Silent Threat (Mission Recovery, #1)

by Dana Marton

“This suspense is romantic, timely, and different. Great pacing, great characters…just great storytelling all around.” —USA Today’s Happy Ever After

A former Navy SEAL, Cole Makani Hunter has returned home from a disastrous black ops mission without his best friend, his hearing, or the use of his right arm. So when his ex–commanding officer assigns him to an undercover mission at a rehab center for vets to discover who leaked sensitive military information to an enemy, he’d rather be anywhere but there. Almost immediately, Cole finds himself at odds with Annie Murray—a peace-loving ecotherapist whose dream is to open an animal sanctuary out of her home. While the two seemingly have nothing in common, their spirited arguments soon fuel a passion for each other.

But just as things begin to heat up between therapist and patient, dangerous complications arise. So does the past—and a shocking revelation that puts Cole and everything he now holds dear in the path of a murderous traitor.

• ISBN10: 1542047986
• ISBN13: 9781542047982
• Publish Date: 2 January 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Montlake Romance
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 316
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

3.5 stars
I enjoyed this one, but did feel that the suspect was INCREDIBLY obvious. Everything points to him, if you're paying attention. And I was. But knowing who it was didn't ruin the story for me - it just made it a lot less about suspense/mystery and a lot more about the romance.

And I did enjoy the romance. I liked the characters and their relationship (although it did bug me that it was highly unprofessional and she kept acknowledging that and still...). The main character loves animals and that was great, since I do too. Everyone seems to like her - I mean she has 3 stalkers within this book. Extreme? A bit.

Overall though, I enjoyed it and would read more. Oh and Eco-therapy sounds seriously cool and I want to look into it!

The audio was good... but the fact that she referred to the hero by his full name OVER AND OVER became a bit more obvious than it would have been if I was reading.

[EBookObsessed]

Great mystery. Kept me guessing. Cole and Annie, the mother of skunks, are adorable together.

You know that I love my wounded and imperfect heroes. In Silent Threat, I got my imperfect hero in Cole Makani Hunter, former Navy SEAL who lost his hearing and most of the use of one arm after an attack and several months of torture at the hands of insurgents. His description made me picture, Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson and it just fit the characters. He is a very large, muscled and very imposing man. Several times he slumps and tries to make himself appear non-threatening to Annie or others that he meets because he knows that he is a big scary guy. As a SEAL, that was great, but back in civilian life, it is not always such a great thing.

Cole has been sent to  Hope Hill, a rehab center for veterans, because someone intercepted a message to Yemin with sensative military information which appears to have come for the facility. He needs to find out if the traitor works at the center or is a patient there and stop him. Since Cole was badly injured after his last mission, and spent some time as a POW before escaping, he goes in as a new patient.

Hope Hill features the normal rehab psychiatrist and therapists, but also has several more creative therapies, including Annie Murray who teaches ecotherapy. Annie feels that connecting with nature helps bring an inner peace to the vets, especially those suffering PTSD. While Cole calls her a tree-hugger, her therapy is more planting plants or just going for a walk and enjoying the sounds of the leaves rustling and birds singing.  I liked that manly-man Cole tried to intimidate Annie into letting him out of her tree-hugging program, and that Annie wouldn't back down to him until he gave it a try.   After a barefoot walk through the woods and his first nap without drugs since he returned to the States, big guy Cole gives a reluctant, I guess it's okay and becomes a begrudging believer in Annie's work.

There is a quiet calm about Annie which seems to be her biggest problem. Annie is the focus of several enthusiastic suitors--you might call them stalkers--but men seem to have a big problem walking away from Annie. Unlike most stalker novels where the heroine is so beautiful that all men must have her. Here, Annie is attractive but the men focus on her because she is just a kind-soul who has a strong inner peace.  Annie's calm demeanor and gentle touch are a beacon to all these damaged souls and they all need to be with her.

It is the soldier in Cole that realizes that one of her stalkers is escallating.  He then insists on accompanying Annie to take care of her rescued animal (part of her soft-heartednesss).  Unfortunately, while Cole is sticking by Annie for protection and his own obsessive need to be with her, his presence is sending the stalker into fits and creating more problems for Annie.

I can't help my own obsession with trying to figure out who the bad guy is in any mystery, but Silent Threat kept me guessing and bouncing around the possible suspects and oddly, that makes me very happy.

Overall, Silent Threat was an enjoyable story with strong characters, a believeable storyline and a perfect amount of tension to keep you reading.