Unfathomed by Anna Hackett Formats available: ebook
Series: Treasure Hunter Security #4
Pages: 198
on January 24th 2017
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
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Long, tall, and deadly Morgan Kincaid enjoys her job at Treasure Hunter Security. Raised by a tough Marine father, she loves her guns and knives, and never backs down from a fight. She’s yet to find a man who can keep up with her and after a string of first dates, she’s not feeling hopeful. Assigned to an underwater archeological expedition on the trail of a long-lost shipwreck, Morgan finds herself protecting the very hard, delicious body of a certain globe-trotting archeologist. A smart rogue with a wide smile and a boat-load of charm.
Dr. Zachariah James has information leading to a shipwreck filled with history and treasure. After growing up with nothing, he’s forged a stellar career for himself, but history is more than just a job, it’s his lifeblood. So Zach is amazed to find himself as excited by a woman as he is by his dive. Dangerous Morgan fascinates him, and he’s eager to see what she’s hiding under her tough exterior.
As they dive the azure waters off the coast of Madagascar, they uncover a sizzling attraction and clues to an impossible artifact, but soon they are under attack by dangerous black-market thieves. Among traitors, kidnappings, and ancient temples, Zach and Morgan will need to put everything on the line to have any chance at surviving.
My Review:
There are times when I’m astonished by the depths of human stupidity. Possibly in this case I mean willful blindness. Or a bit of both.
No one ever seems to believe that whatever treasure they are hunting could possibly be of interest to the nefarious Silk Road gang. And no one ever seems to think that telling the agents of Treasure Hunter Security that just maybe, possibly, Silk Road might find their find just the teensiest bit intriguing never seems to occur to people – at least not until Silk Road arrives in a metaphorical cloud of evil and kidnaps or kills someone.
This time THS is hunting sunken treasure with Dr. Zachariah James. James believes he has the location of a wrecked treasure ship off the coast of Madagascar. The cargo manifest says that the ship was filled with gold, diamonds and porcelain, a friendship gift from the King of Siam to the French. The Soliel d’Orient is a prize worth finding, both for its wealth and for the archaeological treasures it holds.
But Dr. James is only figuring on normal treasure hunters. Admittedly, lots and lots of them. That’s why he hires THS. Of course, he neglects to mention that there might be an artifact with mystical or mythical powers amongst the treasure. He doesn’t believe that the talisman even exists. And he certainly doesn’t believe in any mystical powers.
But Silk Road does. And they are on his trail from the moment the expedition starts.
Meanwhile, Dr. James is hunting more than just treasure. There’s something about Morgan Kincaid, the deadly female THS operative, that makes teasing and tormenting her even more exciting than a treasure hunt. To Morgan’s surprise, she feels those same sparks from Zach. She just doesn’t believe that any man’s interest in her will survive his knowledge of just how dangerous and deadly she really is.
But Zach loves the adrenaline thrill. And when Silk Road kidnaps them and drags them off on their own deadly treasure hunt, Zach knows that they will need every single one of Morgan’s deadly skills to survive.
Escape Rating B+: I really liked Zach and Morgan as characters. They make an excellent hero and heroine for this story. They both have hidden depths and secret pains, and they are both slow to share any of themselves with another. They’ve both been hurt before by people who were supposed to love and protect them, and they are both wary of trusting again.
Morgan’s hesitation feels particularly real. She is a warrior, and that is a big part of her identity. That many men find her ability to take them down and beat them hard to be a turnoff is no surprise. She’s smart enough to know that if who she is isn’t what they want, that she’s better off alone. Which doesn’t stop her from feeling lonely.
But as much as I enjoyed the rising heat between Morgan and Zach, and the little glimpse of the ongoing tension between Darcy Ward and her buttoned-up FBI agent, I’m still feeling a bit of villain fail in this series.
Silk Road and their agents are definitely evil. But they keep coming off as bwahaha evil. Along with, in the case of the villain in Unfathomed, an unhealthy dose of cray-cray. But crazy doesn’t organize and fund an organization as big and as effective as Silk Road. We still don’t know who they are and why they are doing this. There are plenty of other ways to make oodles of money that aren’t half this complicated.
Inquiring minds really, really want an answer to those questions.
Even so, Unfathomed is another marvelous tale of action, adventure and romance, and I can’t wait for the next one.
