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Book Review of Shattered (High Risk, Bk 3)

Shattered (High Risk, Bk 3)
Shattered (High Risk, Bk 3)
Author: JoAnn Ross
Genre: Romance
Book Type: Paperback
CherryDuck avatar reviewed on + 150 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


Book #3 in the High Risk Series

Army Night Stalker pilot, Shane Garrett, and Doctor Kirby Campbell engage in a short but steamy war time romance. When their lives change course, they go their separate ways. Then while Kirby is working in Pakistan she gets the opportunity to see her one time lover again, briefly, to save his life and send him on his way. Eighteen months later they are forced together again when they team up to rescue her friend from being held hostage in Central America.

I am a long time fan of JoAnn Ross, but she has really let me down with this series. I wasnt crazy about the first book; I liked the second book a little more, but barely. This third book is probably my least favorite of the bunch. This was more of a recap on military action, than a romantic suspense. That wouldnt have been bad had the action been believable. But I just found it really hard that a team of retired SEALs would bring along an ex-Army Doctor to rescue a civilian hostage from drugged up rebels in the midst of a violent civil war.

Ms. Ross has so many anagrams and military sayings in this book, I felt like the use of it was unnecessarily excessive. If the main character said Night Stalkers dont quit one more time I was going to scream.

The romance is virtually non existent. The author establishes said romance by a brief reminiscing done by Kirby and Shane in the beginning of the book. Kirby and Shane dont actually see each other in the present day till chapter 25, they dont get together in the biblical sense until the book is almost over and in the middle of all that they never have a real conversation. Meanwhile we are supposed to believe that these two are in unrequited love with one another from a romance that happened about 2 years ago?

The whole book just moved so slow, I found myself skipping over most of the military mumbo jumbo hoping to find it pick up the pace somewhere. It never did. There was a secondary couple involved, Michael and Rachel, that I hoped would spice things up, but their romance was even more invisible than Shane and Kirbys. I can only hope she will give them a proper story in a future book.

Like the previous two books in this series, the author has moseyed her way through 360 pages only to wind up the entire story in a frenzied last 10 pages. She gets you to their destination, solves the problem and then fills you in on all the characters futures. Its not smooth, and it comes off as borderline ridiculous. All in all this was a below average book from a usually above average author. I am not even sure if I want to read, let alone buy the fourth one.

Cherise Everhard, January 2009