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Crossfire #3
Crossfire: Hearts on Fire
This is the third book in the Crossfire Trilogy. Stefan's worst fears come true when Marcelle disappears after a meeting with her team manager on his smallholding outside Paris. As Omega starts a race against the clock, desperate to find her before it’s too late, Stefan goes to pieces, blaming himself for drawing her into his world. Can their marriage survive such a cruel test? Will Marcelle’s bitter experiences at the hands of her captors change her forever, even if she survives? Will she blame Stefan? Can he stop blaming himself?
This is an excerpt from Hearts on Fire.
"Marcelle opened her eyes, or thought she had. The inky blackness didn’t change. A excruciating headache pounded her brain, and she reached a hand to the stickiness on her forehead. Searching fingers found her eyes open, and panic surged through her. She waved a hand in front of her eyes, fighting down her alarm. She was blind!
And that wasn’t the only problem. Rough blankets scraped against her skin every time she moved, and it took only a second before she realized she was naked. They had not even left her the dignity of underwear. Her wristwatch, a birthday gift from her father, was also missing.
Had that ugly man undressed her? What else had he done while she had been unconscious? She shuddered, revulsion rising at the back of her throat. Was he watching her, even now? Her panic was turning into hysteria when she heard a click, and bright light flooded the room.
She cried out as the sharp light hurt her eyes, but was also profoundly grateful.
The light revealed a small windowless room, bare of furnishings except for the narrow cot upon which she lay, and the small table next to it. The blankets over and under her were the same drab grey as the rough stone walls of the room.
Marcelle stared at the heavy wooden door, expecting it to open, but nothing further happened. She noticed another, smaller room. Through the open door, she could see a washbasin and a toilet. Her bursting bladder could wait no longer. She wrapped a blanket around herself, and staggered towards the toilet. The door had a flimsy lock, but she was grateful for it. She locked the door behind her, and dropped the blanket to the floor.
After her ablutions, she rinsed her face with cold water, and rubbed away the dried blood. The ugly cut still oozed a thin trickle of watery blood, but a wad of toilet paper stemmed the flow. She checked her body, but apart from cuts and bruises from the car accident, everything seemed to be intact. She decided the monstrous man had not violated her while she had been defenseless."
This is an excerpt from Hearts on Fire.
"Marcelle opened her eyes, or thought she had. The inky blackness didn’t change. A excruciating headache pounded her brain, and she reached a hand to the stickiness on her forehead. Searching fingers found her eyes open, and panic surged through her. She waved a hand in front of her eyes, fighting down her alarm. She was blind!
And that wasn’t the only problem. Rough blankets scraped against her skin every time she moved, and it took only a second before she realized she was naked. They had not even left her the dignity of underwear. Her wristwatch, a birthday gift from her father, was also missing.
Had that ugly man undressed her? What else had he done while she had been unconscious? She shuddered, revulsion rising at the back of her throat. Was he watching her, even now? Her panic was turning into hysteria when she heard a click, and bright light flooded the room.
She cried out as the sharp light hurt her eyes, but was also profoundly grateful.
The light revealed a small windowless room, bare of furnishings except for the narrow cot upon which she lay, and the small table next to it. The blankets over and under her were the same drab grey as the rough stone walls of the room.
Marcelle stared at the heavy wooden door, expecting it to open, but nothing further happened. She noticed another, smaller room. Through the open door, she could see a washbasin and a toilet. Her bursting bladder could wait no longer. She wrapped a blanket around herself, and staggered towards the toilet. The door had a flimsy lock, but she was grateful for it. She locked the door behind her, and dropped the blanket to the floor.
After her ablutions, she rinsed her face with cold water, and rubbed away the dried blood. The ugly cut still oozed a thin trickle of watery blood, but a wad of toilet paper stemmed the flow. She checked her body, but apart from cuts and bruises from the car accident, everything seemed to be intact. She decided the monstrous man had not violated her while she had been defenseless."
