Into the Devil's Underground
by Stacy Green
Synopsis
For Emilie Davis, it was business as usual in her job as bank manager of WestOne until two men storm in demanding cash. However, it doesn't take long before Emilie learns one of the men isn't there for money—he's convinced they have a connection and has come to claim her. And he won't give up.
When hostage negotiator Nathan Madigan and Las Vegas SWAT enter the bank on a rescue mission, Emilie's captor makes a shocking escape into the abyss that lies beneath the city: the Las Vegas storm drains, a refuge for the downtrodden and the desperate.
Through the darkness of the Devil's Underground and secrets from her past, Emilie finds there is no escape from her stalker. She turns to Nathan, who is determined to save her no matter what it takes.
But will it be enough?
“Why are you here?” Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. Sweat rolled down her forehead and stung her eyes.
Laugh lines appeared at the corners of the man’s eyes. “You don’t know, Miss Emilie?”
Her heart skidded to a stop. How does he know my name? Throat constricted, she shook her head.
“For you, Miss Emilie. I’m here for you.”
My Review
Once again, Stacy Green has done her thing. She's written a positively breathtaking story that pulls you in so quickly and keeps a rugged hold on you throughout the whole electrifying ride, and doesn't let go of you until it's climactic finish. I am aware that Into the Devil's Underground is an updated and revised edition of the 2012 previously released Into the Dark, however I wasn't fortunate enough to read that version previously, but I'm sure it's a pretty safe bet to say that this version is quite the improvement, or she most likely wouldn't have wasted her time.
Here we find Emilie, manager at a Las Vegas bank who has just received flowers from an admirer. As she herself admires these flowers, the sweet tone of the book quickly changes to pure horror. The bank is being robbed by two men who take hostages, making Emilie one of them. Quickly however, Emilie is separated from the rest of the group of hostages and as you can imagine, the story gets really interesting from here on out.
As the Vegas police and other legal teams are pulled into the story, we meet Nathan, the Vegas SWAT team hostage negotiator. Nathan as expected is wonderful at his job and after a quick assessment, everyone is informed and is pretty much under the same agreement and understanding. They have concluded that the real reason behind the bank robbery and hostage taking wasn't so that they could get away with the banks money at all, in fact, it's got very little, if nothing at all to do with the money. They believe that the robbery was staged and used as a ploy to get at Emilie, personally.
Throughout the story we really get to know Emilie and Nathan on a personal level. For instance we learn that they both have experienced major traumas and kind of blame themselves for them. Emilie left home at the age of 18, is estranged from her Mother, and is also recently divorced. Nathan, even though it happened so many years ago when he was just a teenager, still blames himself for his uncle's death. I really like the way Stacy lets us get a deeper look into their personal lives, yet sort of little by little, as opposed to just all of their background information all at once in the beginning of the story.
As I said before, there were two robbers...well, one of them escapes just in the knick of time, down into the storm drain which leads to a complete other life, unknown to many...the life of those that live in the underground tunnels that were built beneath Vegas many years ago. The escapee soon becomes known as The Taker and he begins stalking Emilie's every move, as a reader it's not hard to figure out that he WILL strike again, most likely when Emilie and the others are least expecting it. And that is part of what helps make this story so tense and suspenseful throughout the entire thing.
When I mentioned others in the paragraph above, well, that's a complete other part of the story that will keep you guessing. What I mean by this, is that we start to realize that The Taker has help, and just when you think you know who these helpers might be, the story takes yet another startling twist, and you're right back to guessing again.
Truly, this book is top notch, with very realistic characters which is told in third person which switches back and forth between Emilie, Nathan, and the Taker.
This is most certainly a book you won't want to miss.
Grab your copy today!!
~Serenity
About the Author
Born in Indiana and raised in Iowa, Stacy Green earned degrees in journalism and sociology from Drake University. After a successful advertising career, Stacy became a proud stay-at-home mom to her miracle child. Now a full-time author, Stacy juggles her time between her demanding characters and supportive family. She loves reading, cooking, and the occasional gardening excursion. Stacy lives in Marion, Iowa with her husband Rob, their daughter Grace, and the family’s three obnoxious but lovable canine children.
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Wow, I have absolutely NO IDEA what happened here, there were entries the other day on this giveaway, I AM ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE. Somehow Rafflecopter emailed me and told me I needed to choose a winner and that this giveaway had ended....I knew it hadn't and so I came here and it shows 10 more days but now the entries are gone.
ReplyDeleteI feel so bad, I have absolutely no idea how to get a hold of those who already entered and are hoping to win, so that I can apologize and have them re-enter. Oh, this is simply, HORRIBLE.
~Serenity