Review - - SHANGHAIED

SHANGHAIED
by Suzanne Ferrell
Book 1 - Neptune's Five
Publisher: Suzanne Ferrell Productions
Release Date: January 20, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
 

It’s 1941. While Europe is emblazoned in a devastating war, America sits blissfully neutral. An ocean separates them from the conflict, but not everyone believes the states are safe from the Nazi threat.

Zach Edgars, code name Neptune, and his team of undercover ONI operatives are in North Carolina hunting German spies working on American soil. Their only clue is a slip of paper in a dead informant’s pocket that reads, Shanghaied in Wilmington.

Sophie Moore, grew up working in her father’s pub, the Shanghaied, situated near the newly built emergency shipyard. She’s used to dodging wayward hands and the occasional drunken brawl, but a newcomer in the dark trench coat and with the swagger of a pirate has her feeling nervous. Despite his involvement with the locals’ less-than legal activity, something about Neptune makes her think there might be more to the man.

When her friend goes missing, Sophie finds herself and her father's bar thrust in the middle of a dangerous game of cloak and dagger. Can she trust this pirate, or will she and her father lose everything—life, love and liberty?


My thoughts:

Set in 1941, along the North Carolina coast, SHANGHAIED begins the story of Zach Edgars and Sophie Moore, characters who would eventually become the grandparents of Ferrell's present-day Edgars Family heroes and heroines. It's a story filled with emotion, intrigue, and ever-increasing suspense, much like the country itself was experiencing in those final days leading up to America's entry into what would become WWII. I was hooked from page one and my attention never wavered. Ferrell does an outstanding job of bringing the reader into this world with era-specific language and descriptions, atmospheric settings, and characters so vividly portrayed I found myself believing they had actually lived rather than being products of the author's imagination.  Ferrell populates the story with a variety of nuanced characters, all brought to life via dialog and description and all contributing to the story, and to my emotions. I really felt as if I was right there with them the entire way.

SHANGHAIED is the first of several books planned for this earlier generation and I am excited to read them all. Not only am I looking forward to more adventures with Sophie and Zach, but I'm hopeful we'll be seeing more of Zach's military undercover team as well. I want to know more about these brave young men and where life - and the war - takes them.

SHANGHAIED is a special treat for fans of Suzanne Ferrell's present-day Edgars Family series but stands well on its own as an introductory prequel for readers who have yet to discover these romantic suspense stories. It has my enthusiastic recommendation. 

Today's Special - - Suzanne Ferrell

It's always fun when Suzanne Ferrell drops in for a visit, especially when she's here to talk about a new book.  Whether it's straight contemporary, erotic historical or romantic suspense, I know I'm going to enjoy a good read when I pick up one of Suzanne's books.  

Today, Suzanne is blogging about SEIZED, the third story in her Edgars Family romantic suspense series.  Please give her a warm welcome!

When an author starts a new romance story she usually has brand new characters who are meeting for the first time, or perhaps meeting again after years apart. Their love story is new and exciting and unfolds as the book progresses. The author learns details that she brings out in little bits and lets the attraction turn to love throughout the pages.

But what happens when the characters are already married in a previous book?

This should be easy, right? I mean, the author already knows their names, some of their background, heck they’re already in love. Should be a slam dunk.

Yeah, I’m not much of a basketball fan, so slam dunks are not too impressive to me. And besides, only the really talented guys do the fancy ones. The rest of the players have to work at them. So, as I worked on the novella, SEIZED, the third installment in my Edgars’ family romantic suspense series, I realized there was nothing easy about it.

Problem #1: Dave and Judy Edgars are already married. They’ve been married 10 years and have three young children. They’ve already fallen in love. This isn’t a prequel. So, what’s an author to do?

I’ve seen authors kill off a much loved spouse and kids, just to give the hero something horrible to overcome on his/her way to a new love. I love books like this. But this isn’t that book.

I could give one of them an affair, then they either split apart or overcome it. Hmmm, doable but not too heroic for either character. This isn’t that book either.

How about if I give them a reason to find their love again. Say, put the heroine in jeopardy and the hero must try to save her?

AHA! I now have my premise.

They hit a rocky patch

Dave and Judy Edgars have always loved each other – they’ve been married ten years and have three kids. But ever since Dave, a SWAT team member, was shot on duty Judy can’t control the intense fear that grips her every time he heads out to work. It puts a strain on their relationship. Dave knows she’s scared, but damn it she knew he was a cop the day they met. His patience is wearing thin.

Until the tables are turned…

One icy winter night, Judy, an operating room nurse, is called into work. She's taken hostage by a crazed gunman with an agenda. Now with Judy’s life in danger and the SWAT team deployed elsewhere, Dave must face the same fear his wife does on a daily basis. Terrified he will lose her, he and his law enforcement family race to save Judy and stop her captor’s plans.

Problem #2: This is a romantic suspense. The suspense is there, but how the heck do I show the romance? After their first scene together, which is very rocky, my two protagonists aren’t in the same room for most of the book.

Okay. Now I’ve written myself into a hole. Perhaps if I let them each have brief glimpses of their life together, scenes that show how they met and fell in love? Intersperse this with their deadly situation in real time? What if Judy uses things she’s heard Dave say to help her deal with the gunman? What if Dave learns the fear of losing a loved one and the strength Judy shows in facing that daily?

Yeah, this might just work!

And that is how SEIZED came together. Hmm, wonder if it was a slam dunk after all?

Readers, what do you think of the story lines Suzanne considered?  

Do you like books where the couple is already together at the beginning of the story but face a crisis they must overcome to strengthen their love?  

What about couples separated by an affair who find their way back to one another?  Is an affair a deal breaker for you?  

Does killing off a much loved character make you want to throw the book against a wall or are you okay with this and the subsequent journey of the surviving character who has to learn to move on with life and find love again?

One randomly chosen person who leaves a comment will win a Kindle (or Nook) e-copy of KIDNAPPED, the first book in the Edgars Family series.