Double Deception

Code Name: Danger #18

by Merline Lovelace

Victoria Talbot, code name Rebel, is an Air Force Academy grad, a decorated combat pilot, a trained linguist, and a former assistant Air Attache at the US embassy in Moscow. Now an OMEGA agent, she’s the perfect choice to help unravel the mystery of how a deceased U.S. WWII veteran got hold of a small piece of a panel from Russia’s famed Amber Room, which went missing when the Nazi’s looted St. Petersburg.

As Rebel and her partner for this mission follow a convoluted trail that leads to what might well be another “treasure train” of looted art works, Clint Black, code name Blade, begins to wonder what secrets his cool, self-contained partner is hiding. Or, worse, whether she might be a double agent…

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Russia, Category Romance, Harlequin, Suspense, Contemporary

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

After a 23-year AF career, Colonel Merline Lovelace launched a second career as a writer, basing many of her tales on her own experiences in uniform and on her travels all around the globe.

The USA Today best-selling author now has more than 11 million copies of her books in print. Her works have won numerous awards, including the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA. Merline is especially proud to have been named the University of Oklahoma's Writer of the Year and the Oklahoma Female Veteran of the Year.

Reviews

[Alicia (is beyond tired of your *ish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a hard time rating this one. I kind of want to give it five stars for my enjoyment of it – I read nearly the entire second half of the book in one sitting! – but it doesn't quite reach that level.

This is another Harlequin Romantic Suspense that is completely hamstrung by that ridiculously low, arbitrary word limit for this type of story. I'm not sure why they have that limit and why this was published under that line instead of Lovelace writing the book full out and getting it published under another line, or somewhere else. Which would have been feasible, I think, because this book was the least focused on the "romance" aspect of RS that I've ever read from them (though there was quite a bit on their attraction, of course).

It's obvious Lovelace did a lot of research for this story and it's told very well. But what it needs is more. I usually say that I want more, but this story requires more. Of everything. She was covering a lot of bases, and while I think she could have removed a lot of the background of the side OMEGA characters there isn't much to get rid of and tell a full story. So we needed more about the characters, especially Rebel (Victoria Talbot) and Blade (Clint Black). I accepted their declarations in the end because the story mentions they have worked together for years and they had a decent back and forth but it also felt crammed in. Like, this is a Harlequin RS, this has to happen! So reading more of a foundation between them would have been much better (or letting it go entirely).

There needed to be more to the deception storyline. It was done well, but it could have played out longer and ratcheted up a lot more suspicion, wariness, and delicious tension. There also needed to be more to the climax. The way it went down wasn't bad, but it was an obvious shortcut to stay within the word limit. It could have been drawn out and super compelling. I did like the sort of misdirection of what they uncovered in the end and that it wasn't perfect (per se).

I guess to stop belaboring the point, I'll just leave it at there should have been more of everything. This could have easily been a full 300-something to 400-page book.

Two little side notes: When being chased by maniacs with guns, maybe get to safety before taking the time to make out. Or at least make a phone call. I'm still perplexed as to why that never happened. And I didn't understand the use of the code names. Since, even though this is a black ops type organization they still use their real names and no sort of cover identity! Even when on missions! Apparently Victoria didn't use one as an agent in her previous life either. That seems...counterintuitive. So it really doesn't make sense why OMEGA came up with code names for their agents other than to be cute.

This book is definitely worth the read. I enjoyed it a great deal. I just wish the story had the room to reach its full potential.

[Saly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Double Deception was a decent OMEGA book about "Blade" and Victoria who have been circling each other for years and when they are handed a mission dealing with the lost Russian Amber Room sparks fly. Victoria doesn't like or trust Blade's reputation with women having an ex just like that. One thing I disliked was how quick Blade was to distrust her and then bam suddenly all is fine.
I kind of also didn't like the knife pulling thing, it got old and I didn't get where Blade's mistrust came from and his past is never talked about.

I liked the very first book of this series more and read on just for continuity and nostalgia I guess. I am a SERIES follower.

[Sigrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

The matter of the Amber Room in Russia has long interested me, perhaps because I find amber itself so fascinating. That means that I've also seen documentaries on TV about this lost treasure. While I was in Vienna, Austria I went to see Schoenbrunn Palace just outside the city, which also has a room decorated with a lot of amber. After seeing it, I wondered how much more beautiful the other must have been.

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setting (post- Cold War Russia) and the suspense plot centering on the mysterious disappearance of the Amber Room definitely got my attention. I loved the mood of the story and the spy vs. spy action. However, the relationship between the leads left something to be desired. Here's my TBR Challenge 2012 column on the book: http://www.likesbooks.com/blog/?p=7610

[Cathy Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 10th installment in Lovelace's Code Name Danger series. It is Blade's and Rebel's story.
I really liked this book a lot. It kept me on my toes. I like a story where it takes the whole book to solve a mystery.

[Sharon Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agents and double agents - love and trust? A good suspense story.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Code Name: Danger

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

another "spy" book, but this one involves a favorite WWII mystery of mine, the disappearance of the Amber Room.