"A gripping and emotional roller coaster ride of suspense and intrigue!"
Reviewed by Paula Myers
Posted January 14, 2008
Romance Suspense
Lana Hancock has spent the past year and a half struggling
to put her life back together after almost dying at the
hands of a terrorist group. Part of what has kept her going
during her struggle to take back her life is the burning
hatred for the man who rescued her. Caleb Stone is the man
who stood by as she and her friends were tortured. He did
nothing to stop it, nothing until his undercover mission
was complete and the terrorist group, the Swarm, was wiped
out of existence. Then he could rescue Lana. Back home in
Columbia, Missouri, Lana's life is a day-to-day struggle to
forget the past and dedicate her time to the First Light
Foundation. She's slowly coming to grips with what happened
to her, until the past walks through the doors of First
Light and her life is once again spiraling out of control. The last thing Delta Force operative Caleb Stone wanted to
do was disrupt Lana's life. Still, if the terrorist chatter
his bosses have intercepted is to be believed, the Swarm is
regrouping and out to tie up loose ends. And number one on
the list is Lana Hancock, the only hostage to get out
alive. Guilt-plagued by the role he'd been forced to play
when she'd been a hostage, Caleb will do anything to
protect Lana, even if it means dogging her every move. It's
only when Lana's dearest friend is shot and almost killed
that she begins to believe she may still be in danger. And
with what she knows about the Swarm, things she hasn't
shared with another living soul, she realizes they won't
stop until she's dead. Caleb may be her only savior, if she
can learn to trust him. NO CONTROL by Shannon K. Butcher is a thrill-a-
minute roller coaster ride of suspense! Grabbing the reader
by the throat in the first few sentences, it doesn't let go
until the final chapter. Lana is a strong woman, willing to
do what she must to protect those she loves, even if it
means trusting a man she once loathed. And Caleb is a
tarnished knight, so caught up in doing the job he's been
trained to do that he struggles with being human and
dealing with the emotions that go along with the attraction
he feels for a woman with every reason to hate him. Their
relationship is painful, erotic and emotionally charged as
each learns to trust. I couldn't put this one down!
SUMMARY
NO HIDING Lana Hancock knows all about danger--and betrayal.Eighteen
months ago, she was captured by a terrorist group known as
the Swarm while one of its members, a rugged man with
sinfully dark eyes, did nothing to help her.Now when she's
freed and desperate to put it all behind her, the
unthinkable happens.The Swarm is targeting Lana once again
and the man who stood silently by has become her
protector.But can she trust him? NO ESCAPE Delta Force operative Caleb Stone will never forget the
hatred shining in Lana's eyes.Ordered to take down the Swarm
by infiltrating its ranks, Caleb couldn't blow his cover to
save her--no matter how much it haunted him.Now, gifted with
a second chance, he vows to move heaven and earth to protect
her...and fulfill her every desire.But the Swarm has
reorganized.It's more powerful than ever and hell-bent on
revenge...NO CONTROL
ExcerptPrologue:
Armenia: Lana Hancock prayed for a swift death. The
hood over her head made it hard to breathe, as did the smell
of her friends’ bodies. Through a tiny slit in her hood
that her captors didn’t know was there, she could see
Bethany’s lifeless eyes staring at her.
Lana tried to turn away, but even the smallest movement
sent pain screaming through her broken limbs. The man who
had broken them, Boris, came back into the cave and she knew
this was the end. Whatever her abductors told Boris to do,
he did. She’d heard them order him to kill her right before
they left, and she’d been lying here, waiting for the end
for what seemed like days.
She was going to miss her family. Her friends. Her
fiancé.
She wanted to see her nephew grow up and spoil him with
loud presents that would drive her sister crazy. The little
drum set Lana had bought him for his birthday was tucked in
her closet. She hoped they’d find it and give it to him
when her family cleaned out her apartment.
Boris pulled out his gun and crossed the dusty cave to
where Lana lay. He was a skinny man with bright blue eyes
and dimples that made her stomach turn. A sadistic killer
shouldn’t have dimples.
