Merline Lovelace
Lovelace, Merline - DUTY AND DISHONOR (Onyx - 1997) (4)
It's interesting to me to read books about women who are successful in typically male-dominated professions. The story line, an investigation possibly leading to the court-martial of a woman colonel, kept me reading from the first page. ~Donna W. (bobcat@mindspring.com)
Lovelace, Merline - DUTY AND DISHONOR (Onyx - 1997) (4)
Julie Endicott, a career officer in the US Air Force, has served her country faithfully for over twenty years. Expecting another promotion, Julie is stunned when instead she is relieved of her command. The charge of a twenty-year-old murder has been leveled against her!
Now she must relive those months spent in Viet Nam when she met her best friend, Claire, and sky jockey, Gabe Hunter... Julie knew Hunter was sleeping with her friend at the time, and Claire was crazy about the arrogant flyer; but Hunter had been coming on to Julie—and, admittedly, she was attracted to him. But she did not kill him! So, who had stolen her St. Christopher's metal and hand gun, which were buried with Gabe's body?
Although Ted Marsh believes Julie is guilty at first, the more he gets to know her, the more he's convinced she's not the murderer. Now all he has to do is prove it.
Love takes a back seat to murder in DUTY AND DISHONOR, so do not expect a lot of romance in this novel. Do expect mesmerizing suspense with flashbacks that are an integral part of the story. The secondary characters are fully flushed out, and Ms. Lovelace's knowledge of the military makes for a realistic tale. The other two books in the series, LINE OF DUTY and CALL OF DUTY, are also excellent and well worth reading. ~Marilyn H. (mlyn@jps.net)
Lovelace, Merline - LINE OF DUTY (Onyx - 1996) (4)
Lt. Colonel Brenna Duggan is a thirty-six-year-old career Air Force commander, attached to AWACS. Her division trains pilots and looks for planes bringing in drugs. When one of her men, Andrew Lang, dies in a sleazy bar in Panama City, it is concluded that he had been practicing autoeroticism because he was found nude with a rope around his neck. It's also reported that he had been using crack cocaine. When Brenna investigates his death, Andrew Lang's wife insists her husband did not use drugs and she doesn't believe he was involved in the unusual sex practice. Brenna talks to the last three men who had seen Andrew on the night of his death, and customs officer Dave Sanderson tells her they had left Andrew at the bar when they returned to the base.
Dave Sanderson is obviously hiding something, and he tries to discourage Brenna from digging more deeply into Andrew's death. He really rubs her the wrong way, which makes her even more determined to find out what's going on. When Mrs. Lang reports finding a slip of paper with an airplane wing number written on it, Brenna discovers the plane belongs to Mad Dog Petrocelli. She keeps digging into what happened and tries to find the connection between Petrocelli and Sanderson. As her determination grows to discover the true story, the sexual tension and attraction between Dave and Brenna also grows.
It's obvious that Merline Lovelace was in the Air Force for many years. She really knows what she's writing about, which makes this book even more fascinating. LINE OF DUTY has everything a reader could want in a romantic suspense novel. The love scenes are sensual, the characters are well drawn, and the author keeps the tension high. I am happy to know that this is the first book of a trilogy, followed by CALL OF DUTY and DUTY AND DISHONOR. I certainly plan to read all three! ~Marilyn H. (mlyn@jps.net)
NEXT PAGE
Background provided by Judi's Doodlings
Copyright © 1997–2000 Bookbug on the Web