- GenresRomance
246 pages, ebook
First published April 10, 2012
24 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
Niki Savage
14 books34 followersI love writing for the escapism it offers, allowing me to inhabit a world of my own choosing. For that reason, I am also an avid reader, immersing myself in the imaginings of other writers. And movies, well, don't get me started. I go into withdrawal if I don't see at least two new movies a week.
I love chocolate, and consume the products of the cocoa bean every day. Not really into ice cream, though, chocolate or otherwise.
In my spare time, I run a small shelter for feral cats, and find it very rewarding.
I love chocolate, and consume the products of the cocoa bean every day. Not really into ice cream, though, chocolate or otherwise.
In my spare time, I run a small shelter for feral cats, and find it very rewarding.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 2, 2013
Not for the fainthearted. Really enjoyed the action and tension in Hearts on Fire, the last book of the trilogy. Although, I have a niggling thought that the story isn't quite over.
April 26, 2013
This is the final book in this series and one that expands on the relationship between Stefan and Marcelle, a pairing that is unlikely on many levels but in spite of lots of factors, seemed to be working. That is, until Stefan's enemies--going all the way back to the initial attack that brought Stefan and Marcelle together in book one--have now abducted Marcelle and her experience being the object of torture forms the first part of the book. The second half is the fall-out as it affects Marcelle's recovery and the relationship between these two very intense and troubled couple. Marcelle's experience has caused a lot of Stefan's deeply buried angst and life-experience related trauma to surface more than it ever has as his sense of guilt never seems to be ameliorated by anything or anyone. I felt the ending was just a bit abrupt--don't ask my why I get that feeling. Perhaps it is my own experience as a helping professional that didn't feel that the resolution was as realistic as some of the other aspects of the story. Yet overall, it is a fine book and well-written, with a good flow to the story. Readers should not get impatient with the main characters because the kind of trauma they have both endured at the hands of terrorists doesn't make for easy reading or for easy resolutions, either. Probably the most riveting of the three books.
May 27, 2012
As in the first book of the series, this is a book which is hard to put down. For the first 40% of the book it's all action with a harrowing tale of kidnap and torture. The heroine is finally rescued by her lover and there many authors would end the book. Niki Savage goes on to deal with how the lovers deal with the trauma of the event. Each is stubborn, each feels that they are at fault. Everyone else knows that they should be together but will they reach an understanding?
Crossfire: Hearts on fire will appeal to both a male and female audience. It has the action; it has the romance.
Crossfire: Hearts on fire will appeal to both a male and female audience. It has the action; it has the romance.
July 13, 2018
Again, a terrible cover hides a little gem.
Kidnap, absolutely gruesome torture, revenge (with retribution and cold mass murder as it's dues), deep psychological trauma, guilt and shame, and the disintegration of a marriage under the overwhelming weight of the emotional reactions to such horrific events. This book was brutal.
It sounds so bleak, how come have I enjoyed this so much? Well, everyone needs escapism sometimes, and this is first class entertainment that has got me glued to my kindle all weekend.
While Marcelle and Stefan have succeeded at hiding their marriage from the press, the first part of the book sees the cyclist world champion kidnapped and brutally tortured for her chance rescuing of her high-stakes mercenary husband in the first book of the trilogy. Being such an unlikely pair, the kidnappers miss the fact they are now together, and definitely are not expecting the full force of the anti-terrorist organisation Omega, that Stefan commands, to fall on them with the full force of their training, expertise and brutality.
I really liked it that the author did not decide to end the story simply after the gory rescue scenes, but that she was prepared to follow her characters into the devastating aftermath.
Since the first book, Marcelle has been portrayed as extremely physically strong and determined to succeed, but as an emotionally vulnerable person, deeply damaged by previous traumas, and as a consequence of them, and the added traumatic experience Stefan subjected her to at the end of the first book, with a host of psychological problems that landed her head first into drug addiction in the second book.
