Into the Dawn - Tamsen Schultz

Into the Dawn

Stunned. Brian DeMarco doesn’t know what to think when he’s recalled home from a top-secret government project—he only knows that it can’t be good. What awaits him is something beyond his wildest nightmares. The woman he loves has been kidnapped, two friends have been killed, and there’s a traitor in the FBI willing to sell secrets that will kill thousands.

Compelled. Lucy James knows exactly why she’s been kidnapped; just as she knows that Brian is the only one she can trust to find her. Their personal history is murky at best, but there’s no one who understands more what’s at stake than her one-time lover. He won’t give up or back down—of that she has no doubt—but the price of reaching out to him might be more than she’s ever been prepared to give

My Review

Despite being book eight in the Windsor series, this is actually only the second one that I have read. I will, at some point, go back and read the others. I don't think that it's essential to have read the other books in the series. There are cross-over characters and with this book, the action overlaps book seven, so you might want to read that first. It may well be that the action in all of the books overlaps of course, but having not read any other than Through the Night, I can't comment.

Generally speaking, there are two types of romantic suspense novels (if, that is you don't count those that claim to be romantic suspense but actually lack a real romantic element). Most are romances with an element of suspense or thriller style action. The others, like Into the Dawn, are actually suspense novels with a strong romantic element. I don't think I've actually come across another series where each book deals with a different couple, in the way that romance series tend to, but where the main story in each has actually been a thriller in style.

Our main characters, Brian and Lucy have plenty of history. They have worked together for a number of years and while there has certainly been a spark between them, neither have acted on it or tried to take it further. Aside from one night, they spent together after Lucy faced some difficulty with her mother. Now with Lucy in the hands of kidnappers, Brian must rescue her and let her know how he feels.

As I mentioned before, the thriller element of this story is by far the 'main' part. Although Brian and Lucy's feelings are an important part of the plot, they don't even see each other until the story is quite far progressed. This gives a far more 'grown-up' feel to the story, rather than the frivolous threats that characters can face in more traditional romance stories where the key is to ride happily off into the sunset together only defeating the baddies as a by-product.

I enjoyed both the romance and the suspense element to this story. There was plenty of action and by the end of it, quite a few characters had been brought in to deal with the various elements. I don't know how realistic some of the things that they dealt with were, I don't know a great deal (anything) about hacking. I didn't quite buy the idea that people seemed surprised that a government would have chemical weapons in order to find antidotes. Is that not obvious and perhaps they are doing other tests other than just that. I would expect your average man on the street to realise that, let alone those who work for a government agency.

Into the Dawn is a gripping read that keeps you guessing to the very end. I think you would enjoy this without having read any of the previous books. But if you do read it first, I think, like me, you'll want to go back and read the others.