Heartless: A Shieldmaiden’s Voice (A Covenant Keeper Novel)

ACTION ADVENTURE:  Carole Blank has always been different. She could hear voices in her head that told her what and what not to do, and above normal physical abilities.  At the age of seventeen, she signs up for the Marines, and is recruited into an elite special ops unit.  When she gets her team in trouble for refusing a direct order, she meets a man named Ted White, whose heart calls out to her. This marks the beginning of a road of pain and anguish tempered with finally having a tribe of her own, despite her dangerous job as a CIA black-ops assassin.

“Heartless” is an expansive book that takes the reader on an odyssey along with its protagonist.  Carole’s sense of isolation and heartbreak at loving a man who is unwilling to love her back is acutely poignant.  The scenes of Carole with someone who is very special to her will tug at the reader’s heart.  One of this novel’s shortcomings is that the narrative feels a bit aimless.  Carole seems to go in circles in her life journey, and although much time passes, the reader’s sense of closure is delayed.  Additionally, the book’s action/adventure scenes lacked immediacy and intensity.  Since this novel is centered on Carole’s life as an assassin who juggles that against her family obligations, this element is crucial to the storyline.  “Heartless” seems a little too long, but it’s an emotionally involving story with a distinctive heroine who will win over readers.

Danielle Hill