December 13th, 2007 by 
Amanda Young
Missing in Action - Now Available at Samhain Publishing
Sara believed Tristan died while stationed overseas. The last thing she expected on the eve of her engagement to another man was to be attacked by a monster…and have Tristan come to her rescue.
To everyone who knew him, Tristan McKade is dead. Only the SCS (Supernatural Control Squad), a top secret division of the military know differently. Sent back to his hometown, Tristan is on the hunt for the serial killer.
Sara McCoy is just beginning to move on with her life without Tristan. Ready to let go of the past, Sara is celebrating her recent engagement. The night is going well-until she notices a man lingering at the back of the room. His resemblance to Tristan too strong to ignore, she follows him outside, where he vanishes.
Unable to concentrate on his assignment, Tristan is determined to let go of the past before more innocent women die. In a bid for closure, he pays a clandestine late night visit to Sara’s house to say a final goodbye to the woman he loves - and the son he never knew he had.
Learning the shocking truth, Tristan and Sara are drawn into a bizarre triangle that pits them against The Mangler, an entity determined to possess Sara at any cost. A bloody battle of mind, body and soul ensues. Only one man will walk away alive-with Sara as his prize.
Excerpt
Tristan had just signed into the secure server when Shame waltzed back into the room. “We’re almost in. Get over here behind me so the webcam can pick your ugly ass up on it.”
“That’s not what you were saying the other night.”
“Whatever, now shut the hell up,” Tristan replied shortly.
“Excuse me,” a loud voice boomed out of the computer speakers.
Tristan jerked around and stared at the visage of his boss over the seventeen-inch monitor. “Sorry, sir, I wasn’t speaking to you, sir.” Shame snorted from behind him and Tristan wished he could elbow the bastard in the ribs. The little fuck was going to get them in trouble, again.
“No, I don’t imagine you were. Now down to business. What new information do you have?”
“I’m sorry to say, not much, sir. I had no choice but to abort tonight’s rendezvous before I could meet with the informant.”
“Why is that? This mission should be your one and only concern.”
“It is, sir. I assure you it is, but there were unforeseen complications.”
“How so?” Ramsey’s face began to turn a very unattractive shade of red. Of all the virtues their boss possessed, patience was not one of them. Tristan wondered what would happen if he told the old man that red really wasn’t his best color.
“As I’m sure you know, sir, the city you currently have us stationed in happens to be my hometown. Tonight, while I was waiting at the location our informant designated, I noticed a woman who would’ve recognized me, had she been aware of my presence.”
Although Tristan regretted the small lie to his boss, he felt that it was justified. The man simply didn’t need to know everything all the time. Especially that he was chased and damn near caught by the one person he’d been forbidden contact with.
“Rather than risk exposure, I left.”
“Very well. Who was the person who may have seen you?”
“No one important, sir.” Please drop it.
“Soldier, I insist you give me the name of the person you abandoned your post for.”
“I’d rather not say, sir.” Damn it, why couldn’t the old man just let the matter drop? He didn’t know why he expected any different. The bastard was relentless when it came to something he wanted.
“The name. Now. That’s an order, soldier.”
Shit.
“Sara. Sara McCoy.”
Shame sucked in a deep breath behind Tristan. Ramsey’s mouth stretched into a grim line, the corners turning white with tension.
Lowering his head, Tristan looked directly into the camera, pleading with his boss to read in his eyes what he dared not say with words. “She didn’t see me, sir.”
“Fine, soldier, we’ll let the matter go, for now. We have more important matters at hand.”
The rest of the transmission went smoothly. With a killer on the loose, there was little time to spare discussing other issues. For which Tristan was thankful. He knew the matter would be revisited as soon as their assignment concluded, but he would cross that bridge once he got there. While he could care less about what happened to him, he refused to let any harm come to Sara simply because she’d been in the wrong place at the right time.
As soon as the monitor went blank Shame pulled Tristan’s chair around to face him. “Jesus. When were you going to tell me?”
He could see the concern for him etched into his partner’s face. “It’s not important. Let’s just forget it happened.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I know you, man. There’s more to this than what you told the old man. Now out with it.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal my ass, bro.”
“Will you shut the hell up about it if I tell you?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, but you’re going to be disappointed. Nothing happened. I was in the club, where we’d scheduled to meet the informant. I stood in the back, waiting for the SOB to show up and the next thing I know, Sara’s headed right for me. I went out the back and hid until she left. It was all very manly. I felt like a damn pussy.”
“I bet you did.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Tristan murmured.
“At least you got to see her, man. I would give my left nut to see my Maria one more time.”
Tristan wasn’t surprised Shame understood him so well. They were friends, team members, even before their change in circumstance. Since then, they’d been practically joined at the hip, partnered together on every assignment that came their way. While he wouldn’t admit it out loud, it was comforting to have someone there who could understand him and know what he was going through.
It had been good to see Sara again. Too good.
The what ifs that plagued him constantly after he’d first started with the company were coming back to bite him in the ass now. Once again he found himself playing the old game in his head. What if none of this fucked-up shit had ever happened? What if he went to Sara and told her the truth about him? What if they both just disappeared one day? Would anyone bother to search for them? What if. What if. It was going to drive him out of his ever-loving mind.
Tristan patted Shame on the back. “I know you would, man.” Unlike Tristan, who’d only lost the woman he loved, Shame had lost a wife and a daughter. Though he couldn’t contact them, Shame kept discreet tabs on them through channels Tristan felt better not knowing anything about. The less he knew, the less he could be forced to tell under interrogation.
