Second Sight, book 1 of The Admiral’s Elite by HK Savage
Rebecca Sauter is a proud military police officer with a secret; she’s clairvoyant. Her ex-Marine father can’t understand why she won’t try harder for a commission but for Becca, hiding among the greater mass of enlisted men and women is safer.
One night on a run she encounters a terrifying man and his beastly dogs; in her attempts to defend herself she hits her head and passes out. When she wakes up in the hospital she’s being collected by a handsome but rude officer.
Humans are fragile. That has been Captain Michael Rossi’s mantra since his first days as a vampire in 1944. Now Admiral Black has given a post within his elite unit to a human woman solely because she has “the sight”. Michael’s fears that she will bring harm to his men are soon eclipsed by his realization that it is her who might suffer should the admiral decide she is a poor fit.
Dive into this new world with HK Savage’s new cast of characters in a series Paranormal Book Club is already calling “Perfect!” and Open Book Society gave a rare 5 star review!!
"I can honestly say this is the best novel Heather Savage has written. The storyline is absolutely incredible and unique among Fantasy novels. She combines the real and harsh world of Military life with the dark, yet fascinating world of Fantasy. It is easy to put yourself in Becca's shoes and imagine the story being told is your own.
Becca is an awkward girl that keeps to herself most of the time. As far as a love life goes she is insanely flaky because her deep rooted trust issues lead her to push people away. She is enlisted U.S. Navy and loves her job as base security. Out on a nightly run, she comes across something she never could have imagined. She is thrown into this mysterious world to assure her discretion and her whole life changes. Becca gets promoted to Captain, forced to use a gift she tries to ignore, and meets a man who she can see herself loving for the first time in her whole life.
There has never been a more honorable thing to me than a person who serves in the military. Combining that world with Fantasy is a difficult task to take on and Heather does it flawlessly. It, combined with the amazing sex scenes, earn her the tag of Adult book for the first time in her career. In my opinion she couldn't have made the transition from YA to Adult any better.
The characters are absolutely amazing. The main character Becca is so strong, yet others see her as weak. She is forced many times to prove them wrong. The Admiral... he gives me chills. You can FEEL the evil escalating you get farther in the book. Imagining him gave me chills a few times. Captain Sexy is mind blowing ... See what I did there? haha.
This is a series you are going to want to read, trust me." - Paranormal Book Club
"YIKES!!!!!!!!!There is only one thing better than Chocolate. A man in a uniform! Now add to that uniform, some fangs, good looks, muscles and heart of warmth. What does all that add up too? There is a new Book YUMMY in town!!!!! Do not be like my daughter and call me up telling me "mom didn't you mean yummy book"? No I did NOT. And if you do not understand my meaning then you are too young to be reading this book! Wink Wink
Heather Savage, is flippin brilliant. I love her writing, she has wrote another book that has completely compelled me to put her in my top A list!!! It is not just because I wanted to strip naked and jump in the book to salute Captain Yummy. This is simply a awesome READ!!!
As a rule, I do not tell details about a book. I truthfully think if a book is good enough it will show through the review. However since this book is not released yet, let me give you a small glimpse of it.
Becca is in the military. Trying hard to fight through always having premonition dreams of the future. She is bound to keep her secret hid. Which proves to be a very lonely life. In fear that if anyone gets close to her they will find out her secret, and think she is crazy. Except for a on and off boyfriend, that she keeps at a distance. And a partner she works with daily, that later you might find out is something more than she realizes. While working Becca has a bad premonition of her somewhat boyfriend. So after work Becca goes to take a run to see if it will help clear her mind. What she doesn't know is this run is what will change her life forever. Half way through her normal running routine, she runs into.....tisk tisk....I cannot tell you. After a trigger that reminds her of her premonition dream. She passes out, only to wake up in the hospital on her base.
Slowly recovering from her “accident” the next day, in walks a Captain Rossi, to inform her that she is leaving with him, due to a reassignment. Her commander will now be Admiral Black. Trust me when I say Rot Roh!!!! Now, the least of Becca’s worries are going to be her special ability. She is now with a new small unit, working hard to try and save a complete race. Guns a blazin from there. So get your kindle charged, because you will be ripping mad if you have to stop reading this book.
