Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Bookish Thoughts: Acceptable Risk

 


Description:

Sarah Denning is a military journalist with the Army in the Middle East when her convoy is attacked and she's taken hostage. When former Army Ranger Gavin Black is asked by his old unit commander--Sarah's imposing father--to plan an extremely risky rescue, he reluctantly agrees and successfully executes it.

Back in the US, Sarah is livid when she's discharged on a false psychiatric evaluation and vows to return to the Army. Until she learns of her brother's suicide. Unable to believe her brother would do such a thing, she puts her plans on hold and enlists Gavin to help her discover the truth. What they uncover may be the biggest story of Sarah's career--if she can survive long enough to write it.


About the Author:
Lynette Eason is the bestselling author of Collateral Damage and Protecting Tanner Hollow, as well as the Blue Justice, Women of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Hidden Identity, and Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, among others. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and has a master's degree in education from Converse College. Eason lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children. Learn more at www.lynetteeason.com.


My Thoughts:

Give me a good suspense book and I’ll happily spend the day reading. Give me a great one and I’ll stay up half the night finishing it. This one falls into the “great” category, without a doubt. 


Though there are several authors of suspense novels whose works I very much enjoy, I’ve yet to find one who keeps me turning pages like Ms. Eason does. She always leaves me guessing and wanting to rush on to see what’s going to happen next! Her stories are definitely on the opposite end of the spectrum from boring and I’ve learned to never start one later in the evening, unless I want to be up reading until well past midnight. I do have to say, I was surprised that I actually guessed correctly “whodunit.” I’m not typically right when it comes to Ms. Eason’s stories, but this one did seem a little obvious, even though I didn’t quite know the “why?” behind it. Though that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story at all. It just gave me more questions and reasons to stay up and keep turning the pages despite knowing my baby would be up a lot earlier than I would like.

"And that's what real strength is. 
Pressing on when it would be much easier to simply give up."
-Gavin Black

Sarah Denning is a compelling character. I so appreciated her strength and determination, despite her life being quickly upended in more ways than one. She hasn’t had an easy go of it and willingly admits that some of it has been her own doing. The story focused a lot on her, which I found very fitting. Not that Gavin Black doesn’t have his own issues, they just weren’t at the forefront like Sarah’s were. This book tackles family dysfunction, PTSD, suicide, and other mental illnesses. My heart broke with Sarah, for the grief she battles and the internal war with forgiveness. Gavin’s level-headedness, compassion, and integrity were much needed in light of everything she was dealing with. He obviously cares for Sarah and does his best to protect her and be the friend she needs during a very difficult time. I really enjoyed the fact that he’s not entirely the stereotypical suspense novel hero. He has a few of the usual traits, but I found it was his foibles that made him instantly likable. I also really enjoyed getting to see some familiar faces from “Collateral Damage.” As soon as I turned the last page, I was online, looking to see whose story would be next . . . I have to confess, I’m slightly disappointed that it’s not Caden’s. But I’ll still just be over here, waiting for the next one to come out . . . .and probably binge reading her previous books until then.

Thanks for stopping by!  Sorry for the weird look this one has - they updated the website and I'm still trying to figure it out, haha!
If you have time to leave a comment, please let me know who your favorite suspense author is!  I'm always looking for new recommendations, though our bookcases overflow-ith as it is. :)

Have a lovely day! 
 


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