Review: Romantic suspense with a definite edge. An amazing read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 2, 2013
"Reasons to doubt him seemed infinite, but my desire to trust Sam had a heartbeat of its own now."I don't know whether to hug my Kindle close to my chest or fling it across the room. An Eye For Danger was exciting, thrilling, swoon worthy, and had me biting my nails and gasping in anger or surprise from beginning to end. The suspense portion of the story with all the evasive maneuvers while the hero and heroine are running for their lives made me think of The Pelican Brief. I spent all day reading this book and only reluctantly put it down long enough to make dinner.The story begins with Jules' jog through the park. Immediately we're made very well aware just how difficult such a simple task is for her. Jules suffers from PTSD, not just from her experiences as a war photographer, but from the car bomb that took the life of her fiance three years ago. Since then she has kept herself holed up in her apartment, living like a hermit. But with her usual dogwalker/dogsitter out of town, she's forces to take her only friend and constant companion, Max, for a walk. That's when she stumbles upon a crime in progress. She manages to save an injured man from being shot in cold blood, but now she has a target on her back. And then she unwittingly stumbles across Sam, the injured man. Instead of thanking her, he holds her hostage. But why would a man claiming to be the good guy, a cop, scare the living daylights out of her?From there the story really gets rolling when Sam manages to track her down and slip into her apartment. Even though she should be afraid of him, her instinct is to help him and try to get some answers. When another attempt is made on her life, she turns to the one man she doesn't fully trust. He won't tell her the truth about how she's somehow mixed up in his undercover operation for fear her knowledge could get her into even more trouble. With a murderer on her heels, and a steely cop trying to charm his way into her life, she doesn't know who is friend or foe. But Sam has caught a glimpse into her soul, and she in his. It may not be wise, but she has no choice but to put her life in his hands repeatedly.Jules was a great heroine, even if I wanted to shake her a few times. She's a broken woman, haunted by all the horrors she's captured via the lens of her camera - pain, suffering, and death. Witnessing the violent death of her fiance shattered her already fragile state and put a halt on her dreams. It's no wonder she had an aversion to violence. But all the trauma didn't seem to inhibit her sass or stubbornness one bit. Some of the quips she lobs back and forth with Sam were the many highlights of the book. I may not have agreed with all of her actions regarding Stone, but in her shoes, they seemed plausible. Doesn't mean I forgive her for a few of her decisions.Sam. Sigh. A real conundrum. On the surface he's sexy, motivated, smart and caring. But deep down he's nearly as broken as Jules. Undercover work has really done a number on him, and add to the fact that he may have traitors among his own ranks - that just sucks the life right out of someone like him. However his unwavering determination to see his mission through makes him a little crazy but very honorable. A hero even. But even someone like him also has personal secrets and demons. Either fate is cruel or has a sense of humor for throwing him and Jules together. Could two broken people find the will to live again, either because or in spite of each other?Their chemistry was there from the very beginning, and it drove me a little crazy with their near misses. But they felt right for a relationship that was blossoming under their circumstances. It felt like it was born more out of respect or admiration rather than just crazy lust at first sight. That made me like them even more because their push and pull felt and sounded real, believable. He didn't take advantage of her vulnerability, nor did she seek to forget her past in his arms. They had so many great moments both good and bad, but I felt like they both went on one hell of a journey and came out stronger on the other side.As for the story as a whole, I can only attribute my rapt attention on page after page to the fantastic dialogue and writing skills of Ms Fairchild. The dialogue witty, sarcastic, caustic, emotional, but the conversations never stalled. Descriptions of situations or the world around them were filled with details, sights, sounds, smells. I also loved the fact that I could never put my finger on who was good or bad. The game kept changing, taunts and hints were dropped that made me constantly change alliances. The author also knows how to write really twisted villains. I'll just say there was a scene towards the end that made my heart pound. This story was an emotional roller coaster, but one I'd gladly hop on again for the thrill of the ride. If you love reading romantic suspense with an edge, you won't want to pass this book up.Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.