PUBLICATION DATE: SEPTEMBER 01, 2012

eath ‘Ghost’ Daniels was a highly decorated Green Beret military war dog handler, until bad intel ended his career.  Two years after his last mission left him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), Heath is still looking for a chance to get back into the action.  However, after exploring every avenue—including the chaplaincy—it’s obvious the Army no longer finds him fit for duty.  Left with no other options, Heath joins the private organization, A Breed Apart, whose employees and their retired MWD assist in a variety of military situations.  Though he still suffers from blackouts and near debilitating migraines, Heath and Trinity travel to Afghanistan as motivational speakers to military personal.  But secretly, he hopes for another chance at the action; an opportunity to prove he can still be an elite soldier.

Heath’s chance comes when an undercover operative, Darci Kintz is kidnapped by the son of the Chinese Minister of Defense.  Not only is this man extremely dangerous, he has a personal vendetta against Darci—the women who infiltrated his heart and extracted coveted Chinese secrets.  But Darci isn’t just any woman to Heath.  After a brief encounter, she stole her heart.  However, to Darci, this former beret represents not only her best chance of rescue, but also her greatest failure.  After all, it was her faulty intel that resulted in his injury.  With Darci running from her past on both fronts and Heath trying to regain his self-confidence, Trinity is an intriguing novel, though at times a bit difficult to follow.

I love Ronie Kendig’s Discarded Hero series and have eagerly anticipated her Military War Dog books.  Ronie’s novels contain a nice blend of action, plot, characters, and romance that usually works well for me.  However, Trinity is just a little off in a couple of areas and as a result while it’s a great story it’s not quite at the same level as her last two books.  Then again, Firestorm and Wolfsbane were phenomenal and are going to be difficult to top regardless.

The opening pages of Trinity are a little rough.  Granted I read an advanced copy, so additional editing might have taken place to correct this issue.  But the first few pages seemed to be searching for the perspective from which the author wished to tell the story.  It does straighten out quickly, but I had to read the prolog a couple of times to a good feel for the story.  Additionally, I struggled to get a good hold on the plot.  I’m going to sound like a dumb, blond, American here, but it took me a very long time to get all the names and their roles straight, especially the Chinese characters.  Not being able to keep in my head who was who made it difficult to get a good handle on the plot.

Once the initial setup passes, the book takes off and moves at a nice fluid pace.  At times the story is slowed by a romantic story line that just didn’t work for me.  While neither Heath nor Darci call it instant love, it seems as though their affections and attraction grow at an exceptionally accelerated rate.  As a result, there were times I had to just go with the story even though I wasn’t buying it.

But despite the romance that wasn’t for me, Heath and Darci are very likable characters.  I especially liked Heath and his spiritual development.  There is a great deal of irony in his story, not to mention a lesson that I can easily relate to.  Ronie does an excellent job of bringing Heath from a character that wants to do things his way to someone willing to submit to God’s will for his life.  It’s a wonderful transformation and I very much enjoyed watching it.  Conversely, Darci is on her own spiritual journey to discover her own faith in God rather than relying on her mom’s faith.  This part of the story is again, executed to perfection making both storylines an uplifting and encouraging message to the reader.

As Trinity concludes, I had to do some serious suspension of disbelief.  While the events make for a great story, they don’t ring true.  Most are probably going to be more willing to accept the fantastical direction the story takes, but I really couldn’t and as a result found the climax to be somewhat melodramatic.

Though Trinity isn’t as strong as Ronie’s last two books, it’s still an entertaining, action-packed adventure.  Fans of her work will appreciate the high drama, intense action, tight combat sequences, and the unique MWD storyline.  I’m certainly looking forward to the next book in the series, Talon.