Since the first book too, there was a moral tension about whether what he does for a living has robbed Stefan of his humanity and moral compass, and whether despite the many tough, life or death decisions he has to take in the context of his profession on a daily basis, he still is a decent, honorable person or not.
His doubts about his worth and his guilt about his perceived role in her attack, and in the assassination of her first husband intensify in this last book, and he is deeply tormented by remorse and self-doubt while he contemplates whether he is more a liability than an asset to his wife's safety.
I probably have enjoyed this book the most out of the three, as it is more psychologically rich and complex, with multilayered life/love dilemmas and coping with trauma. The fact that Marcelle was no shrinking violet, and had a colourful past of her own, perhaps allowed her to be fully and objectively understanding of the situation, and has never blamed her husband for putting her at risk, since their first encounter was due to random chance.
Him however, was a complete asshole exhibiting narcissistic tendencies for a big chunk of the narrative, and made me nearly throw my kindle to the wall more than once in exasperated frustration. I found it on the one hand paradoxical, that his own previous experience of PTSD did not equip him with a better understanding of his wife's trauma reactions, especially when she has a flashback in the middle of sex. He got all defensive and judgemental and completely self-centred and selfish, unable to understand where her reaction came from. But he should know, he has been there himself! I would have slapped the guy.
On the other hand, I marvelled in the author's skill to portray all these psychological issues: cognitive dissonance and distortions, insecurity, paranoid thinking, a drug-induced psychotic episode, morbid jealousy, hallucinations, and the whole gamut of obstinate marital conflict directed at all costs at protecting the ego and not lose face in front of each other. All these issues were so well written, I had such a blast with this book!
The fact that I was having such intense emotional reactions to the Hero's character and Behaviours/Thoughts is a testament of the really accurate portrayal of his internal consistency under emotional duress (even when being a complete moron with stunted emotional intelligence).
The role of the in-house shrink (whose multiple abilities very handily allow him to double up as a trauma surgeon if the need calls for it) was great, and I loved the many defusing sessions he has with both of them.
In this genre, I probably enjoyed Stylo Fantome's awesome duet Best Laid Plans /Out of Plans a bit more than this trilogy, but it is close. It has been immensely enjoyable to me, and I think it can be appreciated by both men and women (there is the action and convoluted suspenseful plot, and there is the romantic element), and a lot of the 5 star reviews are actually from men.
Kidnap, absolutely gruesome torture, revenge (with retribution and cold mass murder as it's dues), deep psychological trauma, guilt and shame, and the disintegration of a marriage under the overwhelming weight of the emotional reactions to such horrific events. This book was brutal.
It sounds so bleak, how come have I enjoyed this so much? Well, everyone needs escapism sometimes, and this is first class entertainment that has got me glued to my kindle all weekend.
While Marcelle and Stefan have succeeded at hiding their marriage from the press, the first part of the book sees the cyclist world champion kidnapped and brutally tortured for her chance rescuing of her high-stakes mercenary husband in the first book of the trilogy. Being such an unlikely pair, the kidnappers miss the fact they are now together, and definitely are not expecting the full force of the anti-terrorist organisation Omega, that Stefan commands, to fall on them with the full force of their training, expertise and brutality.
I really liked it that the author did not decide to end the story simply after the gory rescue scenes, but that she was prepared to follow her characters into the devastating aftermath.
Since the first book, Marcelle has been portrayed as extremely physically strong and determined to succeed, but as an emotionally vulnerable person, deeply damaged by previous traumas, and as a consequence of them, and the added traumatic experience Stefan subjected her to at the end of the first book, with a host of psychological problems that landed her head first into drug addiction in the second book.
Since the first book too, there was a moral tension about whether what he does for a living has robbed Stefan of his humanity and moral compass, and whether despite the many tough, life or death decisions he has to take in the context of his profession on a daily basis, he still is a decent, honorable person or not.
His doubts about his worth and his guilt about his perceived role in her attack, and in the assassination of her first husband intensify in this last book, and he is deeply tormented by remorse and self-doubt while he contemplates whether he is more a liability than an asset to his wife's safety.
