Review: Ultimate Weapon by Shannon McKenna

Posted January 8, 2009 by Casee in Reviews | 5 Comments

Genres: Romantic Suspense

Tamara’s a bad girl with a dangerous difference. Enter a terrifying, sexually charged world of thrilling suspense, where love is the riskiest game of all.

THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST

Covert operations are what Val Janos is all about. The man is mysterious and sinister, and lethally hot. Only Tamara can understand the strange intensity that drives him to win at all costs-and only she can match it.

Val has one weak spot: Imre, the frail old man who befriended him when he was a scared, hungry kid abandoned on the streets of Budapest. But Daddy Novak knows about Imre, and Imre’s head is on the block if Val doesn’t deliver Tam up to Novak’s tender mercies.

A white-hot passion explodes when Tam and Val get too close. They both have too much to be afraid of, too much to hide. And now, for the first time, too much to lose.

Shannon McKenna writes the most seemingly irredeemable heroes. At times her heroes remind me of Anne Stuart’s heroes. These are heroes that are beyond alpha males. So far beyond that as you are reading the book, you’re questioning how this man could actually be a hero. That was the case with Val Janos. While there were obvious good qualities in his characters, somethings he did was just awful.

Tamara has been a fixture in the McCloud world since the first book, Behind Closed Doors. The end of the last book, Extreme Danger, shows a different side of Tam. A soft side that a traumatized child relates to. I really liked how Shannon wrote the relationship between Tamara and the child, Rachel. She made it clear that Rachel recognized a kindred spirit in Tamara and Tamara would be the only person that could really help Rachel. The fact that it was Tamara could at first seem laughable, but then you realize how much it works.

Tamara has a backup plan to her backup plan. When Val Janos forces her out of hiding, Tamara has no idea how or why. The fact that the man has enough power to flush her out is disturbing. Tamara wouldn’t care except that Rachel needs her. When she finds out why Val really wants her, she wants to run in the opposite direction. Unfortunately Val makes retreating impossible. For if she did so now, she’d always be looking over her and Rachel’s shoulder.

When Val first started surveiling Tamara, he’s intrigued. He knows exactly what kind of woman she is, yet he sees the mother that makes sure her child is safe. That intrigues him even as he knows that he has to get her to do what he wants. There are few things that Val actually care about, one of them being Imre, an old man that took him in as a child and showed him that life could be good. When Daddy Novak takes Imre and tells Val to get Tamara, there is nothing Val can do except get her. No matter what the cost.

If Val is an unlikely hero, Tamara is an unlikely heroine. This is a woman that has never known a day of happiness. Her past comes to light in this book and we really get a look at the kind of person Tamara could have turned out to be. And while they might be unlikely people to fall in love, they work perfectly together. Their personalities compliment each other perfectly. While the suspense part of the book was good, seeing Tamara fall in love with Val was really what I liked about the book. I always love Shannon McKenna’s books and this one was no exception.

4.75 out of 5

This book is available from Brava. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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5 responses to “Review: Ultimate Weapon by Shannon McKenna

  1. I think I have this one in my pile somewhere – I’m thinking I should dig it out sooner than later. Thanks for the review!

  2. Lori

    This just came in the mail from Amazon yesterday. I cannot wait till the weekend when I’ll have the uninterrupted time to read it. I’m such a Shannon McKenna whore!

  3. Anonymous

    I love Shannon McKenna’s books. I have Ultimate Weapon, but haven’t read it yet. I can’t wait to read about Kevin McCloud.

    Diana

  4. Kaetrin

    It’s nice to see someone who thinks of McKenna’s work the way I do! I really enjoyed this book. I was wondering how McKenna would show a vulnerable side to Tam without being totally inconsistent to her character and I really liked Val. I think that Tam’s man had to be someone like him – they’re like peas in a pod, understanding each other’s traumas and drawing hope from the fact that the other is still there after everything and hasn’t turned into a total sociopathic freakazoid.

    I think I liked Davy and Margot’s book (Out of Control) best of the series so far but this one is a close second.

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