Promises to Keep

June 29, 2015
Beaumont’s far-fetched third Sabrina Vaughn novel (after 2014’s Sacrificial Muse) reads like the transcript of a breathlessly bloody computer game. Professional killer Michael O’Shea, known for his “exquisite” knife work, has a tracking device implanted in his back that enslaves him to Livingston Shaw, the head of a brutal crime organization that carries out governmentally sanctioned black ops under the guise of a privatized military group. Chapters alternate between O’Shea’s previous job as a bodyguard to a Colombian drug lord’s small daughter and his current assignment from Shaw, finding the kidnapped grandson of an influential U.S. senator. O’Shea hopes to free himself from his unwilling servitude and establish a new life with Sabrina, a tough San Francisco homicide cop, who makes O’Shea wish he could return to normalcy. Hurtling from one scene of blurry deception and wanton carnage to another, this unlikely combination of pop psychology and sadism will appeal to adolescents of all ages.

August 1, 2015

Michael O'Shea has spent his life in the shadows, first as a bodyguard for the four-year-old daughter of a Colombian drug lord, and now the attack dog for Livingston Shaw, the maniacal overseer of First Securities Solutions. Shaw has implanted a bioweapon in Michael's back to keep him on a short leash. He promises to take it out if Michael will find out who kidnapped the grandson of Sen. Leon Maddox. What follows brings Michael back into a confrontation with Det. Sabrina Vaughn, the one woman he has never been able to forget. Sabrina faces her own demons as she returns to frontline duty after being seriously wounded. VERDICT Edge-of-the-seat plotting will keep readers' attention late into the night. Sabrina's third outing (after Sacrificial Muse) is a solid choice for Chevy Stevens and Taylor Stevens fans.

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