On Target

July 1, 2007
U.S. Air Force sergeant Shane ORiley is en route to deliver divorce papers to his wife, Sherry, on the Caribbean island where she is working for a nongovernmental agency (NGO) with her two adopted daughters in tow. But a terrorist attack on the NGO camp sends them back to Florida, not realizing that the terrorists are after their daughter Cara. A secondary plot involves Keisha, a nurse colleague of Sherrys, and a colleague of Shanes. The terrorists, after several foiled attempts, succeed in kidnapping Sherry, Cara, and Keisha, jolting Shane into action. Well constructed and exciting, Manns latest displays her skill in depicting the stresses of a military marriage between people with deeply felt but equally suppressed emotions, different backgrounds, and little uninterrupted time together. Her characterization of Shanes and Sherrys awkward steps toward recognizing that their troubled marriage is worth the compromises needed to sustain it is superb, especially when they realize they can read each others body language perfectly when they are threatened. Manns Wingman Warriors books only get better, and this is possibly the best of all so far.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)