Ultimate Weapon [Mass Market Paperback]

STORY BRIEF & REVIEWER'S OPINION:
Shannon McKenna does it again. I am amazed that she continues to come up with excellent stories with new and surprising ideas. This is one of her best and it's her eighth book (that I know of and not counting anthologies). For some reason I thought of James Bond when I read this book. The two main characters Val (hero) and Tam (heroine) are a romance writer's version of James-Bond-type characters. They are both super smart and talented at lying, spying and killing. They each have and use high tech gadgets, not as many as James Bond uses, but there is a similarity. Tam can outsmart anyone and has what it takes to never be found, but because she is taking care of Rachel, a 3-year old orphan, Tam is vulnerable. For example, when on the run she has to carry Rachel with child supplies. There is also the potential of kidnapping Rachel to get to Tam. I thought this was well done by the author. The bad guys can get to Tam, not due to stupidity on her part, but due to her caring for Rachel.

Tam has been one of my favorite characters in the prior books. She creates jewelry as weapons. She can taser, poison and stab people with her jewelry. Tam is a sharp, prickly and contentious hellcat who starts to soften due to Rachel. Val's weakness is Imre, the frail old man who befriended him when he was a scared, hungry kid abandoned on the streets of Budapest. A bad guy now holds Imre hostage to force Val to bring Tam to him.

MORE REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I laughed out loud several times, not due to comedy, but due to my surprise and delight at some of the great lines, great conversation and how strongly I was affected emotionally. The conversations are rich, twisting me around emotionally. Tam hits, slaps and fights Val physically and verbally. His reactions are unexpected. The conversations are heated, wild, angry, entertaining and amazing. They battle before, during and after sex. The sex scenes were wild, tremendous, powerful, sensual, and fabulous. I actually stopped reading a couple of times to do something else, catch my breath and calm down.

My only complaint is that the author occasionally used Italian phrases. I believe that most were terms of endearment, compliments or food. I just skipped over those words, but I wondered what they meant. I wish the author would put the translations immediately afterward in italics or parentheses. I don't want to miss a single thought when I read these books. My second choice would be to put a glossary in the back of the book, but flipping back and forth is inconvenient. Granted, Italian words sound beautiful but cause frustration when used without explanation.

DATA:
Story length: 426 pages. Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: 12. Length of sex scenes: 2 short scenes (1 page or less) and 10 long scenes (1.2 to 12 pages). Total number of sex scene pages: 42. Setting: current day Seattle, Washington area, Hungary, and Italy. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I've read the following Shannon McKenna books.

McCloud Series Novels:
Although not necessary, I recommend reading the McCloud novels in order. For example, Tam played small but important roles in certain prior books. Ultimate Weapon is Tam's story but it starts where the other books left off.
5 stars. Behind Closed Doors. Copyrt 2002. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Standing in the Shadows. Copyrt 2003. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Out of Control. Copyrt 2005. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Edge of Midnight. Copyrt 2007. Review Date 1/04/08.
5 stars. Extreme Danger. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 2/02/08.
5 stars. Ultimate Weapon. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 11/15/08.

Other Novels:
5 stars. Return to Me. Copyrt 2004. Review Date 2/03/07.
5 stars. Hot Night. Copyrt 2006. Review Date 1/19/07.
4 stars. Tasting Fear. Copyrt 2009. Review Date 8/3/09.

Anthologies:
5 stars. Something Wild (in anthology All Through The Night). Copyrt 2001. Review Date 3/25/07.
3 stars. Touch Me (in anthology I Brake For Bad Boys). Copyrt 2002. Review Date 2/14/07.
5 stars. Meltdown (in anthology Bad Boys Next Exit). Copyrt 2004. Review Date 2/14/07.
3 stars. Anytime, Anywhere (in anthology Baddest Bad Boys) Copyrt 2008. My 4 star review for the anthology was posted 5/17/08.
5 stars. All About Men. Copyrt 2007. No review posted. This anthology includes 3 short stories previously published in other anthologies listed above. The stories are Something Wild, Touch Me, and Meltdown.

Right off the bat, I love Tamara. I love her prickly defensiveness and her outrageously over-the-top, witty personality. And I really liked Val Janos' deliciously sexy and dangerous persona. But together? Hmmm. I think they might have been better served paired with someone with a less heavily tortured past. But at the same time, I don't think these two seriously wounded and prickly people would have responded to someone who was light and fluffy and full of sunshine, so I guess this was just a no win situation.

Tamara was a little subdued in regards to her usual acerbic wit and I missed it, alot. Her relationship with her daughter, Rachel, was so sweet though. It was funny and poignant and so real. I especially liked how frazzled she was getting, having her life taken over by a little baby. Val was sexy and alluring and it was fun reading about how Tamara and Val were trying to one-up each other. Whenever Tamara got the better of him due to her secret wearable weaponry, I thought it was laugh out loud funny. There was definitely moments of humor sprinkled about this story, which was quite welcome seeing as how this was a dark and somewhat dreary read, but Ultimate Weapon was missing that spark that I found in the earlier McCloud books. But again, Tamara and Val were incredibly wounded souls so I doubt a more humorous story would have worked for them. Actually my favorite part was reading about Imre, after he had been captured, and my heart just broke for him and Val. It's a very sad scene, when he makes his sacrifice so that Val can go free, and I thought it was beautifully done.

Ultimate Weapon is pretty much a straightforward revenge tale. No info on the possible resurrection of Kevin--Or am I just wishful thinking?? The plot was rather simplistic, compared to Shannon McKenna's more crazy and out-there stories, but it worked. We get all the background info on Tamara and it was as sad and heartbreaking as I knew it would be. This story is fast paced and intense, and certainly interesting, but unfortunately I don't think I was very excited by it-- see missing "spark." There was also a very nasty scene involving a broken arm and a rope and all I have to say is that ten seconds never felt so long before.

Ultimate Weapon wasn't bad, but it wasn't a knock out of the park, either. I really wish it had been because Tamara deserved a much better send off. While I liked Val, I wish Tam could have been paired with someone like Sean McCloud because she could have used his funny, badboy antics to help loosen her up. Or Nick Ward, because I thought those two had great chemistry together. But since those two guys were usually half afraid of her, I guess only Val could do. Which is a shame to think that way because I really liked Val. And in all honesty, this is as much his story (if not more) than hers, so they both got cheated out of what-could-have-been. But I will still give it four stars because I liked it and I'm happy I read it and I can't wait for the next Shannon McKenna story. :)

I love the McCloud series. If you're bored with the typical action- adventure characters, the McCloud brothers and their friends might add some zip to your reading. When McKenna announced that she was working on Tamara's story, I thought that it would be a let-down because I couldn't imagine a man who would be a true mate for her. ...but I was wrong. These characters are a perfect match--two people who carry real scars on their souls but whose personalities are so vibrant and strong that they are still pushing forward.
McKenna's books are not for everyone. There's a lot of graphic violence and detailed depictions of sex. However, I always finish her books with a "wow".

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 26 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars