Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run

by Pepper O'Neal

Trusting a stranger may prove to be her only means of escape...but at what cost?

Abandoned as a child and desperate for the love of a family, Salt Lake City costume designer Tess Horton refuses to believe her newly discovered relatives are part of the Mafia--until they try to kill her. Plagued by assassins, and prophetic dreams she doesn't understand, Tess flees to Mexico only to stumble upon CIA field officer, Max Maxwell, who washes up on her beach, wounded, unconscious, and Tess's only hope.

Is he willing to betray her trust...if it means stopping an attack on America?

Max is chasing terrorists during a storm on the Sea of Cortez when he runs into an ambush. Knocked out cold he awakens without any memory of who he is and what he is doing in Baja. When assassins arrive, Max follows his instincts and helps his rescuer escape. Tess has no choice but to trust him as danger closes in on all sides. With every step they take together Max is drawn closer to his brave companion only to discover when his memories return that betraying her is the only way to stop the worst terrorist attack in US history.

332 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Regan Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run by Pepper O’Neal is a first rate thriller. The plot revolves around a woman on the run from a killer, who just happens to be part of the Mormon Mafia. Tess, the heroine, has prophetic dreams. Not that they do her much good. I loved the fact that she couldn’t understand what they meant until they happened. Kind of like trying to interpret Nostradamus. When she finds the hero Max washed up on the beach after a storm, she takes him in, even though it puts her in danger. And who can blame her? Hell, if I found a hunk on my beach, I’d take him home, too. The characters were very well done, the action extremely fast paced. Throw in a few terrorists, the CIA, and organized crime, and I was riveted from the very first paragraph. I kept waiting for a good place to stop, but there just wasn’t one, so I ended up reading until 3 am. My kind of book!

[Taylor Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run by Pepper O’Neal wasn’t quite what I expected. Not that I was disappointed because I wasn’t. But while it has a paranormal angle, in that the heroine has prophetic dreams, it doesn’t have shifters or vampires. What it does have is lots of action, adventure, and suspense. And two—count them, two—gorgeous hunks! Honestly, I had a great deal of trouble deciding which one I liked best. But that’s the best kind of trouble to have. As always, O’Neal’s characters are so well developed and feel so real, it’s hard to believe it’s fiction, and the dialogue makes you feel like you’re right there in the scene with them. The stuff about the CIA and the Mormons also had a ring of truth that tells me O’Neal did her homework. Black Ops Chronicles: Dead Run is one you’ll want to read again and again.

[Maggie Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a bit to finish this - didn't really start to click until halfway through. There were some undeveloped pieces that left me scratching my head, but overall an entertaining read.