Review: Escape out of Darkness by Anne Stuart

Escape Out of Darkness by Anne Stuart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow………that’s why I love reading Anne Stuart’s books. She knows how to get you all tangled in the stories that make for non-stop reading.

I discovered this book by chance and I was a bit apprehensive when I saw that it was first published in 1987…but needn't have worried…….it’s just as fresh as if it was written today.

Let me begin by saying that the heroine is just my kind of woman!!!!!!! No shrinking violet – she’s beyond a smart, beautiful, no bull-shit kick-ass negotiator…spy!!!!!

. She’s like LARA CROFTNIKITA and ULTRAVIOLETall rolled into one fabulous MAGGIE BENNETT.!!!

Maggie Bennett (I still haven’t figure out what she actually does…..I think she’s an undercover CIA agent…..I bet she is…but who knows!!!), has a new mission. Go undetected to Idaho and bring in a witness that has been hiding in a safe house, back to Houston, for the trial of a huge drug operation bust.

No problem for her…..never mind she’s just got off a flight from London, no sleep for days….she’s on it!!!!!!
So she meets up with the witness, an ex rock-star turned music producer, Mack aka “Snake” Pulaski (I really didn’t like his names!!!)….but anyway, he doesn’t quite look that now, but he’s still a hot and sexy guy!!!! Of course I knew that….

Soon, we join these two as they dodge bullets, flee from murderous assassins, survive the plane crash, which just happens to break up in the sea…..not toooo far from where they have to go and find some guy that Maggie needs help from………..yes…..that guy is not in Idaho, not even in the USA but in rebel infested Nicaragua…no, not there..but near there..now what’s the place called????? Colombia? No! Honduras…that’s the place.

More shootings, cars blowing up and soon we see M & M flying to Zurich next. I wonder how they pay for everything. Don’t be daft Alex…this is fiction………NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

I really engaged with the two mc’s. Loved their banter and interaction…..

“Maggie, you may look like Miss Sweden and act like Superwoman but you’ve got the personality of a king cobra. Don’t you ever lighten up?” Mack

“You certainly are grumpy for little cause.” Mack
“You certainly are cheerful for little cause.” Maggie

“ What do you mean, little cause? The road is paved, the sun is rising, no one’s trying to shoot as us for the moment, we’ve got food, warm bottles of Coke, guns to keep off ravaging wildlife, and I’ve been extremely well-laid. What more could I ask?” Mack

“When did you get over Randall?”Mack
“Last week, dammit. When you stepped out of the shadows in Moab, Utah. Now shut up and let me ache in peace.Maggie

and the airport scene was a laugh a minute!!!! Maggie…..she always has a plan……..a bit like Sarah Connor…remember her???

I found the info on the characters below which introduces some of the characters in the series:

• Margrethe Elisa Bennett: Almost six feet of Nordic gorgeousness, she does protection work for a Third World Causes, Ltd..

• Mack Pulaski: Record producer, former rock star and lead singer of Why, his throat (and singing ability) were wrecked in a gangland attack years ago. He just witnessed a drug deal that was connected to international terrorists, and he needs protection.
• Peter Wallace: Head of Third World Causes, an ex-lover and a friend.

• Jeffrey Van Zandt: CIA agent full of sleazy charm.

• Mancini: International drug dealer.

• Sybil Bennett: Maggie’s movie star mother.

• Kate Bennett: Maggie’s half-sister who lives in Chicago and works for an indie movie studio.

• Holly Bennett: Maggie’s half-sister–a super-model.

• Jilly Bennett: Maggie’s half-sister–a doctor living in the Pacific Northwest.

• Randall Carter: The one man Maggie ever loved.

• Bud Willis: Former CIA, mercenary and creep.

• Mike Jackson: head of the DC branch of Third World Causes.

• Hercule Mersot: Organized crime lord.

• Enrique Castanasta: some puppet general in the RAO rebel army

• Lonesome Fred: the stoned pilot who comes to a watery end.

• Consuela: Bud Wills “woman” in Honduras, who we are not sure if she comes to a stick end or not.

This was such a fun and thrilling ride……and I am hopefully going to find book #2 & #3…..I have to keep up with Maggie Bennett’s next adventures!!!


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