The Protector
Games People Play
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Dimon excels at creating memorable, complex characters.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Salvation, Pennsylvania. The commune located in the small town was advertised as a modern Utopia: a place to live, share, and learn with other like-minded young people. Cate Pendleton’s sister was one of them. Now she’s dead—and Cate won’t rest until she finds out who killed her. Stonewalled at every turn, she approaches a DC Fixer for help and ends up with Damon Knox, a mysterious man with a secretive past. But Cate soon discovers that she not only needs Damon, she wants him, which isn’t good—for the attraction brewing between them will only lead to complications that can turn into danger . . .
Damon has tried to erase the hellish memories and the evil that happened in Salvation ever since he left a long time ago. Still, he can’t turn his back on Cate. As Damon works with Cate to uncover her sister’s killer, he finds himself drawn to her more and more. But how will she feel about him when she learns about his connection to the place?
Joining forces to uncover the truth, they must stay one step ahead of a cunning killer who’s bent on not being exposed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dimon's fourth Games People Play contemporary romantic thriller (after The Pretender) pairs unwavering Cate Pendleton with capable investigator Damon Knox to find out who killed Cate's sister at a commune in Salvation, Pa. Damon never wanted to return to the horror he once experienced in Salvation, but when his boss assigns him to assist Cate, he finds his opportunity to face his demons to be almost as irresistible as the sexy brunette. Danger lurks at every turn, and there are enough murder suspects to create a new series. While Cate seeks justice for her sister, Damon fights an internal battle with guilt and shame for a mistake made long ago. He doesn't feel worthy of Cate, but he can't let her go. Dimon capably balances the romantic relationship with the fight for survival, avoiding clich and easy fixes. Love scenes are intense and fully detailed, adding depth to the emotional connection. An explosive ending will delight and satisfy series fans.
Customer Reviews
spicy and intriguing
THE PROTECTOR is the fourth full-length instalment in HelenKay Dimon’s contemporary, adult GAMES PEOPLE PLAY erotic, romantic, suspense series focusing on a tight knit group of life-long friends, known as the Quint Five whose business it is to investigate and ‘fix’ whatever has gone wrong. This is Damon Knox and Cate Pendleton’s story line. THE PROTECTOR can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Cate and Damon) THE PROTECTOR follows Damon Knox as his latest assignment working for Levi Wren is to return to a place that all but destroyed his life. Cate Pendleton’s sister ‘died’ under mysterious circumstances while living and learning at the Sullivan Compound in Salvation Pennsylvania, a cult-like compound whose secrets lie hidden behind locked gates and armed guards. Having approached Levi Wren for assistance in uncovering the truth Cate learns she is to work with a man whose own secrets are closely related to the Sullivan Compound where her sister had died. Enter Damon Knox, the man with whom Cate will fall in love. What ensues is the fake relationship between Damon and Cate, and the potential fall-out as Cate and Damon are targeted for sins of the past, sins that wish to remain buried along with the dead.
Cate is desperate to uncover the truth about her sister’s death but years of searching for the truth have the people living and working at the Sullivan Compound worried when our heroine arrives in town with Damon Knox. Damon is a man who is unable to let go of the past but finding himself in Salvation, Pennsylvania stirs up too many memories for himself and the people who remember what happened years before.
The relationship between Cate and Damon begins as a business arrangement that must present as a fake romance in order to get past the people in charge. Damon believes himself empty and cold, unworthy of love having been betrayed by the people from his past. Cate suspects Damon’s inability to let go of the past stems from his need for closure thus facing his demons means facing the man who destroyed his life. A fake relationship with Cate forces Damon to reveal the truth, and in doing so allows our hero to forgive himself for what happened in the past. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Levi Wren, Wren’s second in command Garrett McGrath and Trevor Gault (of the Quint Five); as well as several members of the Sullivan Compound-Leader Steven Sullivan, brothers Roger and Vincent, and Steven’s assistant Liza.
THE PROTECTOR is a story of suspense, romance, betrayal and revenge. The premise is entertaining; the romance is seductive and compelling; the characters are charismatic and dynamic but the lack of any significant background information regarding Cate or Damon was a bit disappointing especially as it concerned Damon and his years spent in the Sullivan Compound; or what it was he actually did for Levi Wren. THE PROTECTOR is an interesting, spicy and intriguing tale of determination and grit.