I say this book is one of the more believable versions of a world with supernaturals in it, then I have ever read. Let me tell you right now people. If you love a great book with supernaturals, stronger characters, action and suspense. Or as I said before, if you want a book, that will make you want to strip naked and jump in the book to salute Captain Yummy! Get this book as soon as it is released in Nov!!!
I am straining to be able to wait for the next book!!!" - Young Adult and Teen Readers
"Rebecca Sauter is a MP at the Naval Air Station at Miramar. “Becca” has spent her whole life keeping her head down in an effort to hide her special ability and not draw attention to herself. Becca dreams the future, a trait it appears she inherited from her grandmother. After having a vision of her semi-serious boyfriend, Terry, in pain during work Becca decides to take off on her nightly run to clear her head. Becca ignores the obvious signs her special ability is trying to tell her and runs into 2 wolves while at her usual resting spot. One of the wolves attacks her and knocks Becca to the ground where she hits her head. However, a dark strange man calls off the wolves before Becca is further injured. In a haze from her head injury Becca tries to understand this strange man but before she can relate him to a vision she had recently, she passes out. When she wakes up in the hospital on base some time later she automatically assumes the wolves and dark man are from her concussion and dismisses everything as a dream. The following day a mysterious Captain shows up demanding she leave the hospital with him and return to his commanding officer, Admiral Black. When Becca arrives at her new assignment she finds out she was chosen for her ability to see the future. As she sets off on her first few missions, Becca begins to see that there are things present in the world she never thought possible. The new team quickly finds themselves in a position where the entire vampire race is threatened and Becca must embrace her new world and trust in her ability to save everyone she cares about, even herself.
Throughout the book we can see Becca finally begin to come to terms with who she is and her ability. As she begins to see there is more to the world than she thought, she starts to find her place and finally feels like she fits in somewhere. Her personal growth is an excellent storyline itself. However, I think the real story lies in Captain Rossi. He is able to fight through a blood bond and let his heart lead his actions. I was impressed with how well thought out and put together his character was. I enjoyed seeing him slowly open up and allow himself to feel emotions again, even though he is a vampire, this is something that all humans live through at least once. By taking the lead male vampire through this emotional journey, the reader connects with the characters and can relate to this story better than most vampire books. It almost makes this a believable story, almost. At any rate, my friends, this is why I chose to give this book 5 stars. I’ve read my share of vampire books but rarely have I actually connected with any characters in those books like I did with this one.
This book has a little bit of everything: supernatural, romance, action and suspense. If you like a well-written book with a nice balance, you will like this book. This is also the kind of book that will appeal to those readers who aren’t really supernatural fans. Give this book a chance, it is definitely worth your time and money and you will not be disappointed." -Open Book Society
When she turned she saw what, or rather whom, had drawn her, and froze. The room was small, about the size of a walk-in closet with high ceilings and well lit by overhead halogens. The sudden light made her blink as her eyes attempted to adjust. It must have been a storage pantry in the days when supplies were purchased in bulk and vegetables put up for the winter. Several exposed ceiling beams held hooks for drying herbs and possibly even for salted meats. At present, one held something more.
Before her stood the admiral; illuminated properly for the first time she saw that he was a tall, lean man approaching six and a half feet, possibly the tallest man she’d ever seen in person. His face was eerily complacent with long canines making indentations in his lower lip, and in his hand he held a short wooden club.
The captain was hanging like a side of meat from a metal hook, his hands bound by chains shining brightly in the light. Facing her were dark purple bruises covering the captain’s broad back and, what she was guessing were broken ribs, distorted the flesh on his side, looking like they were going to go through the skin at any minute. This punishment was a common occurrence by what she could see of the stages of the discolorations on the pale body. The club came up for another blow.
“Stop it!” she cried out, stepping forward.
The white hand paused as he turned his head toward her and smiled, sending a chill through Becca’s heart. That sealed it for her; the admiral was a truly heartless man. He was beating a man half to death and still showed no emotion. She swallowed hard, tasting bile.
“Rebecca, what perfect timing.” He turned back to his target and brought the club down swiftly, striking the captain on an already purple splotch over his kidney. His body pitched violently but he made no sound.
