Publisher: Signet
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
On the run and living for revenge…
Desperate, fearless, and hunted.
For ex-Navy SEAL Dare O’Rourke, Section 8 was legendary. The son of one its missing members, he grew up in the shadow of its secrets. All he knew was that it was a cabal of operatives discharged from branches of the military and reassigned to extremely dangerous, off-the-books international missions. And their handler, who answered only to the president, was as shrouded in mystery as the missions themselves.
Nothing can stop them. Nothing can break them.
Now, the handler of Section 8 has given extreme orders: kill any remaining members, along with their families. It’s then that Dare makes a startling discovery: the existence of a long-lost half sister named Avery he was never meant to meet. Determined to fight for their lives and find their missing father, Dare and Avery bring together the last members of Section 8 for one last mission: to avenge their families, and to survive.
This blurb came from the author’s website.
I have read some of Tyler’s work before and found them enjoyable. When I read the blurb for Surrender it looked like it would push all of my buttons in a good way so I requested it for review. I forgot to check to see if any of the other reviewers on our site had grabbed it also until after their review had been posted. You can take a look at MinnChica’s review for a differing opinion. I knew I was anticipating an enjoyable read and Tyler surpassed my anticipation. I found I was trying to read while cooking dinner or should I say I tried to cook dinner while reading because I couldn’t put it down!
Tyler took a very interesting technique of alternating chapters in the beginning as she set the stage by introducing me to her primary characters and letting me see a bit of who they were before they had to interact with the other main characters. I really enjoyed it because Tyler gave enough individual time so I was intrigued while I tried to determine how they were connected and why. I found all of them equally fascinating because they were flawed, could be considered crazy, really didn’t care too much for following society’s rules, and unpredictable enough to keep me guessing about their future actions. In fact the only thing I really predicted was a fight between two of the guys, well that and romance **grin**.
I really enjoyed the mixing and matching of personalities. I found that the two women, Avery and Grace, did not want to depend on anyone to keep them safe. Each had learned some harsh lessons earlier in their lives and knew that they were currently targeted for death. As a result each was determined to be independent and to take control of everything they could. This led to some really interesting discussions and situations as well as increasing the tension among the entire group. The four men all tended to be protective and each had alpha tendencies although a couple of them hid those tendencies better than the others. Yet with their diverse skills and personalities they were able to work together.
While Surrender introduces six people that I think are going to continue to play a prominent role throughout this series the central relationship is between Grace and Dare. It was fascinating watching them go from mutual mistrust, suspicion, reluctant cooperation and then into a relationship. Tyler did a great job of showing their inner conflict and how easily the slightest thing could derail their progress. Speaking of the growing bond between all six people, Tyler threw in two major twists that I honestly did not see coming but that made all sorts of things pull together. I loved their inclusion and had to go back and re-read a portion because I was afraid I had missed a clue.
I thought that Surrender was nicely balanced between the interpersonal and the action. There was a satisfying amount of explosions, shooting, death, mayhem, and destruction. I did think that regardless of the connections and pull the handler of Section 8 had, some of the mayhem would have attracted attention from the authorities. But I was willing to buy the excuse while reading because I was enjoying the flow. I am looking forward to the next installment of Section 8 so I can continue to find out what secrets the other three guys are hiding and if they find someone who compliments their crazy. As I said in the beginning, I enjoyed reading Surrender. This was the perfect book to get me out of a mini-reading slump.
I give Surrender a B+
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