Lexi Dare has been engaged to Matt Pindon for two years, and things have gone from bad to worse. Lexi has abandonment issues, due to her years in foster homes, and because of that she has let Matt get more and more abusive. When she met Matt, she had also met his friend Parker Black, whom she never forgot. If things had been different, if Parker had had time for her...

Lexi is also known in the cyberworld as SilverChaos, a top corporate hacker, which is legal. She has a big project coming up for auction: she has written a code to patch a security hole in a sensitive website and it will mean big money. Parker Black works for a security firm, and he when sees Lexi again, he senses that something is wrong with her, even though he doesn't know her that well, she is not the same girl who had caught his eye a couple of years ago. Finally, Lexi decides it's time she left Matt, she can't stand it anymore, but her abusive boyfriend's refusal to let her leave quietly far is not Lexi's only worry.

BLACK DAWN is a romantic suspense heavy on the techno side, and that is what I liked most. Ms. Harber possesses a solid grasp of the cyberworld, and everything connected with hackers is absolutely riveting. BLACK DAWN also deals with abusive relationships, and here as well, the author demonstrates her profound understanding of that sort of situation, from both sides: how the abuser and the victim think and act. It is an important component of the story as we witness Lexi's growth as well as Parker's kind heart and protective side, but I felt the author dwelled far too long on the subject as it comprises almost one fifth of the book, to the point where I thought it was rather unpleasant and I grew quite uncomfortable.

Then again it could be only me, and it's pretty obvious Ms. Harber makes the domestic violence angle very convincing. Parker is a perfect hero: dependable, strong but not afraid to show his tender side, and Lexi's a very interesting woman. She works in a man's world, she's tough and logical, and it makes for a great contrast because of her personal woes. BLACK DAWN is a fast-paced, complex story, with excellent character development: fans of the Titan series will not be disappointed!