His booted feet stopped only inches from her face. Part
of her was afraid, but most of her was simply grateful he
was using the gun instead of the pipe again. At least this
way would be fast. She hoped.
She saw a shadow cross the mouth of the cave, then
another and another. Maybe her abductors were back to watch
it happen. Maybe she was hallucinating. Lana couldn’t bring
herself to care. She was too tired. Too weak.
He reached down and ripped at the tape that was holding
her hood closed around her neck. The movement caused broken
bones to grind, and her dry scream echoed against the cave
walls.
She must have passed out, because when she opened her
eyes, her killer was looking down at her with a concerned
frown, patting her cheek as if to revive her. When he saw
she was awake again, he nodded once as if satisfied and
stood up again. Apparently, he didn’t want to kill her if
she was unconscious.
His gun aimed for her head, thank God. Like with the
others he’d killed, it would be a headshot. Quick and painless.
A thick arm appeared from nowhere and wrapped around
Boris’s head, pulling it back while a second arm sliced his
throat open with a knife. Blood spewed out from the man’s
neck and his gun clattered to the hard ground.
Lana tried to figure out what was happening, but she
couldn’t move her head. Couldn’t keep her eyes open.
'We’ve got to get you out of here,'said a deep, tight
voice she’d heard somewhere before.
Pain sliced through her and she realized she was being
lifted. Her broken legs dangled painfully over a man’s arms,
but she kept herself from screaming. She couldn’t alert her
captors that she was escaping.
Lana forced her eyes open just as he carried her out of
the cave. Light seared her retinas, but she welcomed it.
Light meant freedom -- something she thought she’d never
again experience.
He laid her down and spoke in a quiet voice to someone
nearby. 'She’s the only one alive.”
'Not for long, she isn’t,'said a second man. 'And not if
they find out she made it out alive.”
Lana’s body throbbed in time with each beat of her heart.
He was right. She wasn’t going to last much longer. She
could feel herself growing weaker by the second. Maybe she
was bleeding somewhere.
At least she wasn’t going to die in that cave.
'Our team took down three of them.”
'How many were there?”
'I don’t know. I only saw two, and not closely enough to
ID them. I got orders from that skinny bastard, Boris. There
could be another dozen for all I know.”
'You took care of Boris?”
'Yes.”
'Our men are in the hills. They’ll find anyone who got
away,'said the second man.
'They’d better.”
Lana wasn’t sure what that meant, but she knew she
should. What they were saying meant something to her, but
her brain was too foggy to figure it out. She was using all
her strength just to keep from screaming.
If she screamed, they could find her.
A shadow fell over her face and Lana looked up into the
face of Miles Gentry -- the man her abductors had hired to
bomb a U.S. elementary school.
Lana couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t safe. Not with him. He
was a monster -- a man willing to kill children for money.
He must have seen her fear, because he smoothed her
matted hair back from her face and said, 'Shh. It’s okay.
I’m a U.S. soldier. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Liar! Lana tried to pull away from his touch, but her
body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t cooperate.
'Back off, Caleb. You’re scaring her,'said the second man.
Caleb, or Miles, or whoever he was moved away. Behind
him, from high in the rocky hillside she could see twin
flashes of sunlight reflecting off glass. Binoculars.
With a painful stab of clarity, she realized she was
being watched.
She tried to tell the men, but her lips were swollen and
stuck together with dried blood and she couldn’t seem to
form a coherent word.
The wind kicked up and dust choked her lungs. She tried
not to cough. Someone pulled a sheet over her head to keep
the dust out. It didn’t help. She couldn’t keep from
coughing and as soon as she did -- as soon as her broken
ribs shifted -- the pain ricocheted inside her until all she
could do was gasp for air.
All the pain and going without food or water for days was
too much. She had to give up and let go. She couldn’t take
any more.
Lana’s mind shut down and she welcomed the oblivion as it
came to claim her.
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