No One Lives Forever
by Jordan Dane
Dark,
rich and complex romantic suspense.
Publisher: Avon (May 2008)
Jordan
Dane's No One Lives Forever
is the third of a debut series. Whereas the
first book of the trilogy is a stand alone book, this third book
complements the second book, No One
Left to Tell. Dark and suspenseful, No One Lives Forever
takes the reader to the very edge of romantic
suspense in terms of danger and the happy ending for which the romance
genre is known. Combining chilling genetic crime and psychological
depth, this novel will appeal to readers who like their suspense dark
and their villains wicked with just a twist of empathy.
A man so cunning that life and business are carefully executed like the
moves of a master chessman, Nicolas Charboneau, finally meets his
match. Despite his great discipline and control, Nicholas cannot escape
his past or payback for his actions. Kidnapped from his Brazilian hotel
room, he can only think of his beloved and loyal bodyguard, Jasmine
Lee, swearing vengeance, before losing consciousness. When Jasmine
recovers from the attack and receives a ransom note, she must turn to
the man who owes her, Christian Delacorte. Not only does he have the
financial resources, but she once saved his and Raven Mackenzie’s life.
Even if she has to reveal the secret that Fiona Dunhill never told her
son about Nicholas Charboneau, Jasmine will do anything to get her
Nicky back.
Christian Delacorte and Raven Mackenzie love one another, but Christian
has a dark side, a place where even Raven’s love cannot enter. When
Jasmine comes to them with a tale about Nicolas Charboneau’s abduction,
Raven feels Christian slipping away. With the secret revealed,
Christian has no other choice but to go with Jasmine into the Brazilian
jungle to hunt down the kidnappers and confront his past head on no
matter what the physical or personal danger. Christian has primed
himself as a hunter, a man able to fight and protect even in the dead
of night. As he tries to unravel the clues to the identity of the
kidnappers, Christian finds himself in a new and completely unfamiliar
territory. Will his skills and savvy be enough this time to do his job
and get out safely? Raven knows that their love will never grow unless
he faces the dark side he hides from her. Will she be able to let him
go? Will this journey bring him back to her or forever rupture their
love? Will he even make it back?
In her delightfully dark tale of romantic suspense, Jordan Dane
develops the themes and characters introduced in her previous release, No One Left to Tell.
In the jungles of Brazil, ancient voodoo rituals
and cutting edge genetic research create an ominous and sometime
macabre atmosphere of mystery. Every trail might be a misstep. Law
officers shadow the hunt, checking Christian’s every move. Perhaps part
of the corrupt criminal infrastructure and perhaps not, everyone
Christian meets must be seen as a threat. One clue conflicts with
another. The trail leads in several directions and to make matters
worse, the clock ticks down with little time to spare. As the race
quickens, Christian must ask himself what role does Nicholas Charboneau
play in the shocking crime uncovered? Does his past even make him worth
saving?
Jordan Dane takes dark and mysterious to the next level as Christian
hunts down the trail of his father, a man known for turning crime into
a work of art, a chess game to be played with finesse and minute skill
to the final checkmate. Jordan Dane takes the reader into the heart of
a man once a victimizer turned victim, allowing the reader to feel this
man’s agony, the one tender place within him. Jordan Dane peers deep
inside the psyche of Jasmine Lee, the mysterious almost super-heroic
Asian martial arts bodyguard, allowing the reader to see beyond the
ultra- tough girl to the dark attraction that binds her to Nicky. As
Jasmine and Christian follow the trail, each is forced to trust one
another more than they would like. Each reveals vulnerabilities as the
past comes back to strip off the layers of self-protection so carefully
built. As the dangers increase and lives are risked with no guarantee
of living beyond the moment, Christian and Raven are drawn to each
other in ways that will test the very nature of their union, a love
that must reach down to the primal depth as love faces the raw
uncertainty of death. Crime and psychology combine to create a
character portrait that haunts and moves the heart.
In No One Lives Forever,
Jordan Dane's vision takes the reader to the
most intimate level of crime and suspense as hints of genetic research
turn to nefarious ends. Christian himself must look to the nucleus of
his family. Having found his mother, he must now look into the dark
unknown world of his father. Jordan Dane creates a taut edge-walking
level of suspense as the external and internal journey meld. A trek to
the remote heart of the Brazilian jungle leads to a hunt to the depths
of the human soul, a journey just as perilous as the physical one.
Jordan Dane takes the reader to the brink of the macabre, looking into
the very hearts of her darkest characters, a villain and an assassin,
while allowing the reader to see the strength of the human heart in
love and facing death. In an exquisite sequel to No One Left To Tell,
Jordan Dane brings all to a perfect conclusion, with just the slightest
door open to leave readers with the hope that she will explore the
lives of these wonderfully complex characters in future novels. Jordan
Dane writes with a kind of aesthetic beauty, taking the readers to the
line with a dark moment reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe, while also
revealing the brief splinter of light within the fullness of her
characters to show their humanity. Dark, rich and complex, No One Lives
Forever completes Jordan Dane’s suspense debut trilogy with a
masterstroke!
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
