EXTREME MEASURES is the first book in Naughton's new Aegis
Security series. It has Naughton's characteristic
explosive action and adventure interspersed with some
explosively hot sex. The book features a lovers turned
enemies who then turn back to lovers trope.
Eve Wolfe is a CIA counterintelligence operative who worked
with Zane Archer two years ago in Beirut. They were lovers
briefly in Beirut before Zane accused her of playing double
agent and Eve disappeared from Lebanon. Several months
afterwards, Zane suspects Eve of betraying him on a mission
in Guatemala that led to the death of a hostage and several
members of his rescue team. Zane is left badly injured in
that botched hostage rescue as well. Zane tracks down Eve
and kidnaps her, intending to torture her to make her pay
for her repeated treachery. But slowly, the true story
behind their past interactions begins to appear, as
previous deceptions slowly unravel.
With the reader's willing suspension of disbelief, the
intensity of the physical action, the conflicted feelings,
and the sexual intimacy are ramped up to incredible
levels. There is an underlying tension vibrating through
the story that makes it immensely compelling. Eve and Zane
have years of distrust and lies between them, but are still
drawn together despite their painful history. Their
attraction to each other is so overwhelming that they can't
keep their clothes on even when they would be better served
running for their lives or trying to discover who is trying
to frame them for terroristic acts. While I found this
annoying, it did serve to provide a large number of sexy
interludes as the mystery unraveled.
There is double crossing between terrorists, double
crossing between government agencies, double crossing
between members of a given agency. You get the drift-
there's a lot of twists and turns to the plot! The plot
is fairly elaborate, wrapped up in a simplified manner at
the end by a grand soliloquy by the villain bragging to
their captive about their plot. I'd figured out the
duplicitous villain midway through the book, but it was
still a lot of fun to watch the plot progress to The Big
Reveal. Readers who like their action nonstop and death-
defying without worrying about niggling details of reality
will enjoy this ripping story. I found EXTREME MEASURES to
be a quick
and fun read, and I will definitely pick up the next in the
series.
Being prepared for any scenario is the trademark of any good
CIA operative, and Eve Wolfe is one of the best. But when
her latest mission literally explodes in her face, she wakes
up labeled a traitor and—even more surprising—in the custody
of elite Aegis Security operative and ex-lover Zane Archer.
Although she still secretly has feelings for Zane, he’s now
demanding the one thing that she can’t give him: the truth.
When he caught her breaking the rules years ago, Zane let
Eve walk away without an explanation. Now someone has not
only sabotaged Aegis but also turned an American city into a
war zone, and all signs point to Eve. Zane needs answers
that can come only from Eve’s still-tempting lips, and he
finally has the elusive operative right where he wants
her—at his mercy.
The first audiobook in bestselling author Elisabeth
Naughton’s new steamy romantic suspense series brings a spy
in from the cold…and sets her heart ablaze.