Saturday, May 2, 2015

Running Fire - Lindsay McKenna

Running Fire
Lindsay McKenna
Harlequin HQN, Apr 28 2015, $7.99
ISBN 9780373788934

In Afghanistan, U.S. Army 80th Shadow Squadron Captain Brian Larson and Chief Warrant Officer Leah Mackenzie fly a helicopter into a dangerous sector to pick up a SEAL team in the mountainous Hindu Kush one mile from the Pakistan border.  However, enemy fire destroys the helicopter killing Larson, but Mackenzie escapes.  Watching the crash, Navy SEAL Chief Kell Ballard extracts Mackenzie from the wreckage.  Surprised he is a she, Kell carries the unconscious Warrant Officer to safety in a cave he uses while on his mission to eliminate a Taliban terrorist.

Grateful for the rescue, Leah distrusts any military with a Y chromosome; having been abused by her ex-husband.  To Leah’s shock, Kell shows kindness and compassion towards his cave-mate that leads to the pair sharing wonderful sex.  As they fall in love, Kell and Leah know that soon they must run through a Taliban gauntlet.  If they make it back alive, they will be greeted by the duplicity of her former spouse to tarnish Leah.

The eighth Shadow Warrior military romantic thriller (see Taking Fire, Never Surrender and Breaking Point) is an exciting suspense.  Lindsay McKenna captures the sense of the amorphous front as survival behind enemy lines proves even more difficult than when enemy lines were somewhat fixed rather than ever changing.  Although Leah seems too emotionally weak to be a search and rescue pilot in a war zone, Running Fire is an electrifying drama.


Harriet Klausner

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