Double Take, Alyssa Turner

 

Review by Kazza K

It's the year 2158. The depleted ozone layer has had a huge impact on the world and society is divided up into classes or status levels. Shannon Morris is a Senior Vetting Marshal at Eaglecorp Global Incorporated. She has what is called Platinum Status, pretty high ranking, but with some more scope for promotion to come. She lives high up in one of the work/living arrangement towers that house Eaglecorp employees based on their work status. She is a good Snoop, as are her team who check on the citizens in her sector. The thing is Shannon is having dreams. The dreams are always difficult but they are also erotic. She is held hostage by several masked men. One of them, Tristan, has warm eyes and a sexy voice and he tells her things that stay with her. Yes, she is his captive but he looks after her and she is more than attracted to him -

These days, her dreams were consumed with images of his imagined body against hers, while danger lingered on the other side of her closed door. 
Tristan had no face in her fantasies, just an essence to draw upon for inspiration.

At work, Shannon also has a new up-and-coming recruit looming large for promotion into her vetting team, Raymond Stark. He is very sure of himself, dresses impeccably, and there is something about him that sets her usually aloof dial to a warmer setting. He seems interested but he also holds back just enough to pique her interest. Raymond's interview is strange but he passes her vetting in a manner you know means more than is given on page.

Shannon's team has been allocated a new case, to find a citizen Kristen Hewitt, for suspected infringements against Eaglecorp. It seems the hairdresser has disappeared and they have to find her for interrogation. Raymond and Shannon are set to work the case together.

Eaglecorp encourages employee relationships, it's a way to keep transfers down, to keep team players together, and soon Shannon is in a relationship with Raymond Stark, only she learns that he has a secret, a secret that involves her dreams.

Fairly quickly into the novel you discover that Raymond Stark is actually Pryor Davies who has a twin....Tristan. The same Tristan who stars large in Shannon's nightly dreams. It seems Shannon was in fact held hostage two years prior by three men, Tristan, Pryor and the (then) leader Mick. Her dreams were a reality. They are resistance fighters who held her hostage to gain something in return from Eaglecorp, but things went badly with an over-zealous leader and Shannon had surgery to help her. Eaglecorp say it is so that the public won't recognise her and so she can move on from that difficult experience. There is a lot more to it but to discuss it would be to ruin a part of the book.

Now the twins are back in her life again and this time they want to build a relationship, but more than that, they want Shannon to see past Eaglecorp as just an employer with a good lifestyle attached, to the Big Brother corporation that they really are.

There are several stories going on in Double Take - the case on Kristen Hewitt gets pulled by the president of Eaglecorp, but they investigate anyway, the twins and Shannon develop a ménage relationship, Shannon learns about the resistance, she also learns some things about herself that shake her to the core of who she is.

The book had action, technology, several mystery components and the world building is very good. Shannon, Tristan and Pryor have a good, sexy relationship. The twins are different - Tristan is more caring and has a stronger initial attachment to Shannon, Pryor is more about getting the job done whilst also falling for Shannon. Pryor splits himself between his resistance role and his alter-ego at Eaglecorp with a goal to bring them down.

Shannon is not the often-used TSTL heroine, she had strength and independence and I liked her as a female lead. Tristan and Pryor are strong men but they aren't Neanderthals, which I found very refreshing. This may be erotic writing but the sex wasn't gratuitous. The book was well paced, it had a good storyline, with depth, and it rolled along nicely throughout. I enjoyed the plots that were going on. There is a lot to like about Double Take and I certainly recommend it for those who like a sexy M/F/M ménage in a futuristic setting with a good story arc.

4 Futuristic Stars.

This book was provided to me by the author in return for an honest review.

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