescue a friend.  Once loaded on the rescue helicopter, and though attracted, Safia waved him on his way never meeting again until Singapore when Safia inadvertently messed up Riley’s (now a member of the elite Dragon One Force) operation of bringing in a dangerous psycho scientist.  While both Safia and Riley had a bit of a stand-off in trusting one another with all the details of who they worked for, they both realized that their missions were somewhat related and working together for a common goal would yield the same results.  They might both be working for the same cause, but the stakes got higher and the passion anted up when betrayals,  and treason revealed themselves at the highest levels. 

*** Wow, wow, and wow!  Fetzer is fast becoming the ‘master’ of the Romantic Suspense thriller genre. This latest novel in her Dragon One series just gets better and better, filled with unbelievable complexity; edge of the seat drama; and mind boggling plot lines combined with deep and emotional sensuality.

Riley had met Safia in a most memorable when she had appeared as somewhat of a guardian angel to save his butt in Serbia.  Safia had seen Riley and his buddy airlifted out to safety but chose to stay behind to fight the good fight, although their parting kiss, did have her thinking twice.  They didn’t meet again until fate and a missed target brought them together causing Riley to lose his prisoner to the elusive arms dealer Safia was trying to bring down.  Both protagonists were top notch individuals with all the gadgets and firepower one assumes a deep undercover CIA agent and a Dragon One Operative would have at their disposal in tracking down criminals and terrorists. Think 007 Bond fancy gadgets – awesome!  Along with their gadgets and devices Fetzer came up with a horrendous villain(s) and their super secret weapons that were highly original and mind blowing in their complexity.   

The action simply does not stop and it is played out pretty much minute to minute within a short time frame switching seamlessly from one location to another. Filled with a plethora of intensely focused secondary characters who were all pivotal in team building to get the bad guys and save the world she’ll have you totally on the edge of the seat and ready to stay up all night to see the end result.  Fetzer just doesn’t miss a beat with a pace that keeps you reading right through from the first page to the last.  I am truly amazed at the creativity and skill it takes to keep so many ducks in a row with such a fast moving plot and Fetzger manages to do this time and time again. 

Anyone who is a fan of the Romantic Suspense Thriller Genre must add Fetzer as an auto-buy author and scoop up all of this author’s Dragon One series.  – She is an unbelievably talented author and I’m sure you’ll love her as much as I do after reading the first chapter of any of her books.  

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritizues.com