Into the Fire

L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea present Downburst, Book 2 in the Rachel Hatch Novel series. 

No one expects the tall lean female who goes by "Hatch" to be able to do what she does. She counts on that. Former elite soldier, she's battle worthy in spite of the burn damage to her right arm. After leaving her niece, nephew, mom, and a special sheriff back home, she's on a mission to find out the truth of who murdered her dad when she was a young girl, the one who discovered him dead in the woods. 

When she stops in the small town next to Las Cruces and rents a room for a few days at a cheap motel, she manages to stir up real trouble by doing a good deed for the son of the motel owner whose gang initiation is brutal. The gang leader warns her after she gets his initial applause for her easy handling of two of his guys. Word travels fast, there's a rogue cop, a gun store owner shows an interest in her, a city council member sells out, and she dines in their motel dwelling with the parents of the kid she rescued. 

All Hatch wants to do is follow up on a solitary place that had something to do with her father many years ago, but few people remember what went on in the now abandoned warehouse where the gangbangers hang out. She gets a hint of what it must've been when she sneaks into it before the bangers show up. Using her skills, she discovers there's more to this gang than just them.

Things get complicated and for being a "calm in the storm" sort of girl from her experience in the military, when a friend's niece enters the picture and consequences get deadly, fueled by her emotional rage, she suffers her own consequences that almost lead to her death more than once. 

If it wasn't for the "downburst" . . . 

I enjoy Rachel Hatch. Tougher than most men, deep down she hurts hard, longs for closure, can't let a bad thing go without defeating it if possible. She's courageous, sometimes fearless, and most of the time she's a volatile weapon all by herself. In Downburst she needs help and finally someone provides it. Overall, a satisfying finish with a new lead. 

 Dying from the . . . Fever Burn 

L.T. Ryan and Brian Shea present Fever Burn, Book 3 in the Rachel Hatch Novel series.

Hatch did not expect to have to go to Africa in order to pursue yet another lead to her father's murder, but there seems to be no way to avoid it. When her former CO acts in a way she never anticipated and gives her a contact, she learns that she and her contact want the same thing. The proprietor of the place she selected for her lodging refreshes her with his smile in spite of his serious scars like, and covering more area than, her own and an amazing tea his wife makes. Yet he is so much more than he seems. 

When her vigilant watch provides the lead she's looking for, everything changes except her purpose. As it seems to go with Hatch, extra things get added to her initial intent and complicated secondary measures are fully necessary to ascertain the big picture of her trip to Africa. Tragedy follows and horrendous sorrows pile on to an already destitute situation, but she's willing to lay down her life if it comes to that – and it certainly appears as if it will. 

The tricky final chapter of her search is nearing its end, and she's fully vested to complete her mission if she's given an opportunity to survive the huge challenge in Africa. The life and death questions find their answers in her soldier's mindset, hoping to finally confront her dad's killer. 

If you love the hardcore military attitude, courage, perseverance, and struggle in the irascible construct of an unflinching heroine, the Rachel Hatch novels are the ones for you. 

Father, only you know hearts, only you give talents and gifts. I pray your blessings over these two authors and their continued endeavors. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.