Desperate Deeds - Dee Davis

Desperate Deeds
Dee Davis
Forever/Grand Central

Romantic Suspense


Tyler Hanson thinks she’s on a fairly routine delivery mission. Of course, nothing is completely routine when you work with the CIA and the delivery consists of prototypes for a new detonator mechanism. There’s only Tyler and her two armed escorts, and she makes the seemingly outrageous decision to stop in the middle of the road for a downed motorcycle with no rider. It all turns out to be a fairly obvious ambush, but her backstory later explains this decision, and it’s clear that her enemies know exactly how to push her buttons. The bottom line is that the detonators are gone, her two military escorts are dead, and it looks a lot like Tyler set up the whole thing.

Enter Owen Wakefield, a British agent who was waiting on the other end to take possession of the detonators. The two of them commiserate over the situation, drink, and end up in a one-night stand. Except that Owen gets orders to work with Tyler’s group, ostensibly to retrieve the detonators, but in actuality to try and pinpoint the mole clearly working from within the group. Since Tyler is the munitions expert, she and Owen work together, trying to hide what went on the first night they met.

This is the third in a series including DARK DECEPTIONS and DANGEROUS DESIRES, and the author does not disappoint here. Each book can be read as a standalone, with the common thread of a possible mole working within the group to sabotage their efforts. That subplot is wrapped up very nicely here, and the outcome is honestly surprising. In addition to this mystery, there’s personal loss involved for both Tyler and Owen, and the author manages to weave this into the action with great expertise.

These detonators could be used to create a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb, so finding them is clearly a top priority. Fortunately for readers everywhere, Tyler and Hunter are professional enough to get on with it with a minimum fuss. There’s plenty of action, and the pacing is quite fast. As always the suspense/action plot far outweighs the romance plot, and that’s exactly the way I like it. There’s death, murder, treachery, and gunfights here, so those looking for a cute story should look elsewhere. Those of us who enjoy a great action story will be right at home. I hope to see much more from this author.

Rating: 7 ¾
August 2010
ISBN# 978-0-446-54202-9 (paperback)