Toxic Game (GhostWalkers #15) by Christine Feehan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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TOXIC GAME (GhostWalkers #15) by Christine Feehan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

TOXIC GAME
GhostWalkers #15
by Christine Feehan
Release Date: March 5, 2019
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

About the book: Release Date March 5, 2019

On a rescue mission in the heart of the Indonesian jungle, Dr. Draden Freeman and his GhostWalker team need to extract the wounded as quickly as possible—or risk spreading a deadly virus unleashed by a terrorist cell. When Draden gets infected, he forces his team to leave him behind. He won’t risk exposing anyone else. He intends to find the ones responsible and go out in a blaze of glory….

Shylah Cosmos’s mission is to track the virus and remain unseen. Her enhanced senses tell her that the gorgeous man eradicating the terrorists one by one is a GhostWalker—and his lethal precision takes her breath away. When he’s hit by a lucky shot, she can’t stop herself from stepping in, not knowing that by saving his life she’s exposed herself to the virus.

There’s no telling how much time Draden and Shylah have left. Racing to find a cure, they quickly realize that they’ve found their perfect partner just in time to lose everything. But even as the virus threatens to consume their bodies, they’ve never felt more alive.

•••••••••

REVIEW: TOXIC GAME is the fifteenth instalment in Christine Feehan’s contemporary, adult GHOSTWALKERS erotic, paranormal, romance series focusing an elite group of ‘genetically enhanced’ men and women known as the GhostWalkers (GW). These ‘super soldiers’ were once part of an unauthorized government experiment performed by Dr. Peter Whitney. This is former model, GhostWalker and doctor Draden Freeman, and tracker Shylah ‘Peony’ Cosmos’ story line. TOXIC GAME can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.

WARNING: TOXIC GAME contains scenes of graphic violence that may not be suitable for all readers.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Shylah and Draden) TOXIC GAME follows the building relationship between GhostWalker Dr. Draden Freeman, and GW tracker Shylah ‘Peony’ Cosmos. Dr.Draden Freeman is a member of the GhostWalkers Team Four Pararescue Unit, and their latest assignment finds the team in Indonesia to investigate the mass deaths possibly related to a man-made virus, a biological weapon, that if not contained could destroy the world. Infected and on his own, Draden will meet female GhostWalker Shylah Cosmos, who exposes herself to the virus in order to save our hero’s life. Shylah has been sent to Indonesia to track down and kill the men responsible for releasing the virus, a position ordered by the man in charge. What ensues is the building relationship between Draden and Shylah, as Team Four works overtime to find a cure in order to save their friend and fellow warrior.

The relationship between Draden and Shylah is one of immediate attraction. Draden recognizes, early on, that Shylah is the female ‘developed’ especially for him, something Dr. Whitney has purposely formulated in an effort to produce powerful offspring and heirs. Unlike many of the previous story lines, the relationship and power distribution between our leading couple is based on romance, attraction, and equality, without the male lead going all alpha and forcing the female to bend to his will. The $ex scenes, although limited due to the nature of the story line premise, are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

The world building continues to focus on the camaraderie, friendship and bond between the GhostWalkers, and the women they love. Dr. Peter Whitney, although ultimately responsible for the GhostWalker’s enhanced powers, and the torture of so many psychic females, his role in the series may be changing direction.

Most of GhostWalker Team Four (and their significant others) play secondary and supporting characters: Diego Campo, Ezekiel Fortunes, Gino Mazza, Team leader Joe Spagnola, Malichai and Mordichai Fortunes, Trap Dawkins, Rubin Campo and Wyatt Fontenot, along with a cameo appearance by Wyatt’s Nonny Grace Fontenont. Most of the female characters have been segregated from potential infection.

TOXIC GAME is a story of betrayal, power, revenge and control. The suspense is limited as the conflict focuses on the fight to find a cure for the man-made virus. The premise is intriguing and engaging as the author includes plenty of medical and biological references; the romance is seductive and captivating; the characters are colorful, charismatic and sassy. There are some issues of redundancy especially as it pertains to Draden’s appearance (mentioned numerous times), and saying that, I am a bit of a cover snob, and thusly, the cover doesn’t remotely give credit to the character’s beauty quoted as ‘jaw-droppingly handsome without being so beautiful he bordered on femnine’.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Exclusive except provided by the publisher

