REVIEW: In The Air Tonight (Shadow Forces #3) by Stephanie Tyler

 

Author: Stephanie Tyler

Series: Shadow Forces

Pages: 416

Genre: Romance - Suspense

Publisher: Dell

AMAZON: In the Air Tonight: A Shadow Force Novel

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

With danger closing in, all they have is each other.

Haunted by a mission he barely survived, Delta Force operative Mace Stevens still carries a soldier’s burden. Running a small bar in upstate New York, he remains a stone cold warrior who guards dangerous secrets and stays ready for anything. Anything except beautiful, vulnerable Paige Grayson, who shows up at his door, demanding answers about her heroic stepbrother’s death under his command.

Paige bears burdens, too. She’s plagued by demons unleashed by an older brother who committed mass murder before her eyes. But here in this snowy haven with Mace, she almost feels safe from the menacing promises of her insane sibling. As a nurse whose hands can read the deepest thoughts of anyone she touches, Paige knows Mace needs her as desperately as she needs him. And when a faceless killer begins unleashing fresh terror, Mace proves just how far he will go to save the woman who means everything to him.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

In the Air Tonight is the third installment in Stephanie Tyler’s Shadow Force series.

Delta Force operative Mace Stevens is recovering from a mission he barely survived and in which he lost his best friend Gray. He has returned to his childhood home to recuperate both physically and mentally, to run his pub and help his close friend Caleb Scott - Cael who is suffering amnesia recover his memories after being drugged and also held captive by the terrorist cell known as DMH.

Paige Grayson is an ER nurse with the ability of psychometry, she is able to touch a person and read their deepest thoughts; she has spent most of her life running from her past, particularly those involving her older brother Jeffrey, a psychopath who has been imprisoned for committing mass murder. After an incident at the hospital, she decides to avoid the media circus again associated to who she is related to and heads to upstate New York and to Mace in the hopes of receiving answers about the recent death of her Delta Force step-brother, Gray.

Mace isn’t thrilled to see Paige, she seeks information he isn’t able to give due to confidentiality but has been entrusted by her late brother to look out for her. He has a strong physical attraction to her but is cautious about getting involved because of her ability, allowing her to get too close may reveal too much of what he is trying to keep hidden, not only the mission and his torture but also his troubled childhood.

When a killer starts targeting those around Paige, Mace honors her brother Gray’s wishes to protect her at all costs; so when evidence comes to light that her psychotic brother may be the one who has been terrorizing her, it becomes a personal mission to put a stop to it once and for all. The antagonist was certainly able to manipulate those around him for his own purpose, he was true evil but I liked the way it all came together in the end.

I loved both Mace and Paige – they have both been through a lot and hiding hurtful pasts, I enjoyed the dialogue between them, the chemistry and eventual trust.

I especially like seeing the reappearance of the operatives/team from previous books and we learn more about characters Kell and Reid, they both have me intrigued.

The sub-plot of Caleb Scott (Zane’s brother from Promises in the Dark) was done well, his system was pumped so full of drugs whilst held captive he can’t remember anything from his past, he is starting to remember snippets and sketches the same faces over and over again but cannot for the life of him remember the fateful mission where it is unknown whether he was the one who actually killed Gray and attempted to kill Mace. I truly felt for Cael and the emotional roller-coaster he was on, thinking he could have committed such an atrocity caused him pain and heartache, as I was turning the pages I had my hopes high that it wasn’t him responsible for his best friends death. I enjoyed the reunion between him and Vivi but wish it wasn’t clouded by pain, I was saddened by what they both had to endure but the attraction between them was undeniable.

I really enjoy Stephanie Tyler’s Shadow Force series, as always she weaves together an exciting plot with serious sensuality, all are perfectly written with non-stop action, enjoyable sub stories and wonderful romances. The heroes/heroines each have tortured pasts but the way the HEA’s are written is well done.

I am looking forward to reading the next novel in this wonderful series which features Kell Roberts.

Night Moves has a 4^th October release date.

Shadow Force series in order:

1. Lie with me
2. Promises in the dark
3. In the air tonight
4. Night moves