Out of Time

OUT OF TIME is the third instalment in Monica McCarty’s contemporary, adult THE LOST PLATOON romantic, military suspense series focusing on SEAL Team Nine whose members are MIA or dead following an unsanctioned and undercover mission to Russia than went horribly wrong. This is thirty-three year old Lieutenant Commander Scott Taylor, and former executive assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, twenty-nine year old Natalie ‘Natalya Petrova’ Andersson’s story line. OUT OF TIME can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is an on-going theme and premise throughout including the rekindling relationship and romance between former husband and wife duo Colt Wesson, Team Nine’s former chief, and CIA agent Katherine ‘Kate’ Wesson. NOTE: If you have not read the previous instalments there may be some spoilers in my review. Told from several third person points of view including Natalie and Scott, and Colt and Kate, OUT OF TIME follows in the aftermath of SEAL Team Nine’s disastrous mission to Russia in which eight men didn’t make it out alive, and the survivors have found themselves in hiding around the world. Thirty-three year old Lieutenant Commander Scott Taylor struggles to get past the betrayal of his former love, a woman now deemed a Russian spy for her supposed role in the attack against Scott’s former Team but also a woman presumed dead in an accident meant to cover a trail of betrayal and spies. Determined to uncover the truth, Scott goes in search of a someone with connections to the past but discovers the woman he once loved is alive, with more secrets that are about to change the course of their lives. What ensues is the rebuilding relationship and romance between Natalie and Scott, and the potential fall-out as a suspected mole has sent their sights on the remaining members of Team Nine. The relationship between Scott and Natalie is one of second chances. Scott wants nothing more than to take down and crush the woman he once loved but once the truth is uncovered and revealed Scott must come to terms with what was, and what is about to be. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. Meanwhile, former husband and wife duo Colt Wesson, Team Nine’s one-time chief, and CIA agent Katherine ‘Kate’ Wesson find themselves working together in an effort to bring home one of their own. Colt’s past treatment of his former wife is reprehensible and heart breaking in light of the revelation of secrets and truth, and as such Colt works tirelessly to win back the woman who’s heart he destroyed. The world building continues to focus on the search for the truth. Secrets and lies are exposed; betrayal and treason come at a cost. OUT OF TIME is a suspenseful and revealing story that follows several paths towards truth and retribution. The premise is heart breaking, engaging and real; the characters are animated and colorful as they struggle to make sense of it all; the romance is seductive. OUT OF TIME is a compelling and energetic read but I struggled with the quick resolution, and the lack of information regarding the guilty party’s demise.