Shame offered to look in on Sara for him a few times over the years, but Tristan declined. While he prayed she was happy, he didn’t want to know the details. It was selfish, he knew, but he didn’t think he’d survive hearing about how she’d moved on without him. That she was married to some other man, having that man’s children instead of his.
“Listen, dude, it’s been a long-ass day. My entertainment for the night is waiting on me.”
“Go on then, you don’t need to baby-sit me.”
“No, I don’t. I thought you might like to join us though. Have a little fun for a change.”
“No. You know I’m not…”
A roguish smile spread across Shame’s face. “Yeah. Yeah. I know you don’t fuck women anymore. I’ll do her. You can do me.”
Tristan laughed at his friend’s bawdy comment. Shame’s idea wasn’t such a bad one. If Tristan didn’t find something to occupy his time, he would spend the rest of the night awake, thinking forbidden thoughts. Thoughts about Sara. “Sure. Why the hell not.”
“Good.” Shame slapped him on the back. “Go grab us a couple of beers out of the fridge, will you?”
“Yeah. You go on up and do your thing. I’ll be there in a few.”
Shame strode down the hall. He stopped at his bedroom door, his hand on the knob, and looked back at Tristan over his shoulder. “You’re coming, right?”
Tristan smirked. “Hopefully not too fast.” He tried to joke about the whole situation as if it were no big thing. When Shame didn’t respond, only stared back at him, his deep green eyes reading more into the situation than Tristan wanted him to, Tristan dropped the act. “I said I would, didn’t I?”
Shame nodded and entered his bedroom without another word, leaving the door ajar behind him.
Half an hour later, Tristan leaned against the wall, near the foot of Shame’s bed. Dressed solely in a pair of unbuttoned jeans, Tristan focused his attention on the couple writhing atop the bed. The blonde lay supine, her arms restrained to the headboard with handcuffs. Her eyes squeezed shut, the woman’s head flailed from side to side in passion. Pitiful wailing moans of ecstasy spilled from her mouth.
His partner’s head was buried between her thighs, his tongue immersed in the wet folds of her sex, ravenously devouring every drop of cream his attentions brought forth.
To say Tristan was turned-on would have been an understatement. With each breath, the heady smell of aroused bodies and clean sweat, of sex incarnate cloyed the air around them. Young and healthy, his body responded as nature intended, his cock rising proud and stubborn against the inside of his pants.
Absentmindedly, Tristan kneaded his crotch, his fingers smoothing over the rigid outline of his cock, trying to appease the beast inside.
Not for the first time that night, Tristan wished he wasn’t there. While his body craved sexual gratification, his heart lay cold and dead in his chest.
That didn’t mean he was going to walk away from what Shame offered. Though raw sex was hardly succor for his soul, it was steps above his own clammy hand and the painfully cherished memories he harbored of being with Sara.
Shame’s low moan of pleasure added to the slurping sounds already coming from between the blonde’s firm thighs. Tristan’s cock twitched within its denim prison, demanding its share of attention. Tristan pushed his thoughts away, shucked his jeans and approached the bed.
Reviews
Rated 5 Lips; Recommended Read
“Missing in Action is an intense, powerful, and very moving story by Amanda Young. Neither Sara nor Tristan were able to escape the pain of being separated and their eventual reunion is both poignant and heart-warming. Amanda Young is a very talented writer and weaves together a fast-paced, heart pounding suspense-filled plot with a deeply emotional love story that’ll keep any reader engaged from beginning to end. With an ending that had my heart stuck in my throat, Missing in Action earned a spot on my Keeper Shelf. I highly recommend reading this amazing story.”
~Reviewed by Kerin
http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1471&Itemid=36
Rated 4.5 Nymphs!
“Missing in Action is a wonderful paranormal adventure filled to the brim with action. Sara finds herself surrounded by big, sexy men and makes some delicious choices as the story unfolds. Ms. Young pens a thoroughly entertaining tale with equal parts romance, paranormal and scorching love scenes. Without a doubt an author to watch for, and judging by this first book MIA promises to be a great series.”
~ Reviewed by Water Nymph for Literary Nymphs
http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2007/03/missing-in-action.html
Rated 4 Angels!
“Ms. Young has created an action-packed drama with just enough spice to appeal to a wide range of readers. The characters of Sara and Tristan seem to leap off the pages and take on a life of their own. I found myself feeing their pain and joy as they approached and overcome each obstacle. The love scenes were very erotic and descriptive, definitely not for the faint at heart, but very appropriate for the storyline. Add to this the very strong and steadfast character of Shame and you have a storyline that just doesn’t stop.”
~Reviewed by: Teresa
http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2007/April/Teresa-MissingInAction.htm
Rated 4 Stars!
“Amanda Young weaved a fast-paced erotic story that left me panting. The characters were sexy as hell and the love scenes made me moan in jealousy. Sara had several options to choose from in the way of men. Any woman would find herself desiring the positions Sara found herself in. Tristan was all man and knew what to do with a women’s body, not to mention Shame’s body. My toys got much use during the time I spent with this story. When the blazing hot sex ended the mind boggling plot took over. Ms. Young’s twist on the classic vampire made this tale interesting and different. I was forever on the edge of my seat. Shame provided the entertainment and acted as the voice of reason. I am glad it looked like his story was the next on Ms. Young’s agenda. There is no doubt in my mind that it will be just as good as Missing in Action.”
~Reviewed by Suni Farrar
http://www.justeroticromancereviews.com/
Rated 5 Tattoos!
“If you are looking for a thrilling, suspenseful story with numerous naughty sexual encounters that will set your soul on fire, then Missing in Action is the perfect novel to dive into.”
~Reviewed by Nikita Steele
http://erotic-escapades.com/MissingInAction.html