"Zero at the Bone"

Review - "Zero at the Bone" by Jane Seville

Fantastic thriller and love story

Very Highly Recommended

Dr. Jack Francisco witnessed something he wishes he had not.  An assassination by members of a drug cartel.  But he is a brave man, and decides to testify.  Do the right thing.  So he goes into the witness protection program and is in hiding in Las Vegas.  Until he walks into his home one day and there sits his worst nightmare.

D is a hit man.  He only takes those jobs where the target is a bad man - child molesters, murderers, gangsters.  But someone has information on him.  Pictures of him making hits.  So they are forcing him to take out Jack. 

But that goes against everything D still believes in.  That which still keeps him...a man.  A person.  And even though he has been alone for ten years - TRULY alone, no touching, no contact - he just can't kill Jack for no good reason.  So he makes the decision to grab Jack and run.  Find out who is after him, and keep Jack safe.

And he finds out Jack is a good man.  Too good for the likes of him.  And the carefully constructed vault he has built to hold his secrets, his pains and his past is threatening to burst open.  And the things in there, they are not good.  Things about his family.  His kills.  His wants...

Can D keep Jack safe, and keep himself safe at the same time?  Will the feelings blossoming between D and Jack turn into love, or will the danger tear them apart?  And can they ever be together, for real?

This book is flat out amazing.  A thriller, a romance, a love story.  A character study of two men, one coming slowly back to life, and the other allowing himself to feel and explore.  Both feeling their way out of the dark into something new and fragile and so very very tender.

Jane Seville has created such a gentle love story here.  The slow exploration of the building relationship is so beautifully done.  The shyness of the physical explorations, the fumbling touches, the long waited first kiss.  The opening up of D as we learn more about his life before.  When he was Anson.  Before he became the killer D.  And then, then he opens up and SEES Jack.

"Jack stared at his lowered profile. 'Thanks for my life.'  D lifted his head and met Jack's eyes, and for the first time, Jack could see Anson looking back at him, the facade that he called D worn thin and threadbare.  'Thanks for mine.'"

Ah, so sweet.  Damn.

And then, when they are to be separated, and might never see each other again...

"'What would it have been like?' Jack whispered."

Heartbreaking.

But what I loved best - this book did not stop when it could have.  No - Ms. Seville took us past the obvious.  Into the what's next.  And made the story so much more, so rich, so textured, so good.  This is an emotionally rich roller coaster of a ride.  And there aren't many out there better than this.

If you haven't already read it, get it today.

Tom