Darkest Before Dawn

by Maya Banks

Maya Banks leaves nothing in the tank with this the latest in her KGI series.

Darkest Before Dawn is everything you have come to expect and in true Maya Banks fashion, she knocks it right out of the ball park!

I loved Honor, she was such an amazing character, she had her focus, she cared about the people in the world that are often forgotten, and she was prepared to do whatever she could to help those less fortunate than she was.

But when her meagre facilities are destroyed and she is the last person left alive, she had to dig deep to find the resolve she needs to not just continue but to stay alive.

This woman is make of strong stuff, she is no shrinking violet and if the bad guys what to catch her they are going to have to up their game, because she is going nowhere.

Or so she thinks, because she may not have a choice because being alone in a war zone is not the place for a woman or so the powers that be have decided and they have called in the mercenaries to rescue her - shame they didn’t actually asked her if she was ready to leave.

Sent to extract Honor from her situation are Hancock and his group of mercenaries, and boy did they get more than they bargained for.

Hancock, wow, what can I say about him?

He is tough as they come but that saying that no man is an island, definitely did not apply to Hancock – the man was impenetrable! He was under no illusions just how crappy the world could be – because nine times out of ten it was him and his guys that were shipped in to handle that afore mentioned crap.

This man had long since packed away the rose tinted glasses and was staring clearly into a show rainbow of f***ed up!

He was a character that left me ever so slightly conflicted and while I could reconcile the fact that he harboured a hatred for the way he and his men had been treated, I struggled to come to terms with the missions that he undertook.

But he connected with Honor, two tough individuals, who may looks at the situation from opposite sides of the table but can both see it for what it really is. Honor thought she could see right through the façade that Hancock presented but would he let her see the real him?

He surprised me with just how much he was willing to let Honor in, she tried, she really did to let him see that there was good inside but he felt he was a lost cause.

But I wasn’t left in any doubt that there was more to this man that he put on show to world.

There are too many details that I could wax lyrical about but it would serve no purpose in this a short review. But by the time you get to the end you will be glad that you have had that details to cushion the blow, to pad the devastation and to allow your senses the crash landing that they require.