Book Review: The Protector

Today’s review is Marliss Melton's novel The Protector.

Another author friend of mine was discussing the problems Marliss Melton had had with her publisher (Ms. Melton writes military romantic suspense and apparently her publisher decided they didn’t want any more SEAL books from her) and so Ms. Melton had decided to self-publish.

I was intrigued by the story and wanted to see what the publisher had passed up, so I went ahead and read The Protector. From the very first page we are pulled into Eryn’s story when one of her students is acting very strangely while completing an after school project. She feels uncomfortable, realizing they are alone, and decides to leave. His behavior escalates and so does the suspense of what will happen next. Before Eryn can blink, she’s thrust into a world where men would kill her to take their revenge on her military commander father and if she wants to live, the game is on.

The author masterfully combines her knowledge of the military with the emotions of what havoc war can wreak on even the most gentle of souls, including her hero Ike Calhoun. Ike has come home from the war on terror with a lot of demons. He’s trying to forget everything he’s seen and done, but gets pulled into Eryn’s predicament because of a favor he owes to her father. The author really pushes the reader beyond empathy with Ike’s story and what happened to him and his SEAL team. I found Ike to be a compelling tortured hero and loved his interactions with Eryn.

With a great setting, can’t-put-it-down plot, and characters that pull at your emotions, The Protector was a story that is more than entertainment. It really made me think about our men and women in uniform and the issues they face once they are home. My only complaint was that the villain seemed a bit on the stereotypical side and, for my more gentle readers, I must caution that there were a few sex scenes and some language in this book that could make you uncomfortable, (if it were a movie it would definitely be an R). But those scenes aren’t long and drawn out and can be skipped over without hurting the story. There were also a few typos that were mildly distracting, but the plotline more than made up for that.

All in all, for better or for worse, I think Ms. Melton made the decision that was right for her in her self-publishing foray, and her readers will not be disappointed with her debut self-published novel.

Here is the back copy for it:

Eryn McClellan teaches ESL in Washington, D.C., until the day she’s targeted by terrorists avenging her father’s actions in Afghanistan. The FBI has stepped in, but when it looks like they are using her for bait, General McClellan enlists the aid of the only man he knows he can trust: former Navy SEAL Ike Calhoun.

Embracing solitude in his remote cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ike thought he’d left the War on Terror far behind. Now he’s stuck shielding a blue-eyed beauty from ambitious federal agents and crazed jihadists. More disturbing still, the charming Eryn seems intent on shattering his self-imposed isolation. Ike does his best to resist her welcoming ways, but he can feel his resistance crumbling like a mountain in a mudslide. With the FBI hot on their heels and the terrorists not far behind, Ike willingly wages a one-man war in defense of the woman whose passion and faith have given him the strength to rise above his past.

It is available here on Amazon both as an ebook and a print version. It's also on Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.