Going Dark by Monica McCarty (The Lost Platoon #1)
Released: September 5, 2017
Romantic Suspense
St.  Martin’s

Reviewed by Mandi

When I heard this author was switching genres from historical, to romantic suspense, I thought I would give her a try. I will also admit, I was pulled in by this cover and the hint of a lost Navy SEAL Platoon. We meet that platoon, before they disappear, in the prologue. Several tough, yet a little nervous SEALS about to embark on a very dangerous mission in the Barents Sea – heading into Russia. It’s a trap though, and once they get to their destination, there is an explosion – lights out, and they are all presumed dead.

We then go forward two months, and head to Scotland, where our heroine, Annie has traveled with her boyfriend and his mentor, to protest drilling oil of the Scottish Hebrides. Annie is excited to be a part of this cause and protest, as she is passionate about the care of wildlife and nature. She has her PhD in Marine Ecology and found a boyfriend who is just as passionate as she. But as they go out on a boat, Annie discovers her boyfriend may have a violent protest in mind, when she finds a trunk full of explosives.

The boat’s captain is none other than one our of missing SEALS. Still reeling from the mission that went wrong, Dan (his name was Dean while in the navy, but he has changed it to Dan -so I will go with that) has traveled to Scotland to become a boat captain. The entire platoon is assumed dead – and not feeling safe to come out in the open, the surviving members have gone underground. Dan is a grumpy boat captain, who ends up saving Annie’s life as things turn bad on the boat.

Annie and Dan end up on some kind of raft/boat thing and off they go and try to survive. At this point my eyes were already getting glossy and I was staring into space more than reading this book. I just didn’t like this one. There is suspense and action but it was a little boring. I felt like this author did her research and it was realistic, but it just didn’t hold my attention. Probably because I did not like Dan or Annie. When you don’t feel connected to the protagonists, it’s hard to feel connected to anything else in the story.

Dan is just – a downer. I get it – his platoon is mostly dead and/or missing. It’s awful and horrible. But I needed him to rally a little more.  I wanted to feel his pain, but instead I just didn’t want to get to know him. It wasn’t that he necessarily walked around sad and depressed, he just was just kind of there. I don’t understand what attracted Annie to him.

Annie didn’t make a lot of sense to me. She finds out her boyfriend, who I assumed she loved, is basically a terrorist or involved with the bad guys, and she is laughing and making out with Dan very while they are still on the run. She would tell herself Dan isn’t her type, and she can’t get involved with a SEAL etc, but then three pages later there is a sex scene – that just felt out-of-place.

I didn’t even read the last two or three chapters and I’m very okay with that decision.

Grade: D

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