by Christine Feehan
Sept 1, 2026
Deception and danger lay in wait in the beautiful, harrowing California backcountry in this gripping suspense novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.
Surgical and trauma nurse Harlow Frye loves the small town of Knightly, where breathtaking views of the Sierra and a tight circle of female friends provides a refuge from her professional life. But lately, it’s Harlow’s personal life that’s causing all the chaos.
First, a series of anonymous threatening letters are left in her mailbox. Then, Harlow is dealt a blow when her friend Lawyer dies after reacting to some sort of toxin. And to top it off, Harlow finds her secret obsession, CIA operative Hawkin Wilder, bleeding out on a mountain trail.
As Harlow turns her home into a makeshift hospital, her infuriating, attractive patient insists on distracting her. But even in the face of their increasing connection, there’s no way Harlow can ignore the escalating storm, when someone else close to her is struck down by the mysterious toxin.
With little more than intuition to go on, Harlow turns to the five friends who have proved themselves to be a better family than her own flesh and blood. As the women attempt to unravel the killings, they will need to rely on their instincts and their connection to each other—or else they’ll lose everything they’ve come to hold dear.
Harlow is dealing with a lot. Her father, the Senator is facing some very bad charges that she knows to be true. She wants nothing to do with her parents but they keep calling her and telling her they're coming to the town where she lives and they expect her to act like the dutiful daughter they want. But she's not having it and neither is Wilder, the man who wants her for the rest of their lives. If only he can make her believe she's worth a happy ending with him.
Someone or something is using a toxin to take down Harlow's friends and she has to find out where it's coming from before they get to close and maybe kill her or Wilder. She's been getting threatening letters and someone has betrayed Wilder and other agents. Harlow and the others are keeping Wilder a secret because someone is leaking the missions and the operatives are in danger and even his boss expected him to die in the latest mission. There was something really sketchy about Wilder's boss.
Harlow knows that her father got a young girl pregnant and then tossed her across the border, never checking on the child he might have. But Harlow wants to know her half-brother and she goes looking for information on him, which brings an unknown danger on her and all her friends. Some secrets should maybe be kept hidden.
The tension between Wilder and Harlow was fun. I liked that he had to work to gain her trust enough that she felt safe with him. But with agents being targeted, threatening letters being sent and someone using a lethal toxin to kill people, it was hard for Harlow and Wilder to find time to get to know each other. There's a lot going on but all the drama kept me entertained and ready to keep the pages turning.
I love Christine Feehan's books. I knew that this would lock me in right away and it sure did. I was excitedly turning the pages of this book, not knowing what would happen next or who to trust. These characters are great, the mystery behind the toxin was enjoyable to learn what was happening and the family drama between Harlow and her parents was fun because I know Wilder wasn't going to let her father win this time.
I give this book 5 out of 5 sheep!
Mary Kirkland
Dark Thoughts Blog
I
write every day and have done so since I was old enough to pick up a
pen. (I spent a lot of time getting in trouble at school for writing
instead of doing the things I was supposed to do.) Once I create my
characters, I try very hard to have them react to situations as they
really would. Sometimes I have preconceived ideas of what I would like
them to do, but they don’t mind me, because it would be out of character
for them. They take on a life of their own. Sometimes when I throw
difficult situations at them in the hopes I’ll get a certain reaction
and they don’t do what I want, I complain bitterly to my husband and he
laughs at me. Still, it is important to me to have them be real, not
perfect people, so they make mistakes we lesser mortals might make.
