Stevie‘s review of Devil and the Deep (Deep Six, Book 2) by Julie Ann Walker
Contemporary Romantic Suspense published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 05 Jul 16
The premise of this series is very appealing: former comrades-in-arms retire from the military, but instead of working in security or any form of covert ops, they form a deep-sea-salvage company with the aim of finding one particular treasure. Along with the main story, we also get to see snippets of how the ship carrying that treasure came to be sunk and why the treasure has remained lost for so long. Of course, with this series occupying the same political setting as Walker’s Black Knights series, our heroes’ retirement is never going to be as uneventful as they think they want, particularly given some of the women whose paths cross theirs.
Maddy Powers met the guys from Deep Six Salvage once before, when her yacht was hijacked by terrorists. She’s tried to put the incident out of her mind, but has kept in touch with one of her rescuers: Bran Pallidino, with whom she shared a kiss; however, their relationship is now strictly a platonic one, much to Maddy’s frustration.
Bran is attracted to Maddy, but grew up in a household dominated by his abusive father and is traumatised from seeing the physical and emotional damage done to his mother by the man she claimed to love. As a result, Bran is wary of the irrational decisions love causes people to make and is convinced that his occasional bouts of temper are a prelude to his becoming just like his father, should he ever enter into any kind of committed romantic relationship. When Maddy emails Bran to tell him she’s taking three scholarship students on a camping trip to an island not far from the Deep Six base, Bran tries to find excuses not to visit; however, the fates and his colleagues are conspiring against him and he ends up making the trip anyway.
Meanwhile, Maddy and her three students have introduced themselves to the island’s only semi-permanent resident, a park ranger named Rick, and are planning where to set up camp when a group of gunmen attack and take them all hostage. While this is a remarkably similar scenario to that in which Maddy and Bran met, the politics and motivations of the group behind the kidnap are very different to that of the previous organisation, and Maddy has learned a lot about herself since then. She also has an idea that Bran is on his way, and so fights doubly hard to escape in order to help rescue the others later.
I like the way Bran and his colleagues couldn’t have attempted the rescue without Maddy’s extensive knowledge of the island’s main buildings – gained during her pre-trip research – and that Maddy is very insistent on helping them, as is Alex – the third member of the Deep Six party, and another woman engaged in a slightly confusing-to-her friendship-cum-potential-relationship with one of the Deep Six guys. I hope we get to see the conclusion of that one soon, as Alex came across as an even more multi-layered heroine than Maddy.
All in all, a strong addition to the series, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Deep Six guys and gals, as well as learning more historical details about the elusive treasure they’re searching for.
Grade: B
Summary:
A COVERT MISSION
Maddy Powers’s life revolves around cocktail parties, political fundraisers, and charity events – but she can’t forget the daring former SEAL who appropriated her father’s yacht a few months ago … or the scorching kiss they shared before he disappeared into the deep blue sea.SPARKS A FLAMING DESIRE
Bran Pallidino carries a dark secret behind his lady-killer eyes – one that keeps him from pursuing a serious relationship with Maddy. But when she’s taken hostage during a trip to the Dry Tortugas, the men of Deep Six Salvage drop their treasure hunt for a sunken galleon and embark on a dangerous mission to save Maddy.WITH EARTH-SHATTERING REPERCUSSIONS
As they fight her merciless kidnappers, they discover this isn’t a simple hostage situation, but something far more sinister. Passion boils between Bran and Maddy, but what good is putting their hearts on the line if they don’t survive the dawn?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
