Unknown Identities Special Ops: 3-in-1 Collection
Romance, Anthologies, Military, Collections
Independent
Jan 4, 2024
Kindle
317
Amazon
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
The three books in this collection were previously published separately but have been updated and are all in one book which I am sure you will find as enjoyable as I did. It is always a treat to buy one book and get three books for the price of one but in this case, it was not just a bargain but worth your time since each story was wonderful.
Moving Target
Scott Blackwell has proudly served his country as a military man until his life as he knew it came to a halt. On the base in Afghanistan a dead woman was found, and Scott and his two fellow soldiers were accused of her murder. Arrested, court marshaled and put in prison.
When all hope was gone a man in a grey suit came to offer them a chance at freedom Scott was told that if he killed someone no questions asked, he and his friends would be free, three lives for the price of one. Scott accepted the offer but then tried to run which cost him a serious beating and a team on his trail.
Finally, he managed to lose the team following him leaving him with nothing, eating out of trash cans stealing clothes and making a thief. While traveling on the road he came upon a woman with a flat tire which he offered to change for a ride to the next town, she agreed and at that moment he had no idea his life would change in ways he never considered.
Jaime Castle is on her way to a family ranch, a ranch needing a lot of work and empty so after the team following Scott came after them that was the place, she thought he could hide out in. Unfortunately, Scott realized that Jaime was the one he was supposed to kill, and it was out of the question. She knows he is on the run but refuses to abandon him and he is between a rock and a hard place because leaving her could make her an easy target and staying with her is just as dangerous.
Three people come to their rescue, John his pregnant wife Amelia and Ben who was subjected to the enhancements that Unknown Identities put him through, his was enhancement invisibility which comes in handy when people are after you. John fills Scott in on UI their quest for new recruits using any means possible i.e. murdering a woman and putting the blame on innocent people they feel would fit in their organization then coming to save them. John and Ben have been on the run gathering information with the hope of putting an end to UI since they escaped.
At the ranch secrets are revealed and plans are made. From page one to the end of this story it was nonstop action and suspense.
Lost Signal
It has been several months since Moving Target ended and both ranches have been restored making John, Ameila, Scott and Jaime feel like they have homes and a sense of normalcy. The search is still on for Scott’s two friends who are in the hands of UI since being freed from prison. He is determined to find them hoping that after months of captivity whatever they suffered can be undone.
When an article appears about a man who killed the JAG lawyer who represented the three men at their murder trial and a picture of Owen Harbison appears as the murderer Scott finally knows that Owen is alive and the hunt for him is on. Owen suffered at the hands of UI enhancements, on call always, and answers to the nickname given him by Messenger “Pointer”. Owen has no recollection of his past or even his actual name he follows whatever he is told since not doing so would result in torture or death and being cut off from the drug they have been feeding him which has made him an addict whose only thought is finish an assignment whatever it is and get his next fix.
While finishing up an assignment he is spotted by Hope Small a wildlife photographer on an assignment on the Crow Indian reservation a place she is welcome since she belongs. She is shocked at the speed the man running is going at and films him while in his ear he hears orders to kill the witness. A shot missed and Hope was not a woman who couldn’t take care of herself, so she snuck up on the man looking to kill her and hit him in the head.
When Owen fell in the creek and almost drowned, she couldn’t walk away from him and when he fell, he hit the other side of his head, two head wounds and neither of them healing. For days Hope cared for the man that wanted her dead, but he was incapable of being alone. When Owen finally woke up, he realized how many days he had been without his medicine and that his past was not totally forgotten. He knows his name, remembers being locked up for murder and, worse, the memories of what was done to him.
Fortunately for Owen wounds to his head saved his life and now he wants to ensure that Hope is safe. What happens to Owen and Hope and if he is located by his friend Scott I won’t reveal, but it was edge of the seat suspense. Now on to book three.
Off the Radar
Matthew Horn is a former Marine Sniper and another escapee from Unknown Identities and has come to the ranch in Montana to ask John Noble for help. Four years ago, Daniel ‘Danny Boy’ Connolly was listed as dead, and Matt saw him die. He was shot and drowned on a mission in Africa and saving him was impossible. Now Matt believes he is alive and in Europe and under the command of Messenger of the UI.
After four years there is no way to know what condition Danny is in and if it is even possible to save him, but he at least deserves a chance at freedom. Scott and Ben are on the mission to find him and when they do there is no way of knowing if he wants to be saved. Matt is convinced that Danny has too much integrity to ever have fallen under Messenger’s total control.
No longer answering the name Daniel he now goes by “Audible” his enhancement made him a communication receiver and a valuable asset to UI. Daniel has taken chances by making his tracking system go offline and trying to find a way out. His latest mission is to get information on a drone that is capable of being airborne for months and he was able to compromise the project, a drone that has military applications and in the wrong hands could prove deadly, right up UI alley.
Special Agent Chloe Spencer is heading the team trying to locate the source of the compromise of the drone project but her work on the project will come to a stop when she is visited by Scott and Ben warning her that her life is in danger. Danny has been ordered to kill her since she refuses to give up her search for answers, but it is an order he has no intention of carrying out. Working with Scott and Ben he confesses everything to Chloe, his time with UI, what tortures he suffered and now her focus is on bringing Messenger and UI to a stop.
As an agent for the FBI Chloe is convinced that she can take care of herself, but it becomes evident that is not the case. With Daniel, Scott and Ben’s help she goes to a safe house convinced no one can find. She soon comes to the realization that nowhere may be safe and documenting everything Danny told her she is determined to get it into the right hands exposing this black op that doesn’t care who it hurts, who it kills and is relentless in creating the perfect soldier.
As with the first two books Chloe and Danny’s relationship grows but there is little or no future for them with Messenger trying to kill them both. Danny was just another victim of a man, dressed in gray suits, perfectly groomed and a carefully disguised monster.
This series is one I hope keeps going, amazing characters, suspense and has an emotional impact when you consider what the men in this series suffered.