Becca could not see his face, but she could guess at his consciousness by his clenched fists. “Please,” she pleaded in a strained whisper. Admiral Black’s cruelty was unconscionable to her, a woman who had grown up in a home with clear rules and gone into a field with those same boundaries and moral codes. Whatever the captain had done, she was sure this went far beyond a justified punishment.
The club fell from his hand onto the hard ground with a heavy thud and he stepped toward the captain, reaching up to turn the hook and the hanging man to face her. Becca gasped at the bloodied skin and broken nose she saw in place of the handsome face that had been her brave savior a scant few hours ago. More dark bruises in the shape of the ugly club covered his chest and one cheek was broken open, the flesh flayed like a lobster tail. She took a step toward him until a disapproving cluck from Black halted her mid- stride.
“I was just about to ask Michael a few more questions. You might be able to fill in the blanks should he prove unable.” He stared at Becca while he questioned his victim. “Michael, tell me again why you felt it necessary to act against my orders?”
Michael’s words were quiet, making it hard to hear. Becca saw flashes of white as he spoke. His head was down and she couldn’t be certain of what she saw. Maybe his lips were swollen, changing their shape. It wouldn’t have surprised her and again she felt her temper flare. With great difficultly she kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t help Michael if she was escorted from the premises for questioning a superior, or hung up next to him.
The instinct she trusted for guidance had calmed to a strange lull and didn’t warn her of any danger to herself so she listened and feared only for the captain’s safety, not her own.
“Speak louder so that we can all hear you,” Black commanded darkly. She strained to hear him.
“I told you.” His voice was terribly rough, more gravelly than she’d come to expect. She could see him trying to hold his sides steady when he spoke, only those same muscles pushed against his broken bones causing him more agony. His words came in short gasps as he took shallow breaths. “I gave her the injection you gave me. It was killing her.
Her body rejected it. I told you she was too weak.”
The cold stare bored into her soul. Becca felt violated. She fought the urge to turn and run and not to stop running until she reached Mexico.
“Is that why you presumed to take my place as her Master?” Black asked casually.
“No Sir. I knew you wanted her alive and there was not enough time to make it to the supply for the counter agent. I made the decision to save her, for the unit, Sir. No disrespect was intended, Sir.”
Becca didn’t understand what they were talking about with masters and who was serving who, but she heard that she nearly died and remembered the captain giving her something even if the details of the what and the why were fuzzy. He saved her life. Though she had known it, hearing him say the words made it more real. She warmed to him, intent to do the same for him now.
Admiral Black’s smile made Becca’s skin crawl. “Then show me you have not made her your servant.”
“What?” The captain’s head shot up, his eyes widened in alarm.
Becca had no clue what they meant about making her his servant though his reaction frightened her. Her warm feeling cooled. She didn’t look over when Black chuckled.
“I see she fears you. That is a start but the question remains, does she obey?”
Captain Rossi hung there, unable to do anything to stop this punishment. His shoulders ached and his wrists burned where they touched the silver-infused chains the commander had made centuries ago. The mixture was just right; it incapacitated the monster within without killing and burned without scarring long term. As far as he knew, the admiral was the only one who had perfected the blending. The bruises would heal as soon as he fed; the broken bones would take longer. Some of the bigger bones could take up to a full day to mend at his age. He was valuable to his master though not enough so that he doubted his willingness to kill him. The question of whether or not he had claimed the admiral’s prize as his own remained. The captain was fearful; for the first time in decades, he would die.
The look on Rebecca’s face at the commander’s words sent a pang through his thawing heart. Her presence there had begun to awaken feelings in him he had long thought dead. Not all of them pleasant. He knew he had given her more blood than he would have thought necessary except her injuries, plus the amount he had to take out with the serum, left her desperately anemic. Panic stirred at the thought that he gave her too much and bound her to him. He did not want that for more than the immediate reason of the admiral’s wrath.
The captain hadn’t bound a soul before and didn’t want one now. They required a level of involvement he avoided. Captain Rossi avoided closeness with anyone since his turning, not wanting to harm anyone else he might care about. He preferred instead to follow orders, protecting humans from less scrupulous creatures like himself and the other members of their unit.
“Call her to you, Michael,” Admiral Black prodded contemplatively. “I would like to see if your blood is strong. You have never bound anyone to yourself, let us consider this an experiment.”
