Seeking Asylum

Ultimate Agents #3

by Mallory Kane

SAFE HAVENAs one of the Bureau's top criminal profilers, it was Eric Baldwyn's job to get inside killers' heads. Only, this time, the crazed shooter who'd taken a beautiful doctor hostage was Eric's brother - the identical twin he'd long thought dead.Being abducted by her own patient was terrifying enough. Now the man who'd just rescued her needed Dr. Rachel Harper's help. Assuming his brother's identity to infiltrate a conspiracy inside a mental hospital, Eric Baldwyn was about to embark on the most dangerous mission of his life. And as danger fanned the flames of irresistible desire, much more than Rachel's career would be on the line...

Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Bestselling romance author Mallory Kane has published over 40 romantic suspense titles between Harlequin Intrigue and Tule Publishing Group, and she has multiple independent projects spanning genres. Mallory loves romantic suspense with dangerous heroes and dauntless heroines, and she enjoys tossing in a bit of her medical knowledge for an extra dose of intrigue.

Mallory taught herself to read at age three, starting a lifelong love affair with books. Her mother, a librarian, loved and respected books and taught Mallory that they were a precious resource. Her father was a brilliant storyteller. His oral histories are chronicled in such places as the Veterans' History Project at the Library of Congress. He was always her biggest fan.

When she's not writing, Mallory enjoys designing one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces and creating collaged greeting cards. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Michael, and their cats. Mallory loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at www.mallorykane.com, @mallorykane on Twitter, and AuthorMalloryKane on Facebook.

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story dealt with mental illness and unauthorized treatments. Filled with suspense and some romance. It was well worth the read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thought the plot was interesting-mad scientist performing experiments with eerily sound science on unsuspecting mental patients-i just failed to click with the characters or the writing. The heroine is oddly hysterical for someone who claims to crave normalcy. And in seeking said normalcy she conveniently forgets basic abnormal psych principles which got annoying quite quickly. The hero definitely had some issues and while he wasn't a bad character i just didn't quite buy him as a male lead. Both characters were poorly developed esp. in terms of their history-some background just gets dropped in our laps without any detail as a pseudo explanation for why they were the way they were. It was a Freudian's wet dream (except with fiction replacing dreams) never mind the fact that his theories have mostly been disproven. The romance was pretty much nil what little there was seemed to be more a reaction to the situation than an actual connection. There was one sex scene which left a lot to be desired. As I mentioned the plot actually was quite interesting though it moved slow enough that i think some of the suspense plot line could have stood to be sacrificed for some added romantic or character development. The writing was technically proficient but it failed to draw me in or make me feel much of anything for the characters-the most i managed was disdain for the mad scientist-or their outcome.
Bottom line:Interesting little story but this i doubt this is a novel plot line and i imagine you could find a similar story that was better executed than this one

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a better-than-average Harlequin, and I stumbled across is purely by accident. I didn't actually pick this book off the shelf. I got it when I bought a bag of books at the local thrift store. But I'm glad this one was included, because it was an enjoyable read.

Not all authors are able to write a good balance between romance and suspense. Usually the romantic aspect of the book is neglected for the sake of the intrigue. The author will often just throw in a sex scene or two and call it a romance. That wasn't the case here. I felt that the romance was well developed, and not out of place, even with all the mystery going on in the story. The author did a good job of developing the characters in the limited space given in a category romance.

The suspense was also well done. While there's really no big plot twists (the reader knows who the bad guys are right away), the plot moved along at a good pace and kept the reader turning the pages.

While this book is the third in a series, it also works as a stand-alone. I hadn't read the first two books in the series, but I was never lost. I would be interested in reading more books by this author.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this while in the hospital, essentially because I had nothing else to read. It was okay, but a little too Harlequinesque for my tastes. Kept me from getting too bored in my hospital bed though.

[Lhenry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like this one a lot - quick exciting read with likeable characters. I wished it could have been longer to explore the hero and heroine's backstories more.

[Kimberly Gillett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy psychological thrillers and this book not only had suspense but also some steaminess, loved it!