CONNECTION

This second installment of Merrill’s Gifted saga—which blends elements of contemporary fantasies, suspense novels, and paranormal romances—continues a story about the staff and students of a school for gifted kids whose lives have been impacted by tragedy.

Jackson Howe is a retired Army Ranger who is now working as an art teacher and head resident of the boys’ dormitory at Havenhart Academy, a boarding school in rural Arkansas founded to help heal and nurture students with supernatural abilities who have been traumatized in some way. An empath of sorts—Jackson can link telepathically to those he has a “Connection” with—he finds that he is deeply tied to Cassidy Mackenzie, the best friend of the academy’s counselor, Delaney Frost (the main character in the series opener). But Cassidy barely knows the 6-foot-4 hunk, and Jackson doesn’t know how to approach the woman whom he so desperately wants to start a relationship with. Yet when she is kidnapped by religious zealots associated with the head of a doomsday cult who calls himself His Right Hand—a man whose teenage daughter, Joanna, is now safe from her abusive father and attending Havenhart—Jackson uses his Connection with Cassidy to track her down to a location deep in the Florida Everglades. Rescuing her from the clutches of a cult leader with a cache of weapons and indoctrinated soldiers proves to be more dangerous than he expected. The deep focus on Jackson and Cassidy’s intimate bond is an obvious strength, powering the narrative with an I’ll-have-what-they’re-having kind of connection. At one point, Cassidy muses: “I’d barely known him then, I barely knew him now, but he was the embodiment of safety and warmth. I knew instinctively that I could trust him.” The romance element is complemented nicely by the relentless action and adventure throughout, creating an emotionally intense and page-turning narrative. Still, the extended fixation on both main characters’ self-doubts regarding the strength and validity of their relationship gets old quickly, and the author’s lack of overall descriptions (or worldbuilding) makes for a two-dimensional read in places.

A fast-paced and fun fusion of supernatural romance and mainstream thriller.