Bodyguard: Into the Dark

Six months after Amy Walker crept into the night and out of Dallas Garrett’s life he still cannot stop thinking about the woman who stole his heart. Not that Dallas is about to admit she did. He is, after all, a Marine, tough as nails and no room for those kinds of emotions. That’s the public line.

The private line, the real one, is that Dallas has been scared, but not where anyone can see them. But that’s not why Amy ran.

Amy has lived a lifetime with a secret that has terrified and robbed her of all that matters in her life. Thinking that maybe, just maybe, she has found a relatively safe place. Now she lives day to day, disguised so she can care for her mother, missing Dallas until she is sure her heart can’t break any further than it has. When she is found one night, run off a lonely, dark road, Amy confronts one demon and knows that to face the others she can turn to one person and one person only—Dallas Garrett. Turning up on his door step the two scratch the surface of what’s between them, but Amy prepares to go on the run again—this time to Argentina and into the heart of a conspiracy that could end the world.

Cindy Gerard’s long awaited INTO THE DARK, book six of her bodyguard series delivers in spades. This reviewer was on the edge of her seat for almost a year waiting for Dallas’ story and it is the best in the entire series, which is saying a lot because each book is a fantastic read. As with the entire series, it was virtually impossible to put INTO THE DARK down it is that good. Through Amy there is an intriguing tie in to the Nazi’s ODESSA plans and goals for world domination. The conspiracy is mind-boggling and Ms. Gerard carries it off with just the right amount of suspense, intrigue, and drama.

Knowing that INTO THE DARK intended to be the last of the series this reviewer nearly had a fit when Gibe and Johnny are introduced to the mix, and yes, Sam as well. Here were three more incredible men, along with a feisty female in Jenna McMillan whose stories also needed to be told. The news that their stories are going to be found in a new series was Christmas in July for this reviewer.

Ms. Gerard creates memorable characters, real to life, people who could be your neighbors, with a side to them that makes you glad to have them for friends. She also pens amazing story lines that take the reader along for the ride. Picture being in a rickety twin engine air craft flying over the Andes and Ms. Gerard has you sitting there grabbing your seat along with Amy and Jenna. Imagine a lush, secluded estate where you can rest and regroup and watch it come to life on the pages of this fabulous author’s books.

There is a dark side to Ms. Gerard’s stories—the Garretts wouldn’t exist without the shadowy side of human nature. The reader is not on the outside looking in, but part of the action and, as the characters grow the reader is there to cheer them on. The way Amy reclaims her life is a testament to how resilient the human spirit is. When she finds her own strength and reaches out to help Dallas also reclaim what he has lost through the ravages of war, it shows just how strong she truly is.

Unlike the rest of the Bodyguard series, INTO THE DARK features pretty much only Dallas and Amy with the other Garretts and members of E.D.E.N. there only as a supporting cast at the end. While at first this reviewer wasn’t so sure she was going to like leaving the rest of the clan out, the introduction of Gabe, Johnny and Sam more than made up for the Garrett family remaining in Palm Beach for the story.

Each of the stories in the Bodyguard series can be read out of order. Read them as you like, but don’t miss INTO THE DARK. Don’t miss any of the books in the Bodyguard Series.

July 2007