Taken by Fire-Sydney Croft

Taken by Fire
Sydney Croft
Bantam, Jun 28 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780385342292

Agency of Covert Operations (ARCO) operative Stryker Wills watched in helpless horror the ice-blooded fire-starter Phoebe Milan kill his friend Akbar. He vowed to avenge Akbar’s murder by killing this cold ruthless pyro-kinetic psychopath.

Stryker catches up with the predator, but realizes something is wrong. The woman is not the evil flamethrower, but instead her sister Melanie the ice maker. To his chagrin the ARCO agent is attracted to Melanie. However, he soon learns due to genetic reengineering, the siblings share the same body, but control different brain parts with evil Phoebe as the dominant one mostly running the show until now. Passive Melanie takes charge as love battles hate for control of their host body while Stryker needs the sister who has his back instead of the one stabbing his back as they save the world.

This is an incredibly inventive finish to the ACRO science fiction saga as the multiple subplots will keep readers wondering what next. Fast-paced and loaded with action, the strange triangle makes for a powerful thriller. The hero wants to save one sibling while killing the other; and his superiors and peers demand he assassinate both to insure fire does not overwhelm ice as it has frequently done and argue besides inertia means guilt by tacit association. Sydney Croft writes a brilliant ending to one of the best series in recent years.

Harriet Klausner