BLURB:
Hunted
Soldier (Shadow Unit Book 3)
The hunters become the hunted when
the past returns to haunt Sergeants Connor Finley and Shawn Weller with deadly
vengeance.
In the wake of the harrowing
missions in India and Pakistan, Connor struggles to come to terms with causing
the accidental death of a child, while Shawn tries to put Julian’s betrayal
behind him.
Adding to the emotional fallout, new
trials arise - the appearance of a young man from Connor’s past turned stalker
may have fatal consequences for him, while Shawn must confront his former
heroin addiction and break free of the hold it still has on him.
The challenges continue when a
Shadow Unit undercover op in Bangladesh to shut down the pipeline of terrorists
being smuggled into the UK draws Shawn and Connor into a web of lies and deceit
from a man hell bent on exacting revenge on the two soldiers - demanding a life
for a life.
Will Connor and Shawn survive? Or
will the jungle become their final resting place?
DON’T MISS CONNOR AND SHAWN’S
PREVIOUS MISSIONS IN “BROKEN SOLDIER” AND “ROGUE SOLDIER”, PLUS THE HOLIDAY
SHORT STORY “SNOWBOUND SOLDIERS”!
EXCERPT:
Shawn had
been correct in his one assumption—the break in the tree line was not natural.
The jungle had indeed been artificially cut back. But what he couldn't see in
the semi-darkness from his perch in the tree was the eight-foot tall chain link
fence that stretched for as far as Shawn and Connor could see. The area they
had been dropped in, the booby-trapped expanse they'd been traversing, was no
open piece of jungle. This was a private killing ground.
The escape
route looked easy. Too easy. Just climb up and over the fence to freedom. Shawn
and Connor approached the fence cautiously, both of them too well trained to
take anything at face value, and Shawn felt the fine hairs on his arm stand up,
sensing the hidden danger—an electric current running through the fence. Connor
must have sensed it, too, as he shot Shawn a look.
"Knife,"
he said.
Shawn
withdrew it from his pocket and flicked it open. He and Connor took a few steps
back and Shawn tossed the knife at the fence. As soon as it made contact sparks
flew from the metal, confirming their suspicions.
Shawn
retrieved his knife and they immediately searched for another way over the
fence. But their enemy had been clever—he had cut the trees back far enough
from the fence so no one could climb out on one of the branches and jump off,
clearing the top of the fence.
"Fuck!"
Shawn cursed again, raking a hand back through his hair. "This asshole's
thought of everything, hasn't he?"
"We
don’t have a choice now. We have to make it back to the compound," Connor
said.
"We'll
stay close to the outside of the tree line so we don’t run across any other
booby traps in the jungle," Shawn replied. "Then–"
The rest
of his words abruptly cut off at the sound of gunshots ringing out, shattering
the quiet. Shawn and Connor dropped into a crouch, Shawn's heart rate
accelerating as adrenaline flooded through his body. They were out of time. The
hunt had begun.
Without
discussion, he and Connor moved as one back into the jungle, away from the
direction the shots had come from, but still toward the compound. Plan A was
now off the table. They couldn't be caught in the open running along the tree
line. They would be picked off like ducks in a shooting gallery. The deadly
jungle offered their only concealment.
Shawn knew
they were moving too fast, but at this point they had to. Another volley of
shots rang out and Shawn chanced picking up the pace. He instantly knew it was
the wrong decision as he felt his left foot come down on the hidden pressure
plate.
His
combat-honed reflexes kicked in as the double row of bamboo spikes sprang up from
their ground cover camouflage, heading straight for his chest. He violently
twisted his body to the side, trying desperately to get out of the path of the
deadly projectiles, just as Connor grabbed his arm and jerked him away.
Their
combined effort saved Shawn's life, but they weren't fast enough to move him
completely out of harm's way, and two of the spikes tore into and across
Shawn's right side. Off balance, they both tumbled and hit the ground hard.
Shawn gnashed his teeth together to keep from crying out at the intense pain
and giving away their location.
Shawn
clamped his hand to his injured side, feeling the warm blood coat his fingers
as Connor rolled him onto his back, his partner also grimacing from the hard
landing that must have further aggravated his cracked rib.
Connor
pushed at Shawn's torn shirt, trying to look at Shawn's wound. "Move your
hand, Shawn, let me see…"
"Oh,
fuck, that hurts," Shawn ground out as Connor probed cautiously with his
fingers. "How bad is it?"
Connor
quickly removed his long sleeved outer shirt and tore it into strips.
"They gouged pretty deep. But it doesn't look like they penetrated far
enough to do internal damage."
Shawn bit
down on his lip as Connor swiftly and efficiently bandaged his wounds with the
strips from his shirt. "Well, I did say I'd take the next injury. You're
welcome," he cracked, trying to grin through the pain.
Connor
grinned back, tying off the last of the bandages. "That was big of you,
mate, but what say we call it even now?"
"I'd
say that sounds like a great idea," Shawn groaned, then held his bloody
hand out to Connor. "Now help me up."
BIO:
Jamie
Lynn Miller has been writing fiction since childhood and decided to take the
plunge and go pro in 2008, finding to her amazement that people truly enjoyed
her love stories. She’s a romantic at heart, and her tales reflect the desire
we all have to find “the one,” persevering through trials and heartache for
that happy ending.
Jamie
has a degree in fine arts and has spent the last twenty years working as a
graphic designer, though she’d much rather be writing. She was born in Chicago
and still lives there today with her husband and their two furry, four-footed
children, er… cats.
If
she’s not brainstorming story ideas, you can find Jamie at a sci-fi convention,
in front of a furnace doing glass blowing, or on a mat twisted into a yoga
pose.
CONTACT INFO:
Email:
jamielynnmiller@live.com
Blog:
http://www.jamielynnm.wordpress.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/jamielynn.miller.3
This book is so intense that I had to sit back and take a few deep breaths after I finished reading it. It's one hell of a roller coaster ride.
It sucks you into the story from the very beginning. I found myself trying to figure out who the author was talking about in the first chapter. Shadow Team member? Ghost Squad member? Bad guy? Someone else? The identity of the person came as a complete surprise to me. A pleasant one for sure.
It is interesting to see Shadow Team spending time away from a mission, how they spend their downtime. This makes Shadow Team seem more real. Seeing Shawn and Finn off duty just makes their characters more and more real and easy to relate to.
Stakes are high as they go after a man suspected of not only smuggling drugs by terrorists as well. Success of a Shadow Unit mission can sometimes extract a high cost. A successful mission might come at a cost that leaves members of Shadow Unit in turmoil, questioning whether they can or cannot make the ultimate decision.
Ms. Miller has written a story that is heartwarming, heartbreaking and full of compassion, suspense, and surprises. Like all good series books, you don’t have to read any of the previous books to understand who the characters are and the story itself, but it makes the reading experience so much better.
Hunted Soldier is by far the best Shadow Unit book in the series, and it leaves readers wanting more.
If I could, I’d give Hunted Soldier 100 stars, but the most I can give is 5 stars, so 5 it is.
Get it, read it, get hooked on Shadow Unit.
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