★★★★ @AuthorCFeehan #CovertGame
Somehow this book slipped through and I never read it. I had to go back and read it because this series is one I love to read. This can be read as a standalone. I recommend reading the books in order more or less because it gives better insight into the secondary characters mentioned throughout the book. This one is action-packed and Mission Impossible style. I liked it.
Zara is one of the special orphans Dr. Whitney experimented on. Unlike other girls, she is known to the world as one of the leading cyber specialists. She is more than meets the eye because of what Whitney did to her body and brain. It's definitely fringe science. I can also see humans like Elon Musk wanting Zara's upgrades badly. I enjoyed the sci-fi aspect mixed with the espionage. Zara's specialty is pretty awesome but when she is detained and tortured, it is pretty brutal. When it comes to the art of torture, none are better than the Chinese. Too bad for Zara she's at their mercy.
Insert Gino, tasked with his team to find and extract Zara as a critical asset. Lovely to think of people as commodities, no? When these two meet, sparks fly, and once again, it looks like Whitney is a couple of steps ahead of the Ghost Walkers. As a fated mate plot, these two match up pretty well. Zara is exactly what Gino needs. What I liked about the dynamic is how the two could come across as perhaps Zara being too dependent or subservient to Gino. Ms. Feehan does a nice job of working through why Gino's dominant manner jives so well with Zara. It's a subtle nod at domestic discipline and I like it. The underlying D/s between Gino and Zara work because of their personalities and what they want in life. Sometimes old childhood friends can be overprotective and not understand this kind of relationship.
I devoured this book. It played out like an action flick in my head. The descriptions are so vivid, I was transported to each of the places. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the BDSM hostile portrayal of sadistic rich people who enjoy torturing people to get off. For those who are sensitive to abuse, rape, and brutal violation, there is one rather long chapter or so detailing these acts. The only reason why I'm still okay with the book overall is how Ms. Feehan does a compare and contrast as to why one is bad and one is not. This paranormal romance is recommended to readers who enjoy action flicks and alpha males.
