Book Review by Elise Cooper
Don’t Look Back by Dawn Ryder ends the “Unbroken Heroes Series” with a bang. This suspenseful story is full of political intrigue that started six books ago. The plot relies heavily on events from previous books in the series, basically wrapping up the loose ends of those operatives in the covert organization Shadow Ops.
“I wanted the Shadow Ops team to take on messy cases. They understand absolute power corrupts absolutely. They see how ambition can be a credit to someone, but it can also be its Achilles heel. It can bring out the best in a person or the absolute worst.” This becomes evident after Heiress Miranda Delacroix Ryland decides to run for Congress. She becomes the assassination target of a corrupt politician, Carl Davis, aiming to be the next commander-in-chief.”
Ryder feels that Miranda grew up “in a different time for women. She basically had to be and do what her parents wanted. Unfortunately, for her she fell in love with the wrong man as far as they were concerned. She left him because her family would have ruined his family. In this book, she is finally coming into her own, stepping up to become her own entity.”
The Shadow Ops team that includes her son-in-law, Vitus Hale must protect her. Another key member of the team is Thais Sinclair, who learned long ago not to trust men, and instead focuses all of her energy on her job as a Shadow Ops agent. Her newest assignment has her tailing Dunn Bateson, Miranda’s illegitimate son. He becomes a contractor for the team, who needs him and his resources for one all-important mission of keeping his mother safe. Thais will need her wits and strength to guide her and keep Dunn in line until Davis can be flushed out.
Sinclair is beautiful, strong, cool, calculating, and intelligent, someone who works alone within the mostly male dominated team. Thais has honed in on her ability to take care of herself ever since she eliminated her horrible abusive husband. To complete a mission, she has been known to use her seductive skills, which Dunn finds very infuriating.
Dunn Bateson is the illegitimate son of an American political family. Raised by his Scottish father he understood that his mother was forced to give him up to save his father from character assassination. Charismatic, energetic, and a recluse, he has fallen head over heels for Thais. The pushback between them was entertaining, each determined to stand their ground and not get burned.
“I wrote the relationship between Dunn and Thais because both find they can help each other. He does outmaneuver her because he likes her to notice his actions. She finds interacting with him exciting and dangerous. I think he likes to press into her personal space to make her aware of him. While she tries to keep her emotions in check, he shows her his faithfulness, trustfulness, kindness, and protectiveness.”
Readers will be captivated by the characters and their interactions. Entwining political ambitions, danger, thrill, deceit, action and romance, Ryder is able to create a gripping storyline.
