Promises in the Dark

Promises In The Dark by Stephanie Tyler

On the run, in each other’s arms, with one last chance to survive…

A rugged Navy SEAL, Zane Scott was part of a failed mission to rescue Dr. Olivia Strohm from abduction by the terrorist group Dead Man’s Hand—and her anguished screams have haunted him ever since. So when he gets word that the beautiful physician has escaped from her captors in Africa, he’s got personal reasons to storm the continent and save her.

Like her would-be liberator, Olivia carries the burden of a dark secret from her past. Ruthless and relentless, the DMH has threatened to hunt her down—and to systematically hurt anyone she’s close to. The last thing she wants is to be rescued—even by someone as shockingly handsome as Zane. Yet the hotheaded special ops hero has come for her, and together she and Zane just might have a shot at not only stopping DMH’s reign of terror, but also saving what’s left of their souls.

--Promises in the Dark by Stephanie Tyler, Copyright ©2010 by Stephanie Tyler, published by Dell, an imprint of Random House, Inc

My Review

The continuation of Lie With Me, Promises in the Dark continues the story of the Scott brothers, focusing on Zane and Caleb (but mostly Zane). Inexplicably drawn to Dr. Olivia Strohm, he searches for her for six long months after she was kidnapped by international terrorist group DMH. She’s managed to escape her captors and disappear into the African desert. Zane tracks her down, though, and to get her back to the States, he must get her to Freetown, a coastal African that holds too many memories for Zane.

Meanwhile, brother Cael has taken on babysitter duties as he rescues Vivianna Clare, the daughter of a master computer programmer—and a pretty darned good programmer in her own right—before DMH can get their hands on her. Her father wrote a program vital to the nation’s security and DMH has stolen a copy. Now DMH and Vivi are in a race to find the only flaw in the program. DMH wants to exploit it and Vivi wants to fix it. Who’s going to win this race?

I give this story THREE STARS.

Lie With Me

Lie With Me by Stephanie Tyler

Forced together by fate, bound together by desire…

Framed for a double murder, Delta Force operative Cameron Moore is given a new lease on life by the CIA—provided he pays them back by doing their black ops dirty work. But now Cam is ready to renegotiate the deal, and he thinks he’s found the perfect bargaining chip: Skylar Slavin, bestselling author of espionage thrillers and the daughter of the CIA man who saved Cam from a prison sentence.

Skylar has been living in anonymity, never suspecting that someone so dangerous—and so desirable—would plunge her into a world as treacherous as one of her spy novels. But how can Cam go through with his plan to kidnap Skylar when just the sight of her sets off an explosive attraction he’s never experienced before? And when Skylar falls prey to an even more perilous threat, this special ops soldier must call upon all his combat skills to protect the one person who can help him win his freedom—and the only woman he’s ever loved.

--Lie With Me by Stephanie Tyler, Copyright ©2010 by Stephanie Tyler, published by Dell, an imprint of Random House, Inc

My Review

Lie With Me is an elaborately constructed, multi-layered story that hits the ground running and never lets up until the very end. (I hate to use such obvious clichés, but I couldn’t think of any other way to say it.) After eleven long years, Cameron Moore is finally free from his obligation to CIA handler, Gabriel Creighton. At least, that’s what he thought, until he finds himself being followed by a stealth helicopter. Climbing aboard, he finds his handler’s usual messenger, but what’s unusual is the handgun the man is holding. Wanting only to be free of Creighton’s hold, he kills the messenger… literally…and heads for the home of his friend, Dylan Scott.

With Dylan’s help, Cam devises a scheme to finally rid himself of Gabriel Creighton. The man has a daughter, Skylar Slavin. The public knows nothing about their relationship, a necessary step to keep Skylar safe, but now Cam knows, and he’s determined to use her to get Creighton off his back forever. What he didn’t count on was the immediate attraction he would feel for her.

Skylar feels it too, and when the power goes out, they give in to the inevitable force pulling them together. Believing Cam was sent by her father to protect her, she puts her trust in him. And when a group of kidnappers arrive to grab Skylar, they’re forced to go on the run.

To add to the already complicated situation, Cam finds out—through Dylan—that it’s believed Creighton was kidnapped by Dead Man’s Hand, a terrorist group based in Morocco, and they want to use Skylar—in rather unpleasant ways—to get information out of him. Cam must rely on his training and his cunning to free Creighton from DMH and to keep Skylar safe and alive.

I give this story THREE AND A HALF STARS.