Acceptable Risk – Lynette Eason – Danger Never Sleeps #2 – Revell – Published 4 August 2020

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Synopsis

Sarah Denning is a military journalist with the Army in the Middle East when her convoy is attacked and she’s taken hostage. When former Army Ranger Gavin Black is asked by his old unit commander–Sarah’s imposing father–to plan an extremely risky rescue, he reluctantly agrees and successfully executes it.

Back in the US, Sarah is livid when she’s discharged on a false psychiatric evaluation and vows to return to the Army. Until she learns of her brother’s suicide. Unable to believe her brother would do such a thing, she puts her plans on hold and enlists Gavin to help her discover the truth. What they uncover may be the biggest story of Sarah’s career–if she can survive long enough to write it.

My thoughts

Acceptable Risk is a thrilling novel about deadly secrets, cover ups and the people willing to risk everything to expose the evil that lurks behind it all.

When Sarah Denning, an Army journalist, is kidnapped while in the Middle East, she is taken hostage along with a group of school girls. Luckily she has a security plan, and it isn’t long until her father sends a team, lead by ex-Army Ranger Gavin Black, to rescue them. What Sarah isn’t expecting is for her father to have her discharged from the Army with a false physc evaluation. It destroys their already tenuous relationship. But when Sarah witnesses something in the hospital and her brother dies under suspicious circumstances, Sarah vows to investigate and Gavin isn’t going to let her out of his sight while she puts herself in the crosshairs.

We first met Sarah in the first book in the Danger Never Sleeps series. You can, however, read the books as standalone titles, as each follows its own story of a strong and brave woman who is determined to do the right thing, despite the danger to themselves.

This is of course also a love story. Sarah and Gavin once had a short relationship that Sarah cut off. She is running from a past of which she is ashamed. Sarah is strong, has built a great career in the army as a journalist and has helped many people with her stories. Now, the story she is trying to uncover hits much closer to home and also involved her own safety and future. Gavin is ex-army and now works in a security company. Sarah’s father has employed him to look out for her, but he would stay close anyway. He want another chance to explore what might have grown between them if Sarah hadn’t run off. But she doesn’t know he’s been employed by her father to look out for her and he fears it might destroy the growing relationship between them. Gavin and Sarah’s feelings deepen as they work together. I also really enjoyed the dynamics between Sarah and her brother, and of course the tension between Sarah and her father. There is a lot of healing and hurt to work through and the tension builds around this as the life-threatening situations get more dangerous.

I must warn readers of the many times suicide is referenced in this book. Means is described in details multiple times, and the first chapter was a bit of a shock. It is necessary for the plot and not gratuitous, but readers do need to be warned, as it is upsetting.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series, which I am sure is set to follow another of Sarah’s friends as they confront corruption and danger. There are a few threads hinted at in the book that are not followed up, so I am guessing one of these might feature in the next book.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Adult fiction

Genre: Christian Suspense.

Themes: Romance, military, journalism, drug trials, suicide, father-daughter relationships.

Advisory: Frequent references to suicide, means described in detail.

Representation: White characters. Heterosexual relationships. Christian faith.

Published: 4 August 2020 by Revell.

Format: Hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook. 320 pages.

ISBN: 9780800738617

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