What Doesn’t Kill You by Iris Johansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Romantic Thriller
“I merely encountered Lucifer, and he thinks I can bring him out of hell and give him back paradise.”
“I avoid Lucifer if I can. I understand his ambition and recognize it in myself. It’s just another name for power, and it can be a heady brew.”
Catherine has just returned from a job in Peru when she gets a call from Venable, the deputy director of the CIA and her boss. He needs her in Hong Kong now. There is a situation that only she can help with, Hu Chang. A mysterious Chinese medicine potion maker, he is also a master poison maker and assassin but he is the closest thing to a father that Catherine knows. He took her in when she was young, alone, and on the streets.
“Hu Chang stopped being innocent a long, long time ago. He’s capable of doing anything that he chooses. But he doesn’t usually choose anything that would get him into this kind of trouble. What’s he done?” “I think he’s concocted some potion or drug that’s fairly world-shaking.”
Hu Chang’s newest creation, a very powerful poison that leaves no trace, has gotten into the wrong hands. A man so evil, Hu Chang refers to him as Lucifer, Nardik has plans to use this poison for a high stakes assassination, where he will earn a hefty purse. Now Catherine must help Hu Chang get his creation back and stop the assassination from happening.
“And what I wish is that you destroy that damned drug and the formula as soon as we get this nightmare over with.”
“I will consider your wishes. We will discuss it after we save Superman and all of the free world.”
Catherine needs someone who has insight into Nardik and his organization in order to assist her with taking him down. John Gallo is the only man alive that has been able to get close. Catherine and John have worked together in the past and share quite the steamy, sexual tension. Their first mission, find Hu Chang in Hong Kong, then they need to stop Nardik and the assassination. In their effort to get to Nardik, Catherine ends up putting a target on herself and Nardik is not opposed to using her son against her. Can she stop this murderer in time without getting herself or her child killed?
“Lightening bolts and the gods of Mount Olympus. It’s not a bad combination. I believe I did very well with Pondera.” “A few glitches, but it definitely has potential to become a sun.”
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you strong?”
A captivating thriller from start to finish. I just love a great thriller that has some sexual tension in it. The kind that has you wondering if the characters will ever get together on not. Iris’s writing just flows easy and keeps you engaged. Written in multiple POV, with the majority of the story by main character Catherine. This is the second book in the Catherine Ling series which is a spin off of the Eve Duncan series. Iris Johansen is one of my favorite authors and the Eve Duncan series is on my top 10 reads. I just love all the characters, how they develop and evolve throughout the series. I am looking forward to seeing where Catherine’s story goes. She is a badass woman who has always taken care of herself but she has some issues from her past that she still needs to overcome. I will always recommend any novel from Iris Johansen and this one is no exception. A great romantic thriller for those who love an action packed murder mystery and romance novel.
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