Judith’s review of Bound to Danger (Deadly Ops #2) by Katie Reus

At a benefit dinner, community activist Maria Cervantes overhears two men plotting a terrorist attack that could rock Miami to its core. But before she can alert authorities, she’s almost killed in a massive explosion—and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of what happened. As the sole survivor of the attack, she is now a person of interest to the NSA—and especially to Agent Cade O’Reilly. Because Maria is the one woman Cade has never been able to forget.
 
Years ago, they were closer than either was willing to admit—until Cade disappeared when Maria needed him most. Now he’s sticking by her, whether she likes it or not. Because the memories locked inside her mind could hold vital clues to the next attack. Because terrorists want her dead—and because he never wants to let her go again.

Right at the start I want to own up to the fact that this author is one of my all-time favorites.  Even fiction written under her alternate pen name (Savannah Stuart) bears the indelible mark of a writer who works very hard at putting a good story together and who works very hard at making sure that her research brings that wonderful flavor of authenticity and realism into her stories.

Katie Reus has now added a second novel to her new series about deadly black ops  operatives who may be very very good at their jobs but whose personal lives truly suck.  Here readers meet a man who is probably one of the best that has ever been recruited to work undercover for the NSA and whose focus has always been unwavering on the objectives of each of his missions.  But now he is dragged backward toward a woman whose presence in his life at one time brought light and life and hope for a future.  That is, until her brother–his best friend–was killed because of bad intel and now Cade once again is thrown into the trajectory of his old flame Maria.  That he cut off contact with her eight years earlier without any explanation, that he worked hard at putting memories of their near romance out of his mind, that he fought a losing battle with the fantasies of what might have been–all these now soared into the present reality of protecting her from threats to life and limb and the nature of which she can’t really remember.  Cade and Maria’s mutual attraction is, of course, partially due to their old history and to the unanswered questions of why he cut her out of his life so completely.  Yet those who read Ms Reus’ stories know that she seems to know the Marine mindset, the way they work things out in their consciousness, and she seems to have their military persona nailed.  At least, that is what a number of her readers have testified.  All in all, she seems to have created a story that brings two people together who have been scarred by the horror of war and who now must face the horror of terrorism and the pain it brings into the immediate spaces of hearth and home.

It seems fair to say that one of the aspects of this novel which I most appreciated was the craftsmanship and the care taken by this writer in creating this story.  She is obviously giving readers the benefits of her wide writing experience, but she has also taken great care to make sure that readers are not bugged unnecessarily by the presence of poor spelling, bad grammar, and incorrect tenses ( as an English teacher in my past life these simply drive me crazy).  Kudos go to Carina Press for their careful editing and my own appreciation for this.  I also believe that this novel is so good because the author has kept the action consistent, the characters true to form throughout, and the relationships filled with the stuff of real life.  We encounter distress and disappointment, hope and hurts, friendships that are deep and inviolable, and love that has stood the test of distance and silence and time.  These are the earmarks of good storytelling and they are all here.  There’s also the suspense and the action that goes with the black ops kind of story and the worry that we readers feel at trying to figure out who is really OK and whose the schmuck hiding in plain sight.  There’s always one, you know, and there are also shadowy figures who I think will be popping up in future novels in this series.  Will we ever find out if Levi gets his revenge or if there is someone out there who can thaw his frozen heart?  It’s also good to know that a hardass as the NSA director can be a sensitive human being every once in a while.

Best of all, this is a vastly entertaining read.  For those of us who like a mix of romance and suspense and all of it mixed in with those tattooed military types, this is a great read and one that I can heartily recommend.  I don’t give a five rating very often, but I think this book has earned it for the fine writing, the very good story, and for the depth of research that supports the story and characters throughout.

Yes, I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 and do so gladly.

The Series:

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This title is available from Signet.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.