The Island by Lisa Henry

Summary:

Shaw is in Fiji to sell a stolen painting to the crime boss, Vornis. It will be the deal of a lifetime, if Shaw can pull it off. But then Vornis parades his latest toy around in front of him—a captured DEA agent whose time is running out. It’s none of Shaw’s business, and it doesn’t matter that under any other circumstances Lee would be exactly Shaw’s type: he’s young, he’s hot, and he might even have a personality if they hadn’t beaten it out of him. Too bad there’s no way Lee is getting off the island. Too bad there’s nothing Shaw can do for him. And too bad there are some lines that even Shaw won’t cross.

Keeping his hands off Lee proves harder than he thinks, but Shaw’s not stupid enough to fall for the tortured captive of a dangerous crime boss, is he? If he did, it wouldn’t be just his job he would be risking—it would be his life.

Publisher’s Warning: Readers with a history of rape or sexual abuse may find elements of this story disturbing.

My Review:

My hands are shaking as I type this. Not from fear but from adrenaline that is still flowing through my body 8hrs after finishing this book. I am still on edge. I am still back on that island in Fiji wondering just what is going to happen. Wondering when Shaw will bend, when Lee will be okay and just flat out being mindfucked in the most thorough way possible.

I knew from seeing a skimmimg a few reviews that The Island would be dark, I was ready for that. I was not ready nor prepared to have my heart in my throat the entire book. To have this world encompass me completely and take me to that island as Shaw landed, to see what he saw, feel what he felt and to know what a screwed up situation he is now in.

Mr. Shaw. Welcome to the island.

Oh those words haunt me and yet they are also the words of possible salvation. Meeting Adam Shaw, getting inside his head, knowing what he was on that island to do, it made me hold my breath. This, THIS was all before he sees the boy on the beach in the rain! Oh my. I was on edge with this book. There were things I wanted and things I didn’t get. There were things I never thought of that had me gasping so loud I woke up the husband sleeping next to me.

While Shaw, as he puts it, “did business with some frightening fucking assholes” he wasn’t prepared for what he saw on that beach, for WHO he saw on that beach. When Vornis explains about his new toy and then offers him as a gift to Shaw, wow. The story that unfolds had me gripped and staying up until 2am to finish this book. I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what would happen to the green eyed boy we now know as Lee, WHAT would happen to him?

What’s the first thing you remember?

This was my first book from Lisa Henry and I am beyond impressed. I am always amazed at the authors who can weave the beauty into the dark. It was hard to find at times with The Island but it was there, the words drew you in and made you present. You had no choice but to see what was happening, from both men. You had to SEE where they were going, what they wanted and what was so close but so far.

Here on the island, the man he had become wanted to fling himself blindly into faith. But he knew the man he had been before would have been more guarded.

Oh Shaw. I was so conflicted with you. There were times I wanted to drown you in the ocean and then you would make me want to sigh and hug you and then I would want to kick you in the balls again. You were maddening but I get it. I do. Your conflict was more than mine, it was so tough to read but I know it is what it is.

There was a part of him they couldn’t touch in a million years. They didn’t own him.  They didn’t even fucking know  him. He’d had a whole life beyond this island.

Lee, you with your big green eyes and a heart and soul that never gives up. I wanted to shed blood for you. I wanted to save you, I wanted to take care of you and heal you but that wasn’t my place. I ached for you each time you ached, in every way. You sir, you slayed me. With every action, every reaction you tore pieces of me I wasn’t aware could be torn.

The pull that these men had for each other in the most fucked up situation possible was told flawlessly. It was amazing. I woke up this morning and immediately went to my husband with flailing hands to tell him the whole story. He looked at me as if I needed to be locked away on some far away island, but I couldn’t help it. This story hit me hard. I barely slept after I finished it. I kept going over the scenes in my head. Knowing that I wanted an outcome and hoped for it but was thrown a massive twist more than once that had me shaking my head and biting my lip to stay quiet while my house slept. This book would not let me go, it would not let me leave it until that last word was read. This book has left me a mess and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is not much I can say in a review without spoiling it and I wouldn’t or couldn’t do that. I will just say; what you think you know, you don’t and when you think you have had enough, just hold on.

He needed to go home. The thought caught him with a clarity that shocked him. So it was too fucking bad he was just as much a captive on the island as Lee.

The Island was an amazing journey. A struggle for morality, humanity, self-preservation and love. A gorgeous tale of what the human spirit is capable of in the most extreme circumstances and a tale of what we will do, what we will endure and what we can overcome even when we don’t think we can. The Island has a piece of me now, I will try to move on to the next book but the hold of Shaw and Lee is so strong…

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