Edge of Sanity by Shannon K Butcher – a Review

Edge of Sanity by Shannon K. Butcher is her third book in her Edge series.  This was a terrific non stop action filled book. Edge of Sanity will be released on December 4th.

Description:
“I NEED TO KNOW IF ANYONE WAS KILLED LAST NIGHT.”

In his years working for the private security firm The Edge, Clay Marshall has seen it all. But the recent blackouts he’s been having are new. So is waking up with blood on his hands and clothes, with no memory of where the blood came from—or who he might have killed. He hates to admit it, but he needs help.
 
Dr. Leigh Vaughn has treated other Edge employees before, but from the moment she sees him for the first time, Clay strikes her as a special breed of man. She knows he’s dangerous, and distrustful of doctors, but she finds herself drawn to him even as his own steely exterior gives way to his growing desire for her.

Neither knows, however, that Clay is being used as a pawn in a larger experiment, and that his blackouts are only the first step toward a terrifying goal. And both Leigh and Clay will put themselves in harm’s way to stop an unseen enemy—and to save one another

Review

Edge of Sanity starts immediately into a tense action filled story of Clay Marshall, our hero in this book.  Clay works for The Edge, a private security firm, which is the background of this series.  Clay has recently been having blackouts, waking up covered with blood.  He cannot remember anything.  He doesn’t know where to turn, and decides to tell his best friend, Mira.  She is concerned for Clay, knowing he is not telling her the whole story, but knowing something is terribly wrong.  Mira goes to Payton Bainbridge, her boss at The Edge.  Payton, knows immediately what is wrong, once he listens to Mira, but he doesn’t tell her anything, other then he will help Clay, and to keep this private.  Payton goes to Clay, tells him to go away to his secluded vacation home, and bring no technical items. No phone, no computer, nothing.  He is to lock himself in the house, and only let in one person, whom he will send to help him.  Clay, seeing how serious and troubled Payton is, becomes concerned, but he knows he must follow Payton’s orders.

We now meet our heroine, Dr. Leigh Vaughn.  Leigh is a doctor, who helps Payton on occasion, to secretly fix up injuries to members or clients of The Edge.  It is Leigh, whom Payton sends to watch over Clay.  She accepts the assignment, with the promise that Payton will allow her to see her brother, who is locked away in a private facility.  Clay is immediately attracted to Leigh, but forces himself to be distant, as he isn’t sure what is happening to him, and he fears he is dangerous to anyone near him. 

We learn early on, that Clay has been brainwashed as a child, and just recently someone has triggered his activation.  Whoever is behind this has had him unknowingly going on missions to kill.  Clay doesn’t believe this at first, but learns from both Leigh, whose brother was also brainwashed, and from Payton, who confessed about his own involvement many years ago, and he was now trying to stop it and find out who is behind those early experiments, and the recent activation. 

This was a tremendous storyline, extremely exciting, and non stop action.  The race was on with Clay and Leigh being threatened at every step, as they were constantly hounded by the enemy, who was able to track them down.  Once Clay and Leigh realized how deep Payton was in this mess, they weren’t sure they could trust him, even though Payton told them he has been trying to stop this for a long time, and rectify his past mistakes.  What made this story great, was the developing romance between Clay and Leigh.  Clay knows he has fallen for Leigh, but he wants her far away from him, as he knows he has no control if someone pulls his trigger, and in that case anyone within reach of him is in terrible danger.  Leigh wants to help Clay, and she also knows she has fallen hard for Clay, but Leigh needs to help save her brother, and feels Clay must learn to trust her.  Despite their love, and great sex, the danger facing both of them, keeps them from any type of commitment.

The last 1/3 of the book was totally filled with non stop excitement, bringing in some other players into this dangerous game.  There were a number of twists and surprises that endanger their own lives, as well as those close to them.  Shannon Butcher outdid herself in this fantastic exciting story, as I could not stop reading.  Not to mention having a wonderful couple made it even better, as I loved Clay and Leigh together.  Edge of Sanity was an emotional roller coaster ride, and it had a sensational ending.   

Edge of Sanity Pre-Order Links:Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author