CHASE THE DARKNESS – J. D. Tyler
An Alpha Pack Novel, Book 7
Signet Eclipse
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-46692-1
August 2015
Paranormal Romantic Suspense

Shoshone National Forest - Present Day

Micah Chase is a member of the Alpha Pack, a group of former SEALs who were attacked and changed into werewolves and now have psy abilities; they're presently a black ops team of shifters to protect civilians from all sorts of paranormal predators.  Micah was captured and held for months, tortured mentally and physically.  Hot silver was poured down one side of his face, and while his shifter healing has done its job, the scars cannot be taken away.  Micah has counselling and medication called myst to take to calm him down when the nightmares attack him.  But the medication takes away his appetite and cocoons him in peace for only a few hours.  When Micah meets his mate, his life will change, and perhaps he will finally have to confront his inner demons.

Jacee Buchanan works as a bartender, and trying to control some of her customers without creating a scene is sometimes difficult.  She sees the shifters come into the bar, only everyone thinks they have a research facility in the forest.  Jacee is a coyote shifter herself, so she knows these are a black ops team of wolf shifters, and she has noticed the man with the deep scars several times; his eyes always look so sad, and she sees him often reach into his pocket and pop some pills.  Could a wolf shifter be an addict?

Jacee's family and pack had all been murdered, and for a shifter to be alone without a pack is devastating.  She had a short relationship with Jax of the Alpha Pack, but he now has a mate and seems happy.   When some men try to mess with her and trip her with a full tray, the dark haired man comes to her aid and takes care of the man the only way he knows; just a little violence to help him get the point.  They each realize by the time they kiss by their cars in the parking lot that they are mates, and their lives will change.

Micah and the group are sent to help a family being attacked by demons, and Micah barely survives after being torn up by one of the demons claws in his stomach.  Only with the healer Zan's help does Micah survive until being helicoptered to their Sanctuary for medical care.   Despite losing a spleen and appendix, Micah is told to take off several days to heal.  While Micah is recovering, he and Jacee must deal with his dependence on his pills and how they are each afraid to let down their guard with each other.  Their road to true love is rutted with misunderstandings just like any relationship.  It is up to Jacee to break into Micah's hidden misery and free him of his guilt and despair.  And while she does that, Micah just may have a trick up his sleeve that will ease Jacee's misery.  Whoops, sorry, I can't tell!

J.D. Tyler brings the Alpha Pack back with Micah and Jacee, each battling inner demons.  Micah has nightmares of the brutality he had to inflict on others in his torture situation, and Jacee lives with the constant sadness of the loss of her family, and then trying to help Micah heal from his memories.  Told from their points of view, Micah is frequently exhausted trying to keep himself sane, and Jacee fears for him, especially after he is almost torn apart.

There are many in the Alpha Pack, including Nick, the leader who also has premonitions, his mate Calla, a vampire princess, Zan, a healer, and Rowan, Micah's sister.  There are many other members of the Alpha Pack that make it a cohesive unit.

CHASE THE DARKNESS is a trip to the limits of shifter abilities, and caring and finding your true mate.  The Alpha Pack is hard-nosed, concerned for all its members, and hot as all get out.  The former Alpha Pack books are BLACK MAGIC, SAVAGE AWAKENING, BLACK MOON, HUNTER'S HEARTS, COLE'S REDEMPTION and WOLF'S FALL.  While part of an on-going series, CHASE THE DARKNESS is a standalone story, although I'm sure the others' back stories would enable you to understand their personalities and their fight for human safety.  If you love shifters like I do, this author and the Alpha Pack series is a good one to start a new relationship with.  Enjoy the men who are protecting us from the underworld and we don't even know it.

Carolyn Crisher