Edge of Danger (Deadly Ops, #4)

by Katie Reus

The new Deadly Ops novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Shattered Duty—in the series that delivers “fast-paced romantic suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat!”*
 
When an assassin tries to kill undercover DEA agent Tucker Pankov the same week his boss is taken out, Tucker has good reason to be paranoid. And when other members of his elite team are not only targeted, but stripped of top-secret security clearance, Tucker has one shot at discovering who wants them dead—and why. So he kidnaps the only woman he thinks can save them.
 
Brilliant NSA analyst Karen Stafford doesn’t like being forced into anything, especially by someone she doesn’t trust. Yet after a hijacked US-owned drone starts attacking government installations resulting in mass casualties, Karen has to take Tucker’s side.  Now, two unlikely allies must unite to prevent an escalating and unthinkable terrorist conspiracy. But as Tucker and Karen grow intimate, they realize the conspiracy runs deep, and their enemies are closer than anyone realized.

*New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden

• ISBN10: 0451475453
• ISBN13: 9780451475459
• Publish Date: 3 November 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451475459

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

Action packed as well as sexy and romantic, you can't ask for more. I like this series and I like Katie Reus. I really liked how the characters clicked and how the action kept up the entire story.

The head of the DEA was killed in a car jacking gone wrong, or was he. The news started declaring it a terrorist attack long before DEA, NSA or FBI received any information on that. Tucker and his friends are still reeling from the news of their boss and friend Max's death, when hired killers try and take them out simultaneously. No question there is more going on than a terrorist attack and these guys aren't going to sit back while someone is trying to kill them, but who can they trust?

They try to contact the head of the NSA, Wesley Burkhart. He and Max were friends and Max trusted them. When the news declares that the four of them were responsible for recent bombings and Max's death, they know they need to take a chance on Burkhart. They aren't sure if they will get treated fairly but at least they won't be shot on sight, they hope. After trying to contact Burkhart for several days with no response, Tucker and the guys are getting pretty desperate. They concoct a plan to kidnap one of Burkhart's top people in the hope that they can finally get his attention.

It catches his attention alright. Karen Stafford is one of Burkhart's top people and she's never, ever late for work. When Karen doesn't show up and doesn't answer her phone, Burkhart immediately begins a manhunt.

Karen is an analyst, not a field agent, and couldn't outrun the four trained men who ambushed her. She recognized one of them from his file, he worked for the terrorist Tasev, who the NSA recently took down. Karen isn't sure who is stupider, these desperate and dangerous men who are trying to get her believe that they are undercover agents in danger who need her help, or herself because she is actually starting to believe them. Everything they tell her could be true, especially when you are talking about undercover agents, and all the facts sound too much like a set up for it not to be. But most importantly, if these were dangerous terrorists looking to get information from her, men who weren't concerned about killing innocent people, then why were they being so courteous and concerned about her well-being rather than torturing her for information.

Karen gets Burkhart to agree to a meeting and while Tucker knows they are probably walking straight into a trap, they are willing to walk into it for a chance to be heard by someone they trust. Except they might not get a chance because whoever is setting them up, wants to make sure they never get that opportunity. They have inside people and they are planning on killing Tucker and his friends before they arrive at the meeting, and have no problem killing another innocent to make sure their plans continue. Tucker will do everything in his power to keep Karen safe. He and his friends have dragged her into the middle of this mess and a woman this brave and smart doesn't deserve to die for their actions.

Tucker and Karen have a head start on the bad guys but is it enough to get them to safety before all hell breaks loose.

THOUGHTS:
Absolutely wonderful writing. The energy and excitement is pretty steady throughout this whole story. You have the attack on Tucker and his friends, the kidnapping of Karen, Tucker and Karen trying to get to the meeting with Burkhart and finally the mission to take down the true terrorists. *Whew. Take a deep breath.*

Even the quick romance between Tucker and Karen comes off as knocking them both back in amazement and they each feel that they are the only one feeling the insanity. They each become overly protective of the other, even when it doesn't make sense to them. Both Tucker and Karen are adorably nervous around each other whenever the danger passes. Tucker is hopefully more suave when he is undercover than when he talks to Karen. Of course it complicates things when the NSA figures out that Karen and Tucker slept together, because Karen isn't the sort to just sleep with just anyone. So they question if she was forced or is she part of the terrorist group too and trying to pass them off as innocent men? Ooooo.

This is definitely one of the best stories in the series. It's been sitting on my shelf for awhile and I am glad I finally got a chance to read it.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.