"Counter-terrorism and undercover secret agents comprise this thriller."

Gabby Kincaid is tough. She lets no emotion enter her life as she tries to be the best in an elite group of Secret Service Operatives. The SDU unit is unknown to all but a few at the top levels of the government. If necessary, to maintain secrecy, they will kill an agent who has been compromised so that he or she won't break under torture and reveal the organization's mission.

Unfortunately, tough only-about-work Gabby is on a mission tracking terrorists and she is compromised. She calls in the code herself -- knowing that SDU will send someone to terminate her. They send her partner, Max Grayson, to do the job. But the two have fought a strong attraction to each other since they met and Max has a tough time pulling the trigger. He finally sees Gabby at her most vulnerable. But can they stop the terrorists from their biological warfare and do enough damage control that Gabby's cover will be safe.

Or will the SDU just send someone to kill them both?

I always like books that involve counter-terrorism and undercover secret agents. They're a fun side of the fantasy live of romance. Ms. Hinze is very good at putting together that world, although I must admit, the elimination of their own agents was a plan that kind of horrified me. I had a hard time finding that believable. Gabby's character is a good one -- a tough woman with issues that surface throughout the book. As she begins to open up to Max, who is very likable, she becomes a more endearing character. My favorite part of this book is a group of four ladies who foil the super-smart SDU operatives at every turn. They're small-town women with a brilliance all their own.

I liked this book with some reservations. I think the difficulty believing that SDU would kill its own agent, except in extraordinary circumstances, colored some of my feelings about it.

Reviewed by Morgan Chilson
Posted July 10, 2004