Book Review: I Own the Dawn: The Night Stalkers by M.L. Buchman

This is a full action, high intensity read with great details! 

I Own the Dawn: The Night Stalkers

by M.L. Buchman

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (August 1, 2012) 
• Language: English 
• ISBN-10: 1402258135 
• ISBN-13: 978-1402258138

Genre: Military, Romantic Suspense

My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2012

Name: Archibald Jeffrey Stevenson III

Rank: First Lieutenant, Dap Hawk Copilot

Mission: Strategy and execution of special ops maneuvers

Name: Kee Smith

Rank: Sergeant, Night Stalker Gunner and Sharpshooter

Mission: Whatever it takes to get the job done

You Wouldn't Think It Could Get Worse, Until It Does...

When a special mission slowly unravels, it is up to Kee and Archie to get their team out of an impossible situation with international implications. With her weaponry knowledge and his strategic thinking, plus the explosive attraction that puts them into exact synchrony, together they might just have a fighting chance.

Review: 

Kee Smith is a female “warrior”.  She was a street orphan and trouble landed her in the Army where she found a ‘home.’ She tested and scrambled her way to the top level of warriors as a sharpshooter so that she could get assigned to the elite Special Operations Aviation Regiment division, SOAR, and specifically to the Night Stalkers. 

Kee comes to the camp with a hostile attitude. She has always had to prove herself and she is inclined to believe that even the ‘legendary’ Major Emily Beale, with her FBI father, was handed her position. Kee soon learns that each member of the SOAR team, including Beale, clearly earned their wings and respect.

Archie is a chopper piolet and an amazing tactician, strategist, with SOAR. He has flown with Beale since they became friends at West Point. He comes from a family of influence with a father who builds boats and a CEO mother who has learned to navigate the political and financial world of alliances and trade groups.

On an early protective run the team picks up an eleven-year-old girl hidden in the rocks.  She has clearly been walking a long time, alone and scavenging to stay alive. Kee takes her under her wing before she even realizes she has chosen to protect the girl. Kee makes Dilyana feel safe while Archie brings her calm and smiles.

The street smart Kee and 'Professor' Archie may not seem a likely pair but they are pulled together by their mutual attraction. They take vacation with Dily in tow and Archie’s parents showing up unexpectedly putting Kee into an emotional quandary she is unaccustomed to.

Kee struggles with her mixed feelings and fear of closeness as they are called back to base for a secret flight. Although they experience misunderstandings and mis-communication, soon they have to learn to trust each other to complete a near impossible, full risk mission. They are the last chance to prevent a terrorist event that could trigger a major war.

This book has great action, a plausible plot and amazing detail. Mr. Buchman’s descriptions put you in the midst of the action.  Even in the middle when the scenes are personal there is great emotional investment that keeps the reader’s attention moving forward.

I was very impressed with the detail of the military setting and tactics as well as the political complexities that would be effected by the terrorist act. If you like romantic suspense with full on action, impressive detail and intense emotions this is an author and a series you need to read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kee thinks of Dilyana seeing her parents killed up close and recalls this vivid imagery:

The more you heard, the better your imitations. You learned to break it down. The timbre of the initial snap, the shriek of the whistle while it passed within a couple of inches, the Doppler drop-off as it moved on. And that dreadful wait, hoping it hit rock or dirt with a sharp slap rather than turning into a silent moment and then the cry of the gut-shot guy who was supposed to have your backside. Page 97.

Kee’s life is changing due to a child and a man:

Faced the world in her own way at her own pace. And the Kee Smith she knew only had one pace. Full thrust.
Now an eleven-year-old girl braided her hair and a SOAR officer held her hands and spoke of dreams.
She tried to breathe past the tightness in her chest. P285.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing the book to review and for allowing me to host a Giveaway.See the next post, the author interview, for the Giveaway.