Promises in the Dark: Shadow Force #2

Promises in the Dark
Stephanie Tyler
Shadow Force, book two
ebook, 368 pages
Published November 23rd 2010 by Random House Publishing Group
ISBN 9780440339724


On the run, in each other’s arms, with one last chance to survive.

A rugged Navy SEAL, Zane Scott was part of a failed mission to rescue Dr. Olivia Strohm from abduction by the terrorist group Dead Man’s Hand—and her anguished screams have haunted him ever since. So when he gets word that the beautiful physician has escaped from her captors in Africa, he’s got personal reasons to storm the continent and save her.

Like her would-be liberator, Olivia carries the burden of a dark secret from her past. Ruthless and relentless, the DMH has threatened to hunt her down—and to systematically hurt anyone she’s close to. The last thing she wants is to be rescued—even by someone as shockingly handsome as Zane. Yet the hotheaded special ops hero has come for her, and together she and Zane just might have a shot at not only stopping DMH’s reign of terror, but also saving what’s left of their souls.

Admittedly, I don't recall much from book one, save for that I enjoyed the hell out of it. Certainly have no memory of Zane or Cael but because this story seems to pick right in the middle of an epic mission, I'll wager we've dabbled a little into their lives once before. Or so I hope.

Olivia's screams as she was taken prisoner by DMH have haunted Zane for months. Determined to rescue the lady doctor, he's returned to the country where he spent his youth on the streets, stealing to survive. He finds her and completes his task, only to discover she's not really up to being saved at all. She knows things, and going home to family and friends would just put them all in danger.

Meanwhile, we have Cael who is Dylan and Zane's brother (Zane's adopted) as he and his fellow Army pals abduct a woman who may or may not have acted as a traitor to her country. That whole plot revolved around Vivienna trying to hack her father's computer program and I was bored out of my mind during every snippet.

What gives? How does something as lackluster as this follow something as amazing as Lie With Me? The action in this book is so downplayed that there really isn't any action at all. The sex is abrupt. The emotions are rushed. And I spent the entire time waiting for something to happen. That 'something' ended up being that it ended. 2 out of 5 stars.

Previous books in the series: