Saturday, February 23, 2008

No Control-Shannon K Butcher

No Control
Shannon K Butcher
Forever, Feb 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780446618663

Having survived a terrorist kidnapping in Armenia in which everyone else was killed, she had prayed that she would join them. Eighteen months later, not feeling safe even in her home in Columbia, Missouri, Lana Hancock suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, euphoria for being alive, and a horrific case of survivor's guilt. The nightmares make it impossible for her to sleep. Worse one of the evil abductors, Miles Gentry, appears in each of her horrific dreams as he saved her life but failed to prevent torture or keep the others alive.

Unbeknownst to Lana, Miles is actually undercover Delta Force operative Caleb Stone, who struggled to keep his identity concealed for fear of crippling his mission when all he wanted to do was rescue her. He would like to comfort her, but feels the best thing for Lana is to never see him again. However, the CIA believes she might be a target of the terrorist cell wanting to complete the job; Caleb is assigned to keep her safe; filled with guilt for allowing her to be battered, he vows to die if necessary to insure she is not harmed by these monsters.

Romantic suspense fans will have NO REGRETS after reading Shannon K. Butcher’s action-packed NO CONTROL due to the lead couple whose guilt complexes supersedes rational thought. Both are fascinating characters struggling to cope with the memories of that ugly incident; however, readers will especially find Miles interesting as he has regrets for not interceding earlier even though he knows logically it would have destroyed the mission. He keeps asking himself esoteric questions like whether freedom is a sham when innocent pawns are sacrificed for the common good. Fans will relish this strong character driven thriller as Miles has a second chance but he also knows he can never make up for what he allowed to happen to the woman he loves.

Harriet Klausner

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