Deadly Game; C. Feehan

Uh. Yeah. So this is the only book I've finished all month. I'm about a third of the way through a Neil Gaiman and maybe three chapters into a biography of the Prophet Mohammed. Since today is the last day of the month I think I'm SOL with them. :( One of the worst reading months I've ever had. Or at least one of the worst reading months since I've started the blog.

Onward re: Deadly Game. This is the newest Ghost Walker book, published in February of this year by Jove. TBH I read the first two books in this series and stopped because I'd approached them from a romance genre viewpoint and this series simply doesn't work that way for me. Ghost Walkers work quite well as military thrillers (as long as you can suspend reality) with romantic overtones, but not strictly as romances- strictly my opinion of course.

Mari is a female Ghost Walker from a secret separate group of GWs , a psychically enhanced 'supersoldier' whose entire life has been coordinated, organized and manipulated by a maniacal, evil scientist who just happens to be funded by the U.S. Gov't. *Aside- in real life I really despise conspiracy theories* Mari Smith and Ken Norton meet up while on different missions to protect the same Senator. The result of which is they spend part of the novel trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is working on the side of the evil scientist. The evil scientist is like a comic book evil villain. No redeeming virtues at all.

There is some violence, an attempted rape, outright murder and a scuzzy "dr's exam" for those of you who like to know about such things. This go around these things didn't bother me. I think it is because my perception of Mari is one of a strong and capable person whose entire life has been manipulated but who has maintained strength and dignity and integrity despite all of these problems. I've had serious problems with Ms. Feehan's heroines in the past, but of late either I've gotten more tolerant or the ladies are more rounded and whole and significantly less damaged. Take your pick.

Ken, to me, is similar to the Carpathian Jacques in Dark Desire Ms. Feehan's second book in the Dark series. Each man has been physically tortured and is permanently scarred both physically and emotionally from the cruel treatment they've survived. The heroines each provide a measure of sanity- a grounding in the real world, a sense that there is still goodness worth striving for.

How can you tell the difference between friend and foe when all you've been taught has suddenly been thrown into question? Is it possible to learn about yourself as an individual while maintaining a serious relationship? Who can you trust when the chips are down? This book has strong Carpathian type overtones to me- the whole 'wounded hero- grounding heroine' scenario; the invisible psychic superglue; etc. Deadly Game worked for me though (as did Dark Desire).