I probably have enjoyed this book the most out of the three, as it is more psychologically rich and complex, with multilayered life/love dilemmas and coping with trauma. The fact that Marcelle was no shrinking violet, and had a colourful past of her own, perhaps allowed her to be fully and objectively understanding of the situation, and has never blamed her husband for putting her at risk, since their first encounter was due to random chance.
Him however, was a complete asshole exhibiting narcissistic tendencies for a big chunk of the narrative, and made me nearly throw my kindle to the wall more than once in exasperated frustration. I found it on the one hand paradoxical, that his own previous experience of PTSD did not equip him with a better understanding of his wife's trauma reactions, especially when she has a flashback in the middle of sex. He got all defensive and judgemental and completely self-centred and selfish, unable to understand where her reaction came from. But he should know, he has been there himself! I would have slapped the guy.
On the other hand, I marvelled in the author's skill to portray all these psychological issues: cognitive dissonance and distortions, insecurity, paranoid thinking, a drug-induced psychotic episode, morbid jealousy, hallucinations, and the whole gamut of obstinate marital conflict directed at all costs at protecting the ego and not lose face in front of each other. All these issues were so well written, I had such a blast with this book!
The fact that I was having such intense emotional reactions to the Hero's character and Behaviours/Thoughts is a testament of the really accurate portrayal of his internal consistency under emotional duress (even when being a complete moron with stunted emotional intelligence).
The role of the in-house shrink (whose multiple abilities very handily allow him to double up as a trauma surgeon if the need calls for it) was great, and I loved the many defusing sessions he has with both of them.
In this genre, I probably enjoyed Stylo Fantome's awesome duet Best Laid Plans /Out of Plans a bit more than this trilogy, but it is close. It has been immensely enjoyable to me, and I think it can be appreciated by both men and women (there is the action and convoluted suspenseful plot, and there is the romantic element), and a lot of the 5 star reviews are actually from men.
July 6, 2023
Absolutely Riveting
This third install stole my life. It took a while for me to read the chapters of Marcelle's capture (sorry for the spoiler). Honestly I still haven't read it all but I will eventually. Stephan acted as any loving husband would under the circumstances so I forgave all his missteps. I adore them both and reading their journey was as if you were there. I can't wait to read the next trilogy.
This third install stole my life. It took a while for me to read the chapters of Marcelle's capture (sorry for the spoiler). Honestly I still haven't read it all but I will eventually. Stephan acted as any loving husband would under the circumstances so I forgave all his missteps. I adore them both and reading their journey was as if you were there. I can't wait to read the next trilogy.
April 21, 2013
3.5 stars
January 7, 2014
The final book of the trilogy, found it dragged on way to much, then a blunt ending
October 26, 2014
What a fantastic last book, God I loved it but I need more, is there more?, recommend reading.
March 5, 2015
!
I have now read all three books of the crossfire series I had never read Niki Savage novels before love it
I have now read all three books of the crossfire series I had never read Niki Savage novels before love it
March 12, 2015
I really loved this series.. it was hard to put it down.
May 12, 2015
Awesome story
I loved the whole book series and characters were awesome. Can't wait to read other books from Niki Savage.
Thanks
I loved the whole book series and characters were awesome. Can't wait to read other books from Niki Savage.
Thanks
January 7, 2016
Great series
Great series! Lots of things going on. I loved the conflicts with in. Was not thrilled with the ending. It left me wanting more.
Great series! Lots of things going on. I loved the conflicts with in. Was not thrilled with the ending. It left me wanting more.
May 14, 2016
Good
This was a good book I would recommend it for a quick cheap read. Fun to read you will too
This was a good book I would recommend it for a quick cheap read. Fun to read you will too
November 4, 2016
All three books were intense with action. I couldn't put it done. Each chapter left you wanting more.
Definitely worth the read!
Definitely worth the read!
April 17, 2014
Awesome trilogy has it all, action good story and the heros win!! Yeah
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews