This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by SRose. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Best First Book category.
The summary:
In this gripping and action-packed debut, an Army Intelligence officer and a Delta Force soldier must race against the clock to stop a catastrophic terrorist attack …
When Army Intelligence officer Heather Langstrom’s military convoy is ambushed and she’s taken prisoner, she knows she’ll need all her strength and courage to survive, escape her captors, and report the whispers of unrest brewing in the Middle East.
Delta Force Captain Jace Reed isn’t one to throw caution to the wind, but when his team stumbles upon beaten and weak Heather fleeing the terrorist training camp they’ve been dispatched to destroy, he’ll risk everything to get her to safety.
Once back on base, they learn her convoy’s ambush was no accident … she’d been targeted. As the evidence of an impending attack mounts, Jace and Heather uncover a deadly terrorist plot that could kill hundreds of civilians.
But Jace’s protective instincts and Heather’s fierce independence put them at constant odds. And as they close in on the extremists, they must learn to trust one another in order to save innocent lives … even if it means sacrificing their own.
Here is S.Rose's review:
Trigger warning for torture and attempted rape.
Night Hush is a romantic suspense by Leslie Jones. It takes place in the fictional country of Azakistan. A terrorist group has taken an a female American service member hostage, and special forces group Delta Force runs across her in the course of their operations. Heather Langstrom has been tortured and badly injured, but has managed to escape captivity through her own intelligence and skills. Her rescuer, Jace Reed, has had sort of a crush on her after watching her run on base and has been carrying a picture of her around. He stokes it in one scene, giving a stalker vibe in the prologue.
After her rescue, Heather, who has been severely injured and is off duty, spends time recovering and talking with Jace. She is very reluctant at first to pursue any attraction, as female officers have to be twice as good to be considered half as good, and any interest shown in any man would get her blowback in the form of comments and innuendo.
The portrayal of women in the military was well done, showing how exhausting it would be to be under constant scrutiny for weakness or for those who would try to exploit their ambition. Heather is very ambitious and has goals of being a three-star general one day. Jace tends to be protective of her, and they have several discussions of her ability to do her job, as a man would, without extra coddling needed. Jace grows in this respect, understanding Heather’s need to have her work validated.
This part was sort of shoe-horned in, with sudden reversal from the woman who had been so determined to advance in her military career. Jace had offered to resign so she could advance, but that offer wasn’t taken as a serious possibility.
Heather has trauma from her time as a prisoner, and is having trouble with nightmares and flashbacks. She is reluctant to see the psychiatrist, and this is portrayed well, as she’s afraid of showing any weakness and it highlights a somewhat common reluctance in people who have experienced trauma. If they talk about it, that makes it real. She does discuss her torture with Jace, but not with any therapist. As the plot moves along, and they are frantically trying to stop a terrorist attack, she has the opportunity to confront her torturer. She does have a moment where she freezes, but is able to overcome that and again save herself.
This novel was very enjoyable and the writing flowed well, except for a few quibbles here and there with the plot and characterization, most of the book was an entertaining read.
However, there is one issue that I think is important to address: the country is fake but the terrorist organization is real. The Kongra Gel, or perhaps better known as the PKK, is a Kurdish separatist group. The Alevi are a real religious minority in Turkey. The Pashtun are an ethnic minority in Pakistan. When examining the real life use and practices of these people for this review, this portrayal became a problem, as none of the villains have motivations beyond controlling women, killing civilians, and other stereotypical characteristics. One character, Aa’idah, is the daughter and sister of the two terrorists, and she tells the Americans what the terrorists are planning after she is almost raped by the man her father has said can marry her. She is the only person in the book of local origin who cares about other people.
How do I grade this book? I don’t know. I enjoyed reading it, but the portrayals of the mentioned ethnic groups were problematic. I’m going with a B.
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Thanks!
Thank you for the the thoughtful review, SRose! I’m troubled by what you mentioned as the problematic portrayals of the ethnic groups as well–as great as it is for storytelling, the stereotypes are damaging in the long run to real understanding and the goal of peace.
As someone who has lived in “-istan”, I would give this an F.
I agree, if the author writes about real minorities then they might do their homework and write about a real country as well – including proper portrayals of ‘the enemy.’ Or come up with a fake evil organization that is not simply based on ethnic stereotypes.