When one of the four men who altered Charlie Fox's life and ended her military career is found brutally tortured to death in Iraq where he was working as a private security contractor, Charlie and the head of the private security company fear that her boss and former lover Sean Meyer may be pursuing justice for Charlie. Sean was shot in the head in an earlier novel, which changed his personality, creating doubts about what he might be capable of doing. Charlie spends most of the book trying to catch up to him, and the other three men, finding a trail that leads back to criminal activity, and several former acquaintances: one with a sense of honor, and the rest with none. I liked the feel for the various Middle Eastern countries and the mountainous area in Bulgaria, and Charlie's new sidekick, Luisa Dawson. 4.5 stars. ( )

Charlie Fox is a great action hero in a male-dominated genre. Former special forces soldier who was forced out after she was brutally raped by members of her own unit, she has moved on and become a successful private security operative. When one of the men who assaulted her is tortured to death in Iraq, it appears that her ex-lover and current boss, Sean Meyer, is involved. Charlie can’t believe he would be so brutal, but a recent bullet to the head has left Sean changed, and Charlie unsure of what he might truly be capable of.

Charlie is tasked with finding and stopping Sean. In order to do so, she must figure out what he is after and follow the same trail. This trail leads her across the middle east and Europe. Along the way she runs into middle eastern thugs, Russians with shady agendas and American agents pursuing their own agenda which may or may not parallel Charlie’s. What follows is a combination of detective work, fist fights, gun fights and general mayhem.

Sharp has created an exciting character in Charlie Fox and her action scenes are second to none. Sharp’s style keeps the action flowing and the pages flying by. There’s a lot of backstory that might be missing if you are not familiar with earlier entries in the series, but not so much that new readers can’t jump in with this book. This is a solid action-adventure story that is sure to please any thriller fan. Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher. ( )