superbly suspenseful: the darkest corner by liliana hart

the darkest corner introduces us to the gravediggers, a top secret organization of rogue agents whose deaths have been faked in order to allow them to fight international terrorism under the radar. as the first recruit of the gravediggers stationed in last stop, texas, he's the de facto team leader. under the cover of working at a funeral home, he's been surrounded by death for too long since he was himself brought back from the dead.

but there's one person who makes him feel alive again. one person he'd consider risking it all for. he knows he's on borrowed time. either the directors will order him killed by the end of his term of service to the gravediggers or he'll die on the field of duty. either way, he's spent too long denying himself anything real. and when tess sherman accidentally discovers their newest recruit, it is only a matter of time before he will have to actually start answering her questions with the truth.

and he wants to tell her the truth. he thinks she deserves it. and when he is given the official go-ahead to bring her in, he does so mostly for him. the fact that she speaks the dialect of russian necessary to overturn the latest threat to world peace is incidental in his book. when his supervisor gives him leave to seduce her, he doesn't prostitute himself out for the job. he takes it as permission to move forward with something he's always wanted.

the connection between tess and deacon is strong from the get-go. and as they finally share their truest selves with one another and become more entrenched in each other's lives what's at stake becomes a lot more personal. for the first time deacon has something, someone to live for. and tess, who's been abandoned and cast aside more than once in her life, realizes that she's finally given her heart to someone who might leave in spite of how much he loves her. and the question becomes more about is the risk of heartache worst if they are together or if they are apart?

the shadow organization this series sets up is pretty incredible, and i can't wait to see how each other the gravediggers' stories evolves. i'm already looking forward to reading gone to dust, book 2 in the series.

**the darkest corner will publish on may 23, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books in exchange for my honest review.