He’d been dead. Well, he would have been dead had she not given him CPR, yet he had come out of it fully cognizant. Completely aware.
He turned his head back toward her and those dark, navy-colored eyes bore down into hers. She stayed very still, trying to keep her body relaxed. If she didn’t tense up, it was possible he would relax his grip and she’d be able to break free. She wasn’t certain that would do much good; she’d seen him run and he was the fastest she’d ever seen.
“Did you give me CPR?” It was a demand.
She tried to nod. His lashes swept down for a brief moment, and she saw despair etched deeply into his face. Her heart ceased to beat and then began to pound as sudden knowledge filled her. She knew he was infected. She didn’t know how, but it was that look on his face. The way his hold on her throat gentled. He shook his head and moved back away from her.
“We have to get out of here.” His voice was a mere whisper of sound.
“You’ve been exposed to the virus, haven’t you?” Now her heart was wild. Out of control. She was terrified. She’d seen the horrific way the men and women had died. She knew, but she still needed his confirmation.
He caught her hand and rose, pulling her with him. Her arms and legs suddenly felt like spaghetti. There was a strange roaring in her head. Chaos reigned in her brain. She began to hyperventilate. The virus. He was infected with the virus and she’d put her mouth over his and breathed into his lungs. Her fingers had wiped at the blood on his temple. She had his blood on her at that very moment.
His fingers tightened around her upper arm. “We have to move. Right now.”
The urgency in his voice caught at her. She was an elite, highly trained soldier. It didn’t matter if the worst had happened; she would deal with it later. She straightened her spine, looked into those eyes of his and nodded.
Her reward was instant. His expression softened, and he gave her a quick nod of approval and then began to jog, still holding her arm, forcing her to go with him down the embankment.
What are you doing? They’re going to be on the river in boats. Without thinking she went to telepathy because the women she’d trained with all could speak mind to mind.
They’ll be expecting us on this side. We’re going back in and crossing to the other side. There was a place where the forest came right down to the edge of the water. We’ll cross there so they won’t be able to track us.
She hadn’t expected the intimacy of his voice in her head. It had a smoothness to it that gave way now and then to gravel. The way he moved in her mind stole something from her. She liked that little nod of approval he’d given her as if she were his equal just because she hadn’t given into the hysteria welling up.
She didn’t object, and he didn’t slow down, his fingers never leaving her arm, so she didn’t slow either. She was worried about his injury. It had to hurt even though he was the smoothest runner she’d ever met.
I’m Shylah Cosmos. Well, Shylah is the name my sisters gave me. I dislike my real name with a passion. Peony. Who is named Peony?
Draden Freeman. I believe I know your sisters. Bellisia and Zara? Did Whitney send you here? And there’s nothing wrong with Peony.
She almost stopped jogging she was so shocked. He knew Bellisia and Zara? Are they alive? They left separately on missions and we never heard from them again. And there is something wrong with being named Peony, so never call me that.
Whitney knows they’re alive. He came after them even after he said he’d let them go.
Dr. Peter Whitney had found her in an orphanage. Zara and Bellisia had been found the same way. Whitney had chosen them because he had a talent for recognizing others with undeveloped psychic abilities. He brought the infants to one of his many secret military facilities to experiment on them. He considered them throwaways. In his quest to find the perfect supersoldier, he experimented on the girls and when he thought he’d perfected what he was looking for, he psychically and genetically enhanced the soldiers in his GhostWalker program.


 

Christine Feehan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author multiple times over with her portfolio including over 70 published novels, including five series; Dark Series, Ghostwalker Series, Leopard Series, Drake Sisters Series, the Sisters of the Heart Series and Torpedo Ink. All of her series have hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestselling list as well. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature (PEARL) in 1999. Since then she has been published by various publishing houses including Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards since Dark Prince.

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Christine’s Feehan’s publisher is graciously offering a paper copy of TOXIC GAME to ONE lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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29 thoughts on “Toxic Game (GhostWalkers #15) by Christine Feehan-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway”

  9. Great review! I really liked this one, and totally agree about the redundancy! But, that’s a ‘thing’ for her. :/ I didn’t even look at the cover until now and ???????????? LOL!!!

  11. You’re right. The cover model doesn’t seem to encompass the description you mentioned as Draden. Notwithstanding that description, the cover model is HOTT. Thanks for the review, TRC/Sandy!

    Please enter me for the giveaway.
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  18. I enjoyed the excerpt & am ready to read more. Please enter me in the giveaway.
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