SURRENDER by Stephanie Tyler is exciting, intriguing and fast paced, I could not put it down. I have read other books by Ms. Tyler and SURRENDER is right up there as one of her best books. This story introduces us to a secret group of individuals who are all Section 8, that are at present day all dead or presumed dead. The group consists of 7 men and 1 women. This group is put together by the CIA and appropriately named Section 8 or S8, with the idea that these individuals can accomplish black op missions that are beneficial to the U.S. governments without the U.S. government getting it's hands dirty. Section 8 is controlled by a nameless, faceless person that no one is ever to find out the identity of. We start out in Zaire 20 yrs earlier with Darius making the hard decision to leave his friend and teammate Simon behind surrounded by Rebels. There was no choice with Darius injured and a helo full of American Diplomats that S8 was sent to retrieve and rescue and he being the pilot.

When the story fast forwards to present day we find Darius's son Dare, trying to sleep around the nightmares and ghosts that have plagued him every night after his return from the jungle. It has been 363 days with no visitors to his home. He was standing on his porch with his gun drawn waiting to see who would come all the way out there to see him. He was surprised that it was the only female team member of S8, Adele. She tells him, he is to get his half sister Avery, a sibling he never knew he had, and protect her from a person that wants her dead. The same person that is responsible for having her mother killed. Adele tells Dare that Avery is up on murder charges for killing 2 men and that he has a small window of time to get her out of her hiding place in Manhattan before she is to taken away, and not by the police. Before Adele is killed and Dare blows up him home she gives him a CD. After he rescues Avery from her 3rd floor apartment in Hell's Kitchen and they are in his truck, she finally asks him who he is and does he know her father. That is when he tells her that they have the same father and for her to get the CD, that was left for her out of the glove compartment and watch it. She pops it into her and laptop and Dare has her turn up the volume so he can hear what is said, while he is driving/ This is the beginning of Darius seeming to control their moves and giving them clues as what to do.

The first is telling Dare to "go home". Avery is confused by this statement, but Dare is not. He did not grow up as a kid from a Section 8 parent , especially the leader and heart and soul of the group, without being trained and having a backup plan. As the CD plays and Darius starts to reveal some of what is going on,. They are told that the nameless, faceless person behind S8 is Richard Powell and that no one was ever to find out this information, if they did they would be killed. Two months after she is rescued by Dare, Avery finds herself in Gunner's tattoo shop in a very rough part of New Orleans looking to rent his top floor and needing a home base. When she proposes this to him he thinks she is a merc or a bounty hunter. When she explains that she is there for Dare, Gunner is less than thrilled. Once the story moves to New Orleans the real action, suspense and drama begins.

I really enjoyed reading SURRENDER, and as usual with a book written by the talented Ms. Tyler there was plenty of action, suspense, humor, mystery, twists you don't see coming, sexy Alpha males, strong females that can handle these men, and romance. Somehow Ms. Tyler knows how to throw all of these scenrios into a blender, turn it on and come out with a story that it is a perfect balance of all things romantic suspense. SURENDER is a must read. I cannot wait for book 2 in this series.