Jack is a piano teacher. Lilith is a library technician. Though neither one has any interest in a romantic relationship, a mutual infatuation begins the moment they meet. Attraction becomes obsession, and their compulsive passion leads to an enigmatic phenomenon resulting in the melding of their souls as well as their bodies. Jack’s dark side is revealed and a latent dark power within Lilith is unleashed, creating a powerful force they will use to track down a murderous pedophile — a path neither of them had planned. The Russian Bratva and the Cuban mob believe Jack threatens their sordid enterprise of child sexual trafficking. They want him dead. Although Jack fears for the safety of everyone around him, Lilith insists on staying by his side. Treachery, assassination squads, hitmen, supernatural powers and, ultimately, retribution create a compelling page-turning thriller set against the backdrop of an unforgettable romance story. Piano teacher or deadly vigilante? Librarian or mother of demons? This might be the best dark-romance suspense novel you’ll ever read. "...enough explosive details to keep me hooked throughout the whole story. Jack and Lillith are captivating. Their journey through falling into each other's lives, finding their strength together, and overcoming real world monsters is one that I would read again and again. Pure perfection." Alyson Manns, Beta Reader I originally wrote this book as a crime thriller with a strong romantic back story, but at the urging of several readers who love romance novels, and upon connecting with a bestselling romance novelist, I decided to rewrite the tale to emphasize the romance of the two main characters. I added a little paranormal twist for good measure. Readers who enjoy romantic thrillers featuring an intelligent, powerful female protagonist, as well as those who like crime-fighting thrillers with a strong, anti-hero male protagonist will enjoy this story. Oddly enough, I began this book by writing an whimsical scene depicting a violent assassination attempt on a ex-special forces man as he lay sleeping in his house. I wrote it as a kind of joke because my brother in California complained that the characters in all my novels are always eating. I pointed out that I write about people and their lives — and people eat! The scene has the hero drinking a cup of coffee and eating a Pop-Tart during the skirmish. I sent him a copy of the scene and he liked it, Encouraged, I fleshed out a crime-thriller story around the scene. The idea of using child sex trafficking as a theme came from a news story about a little girl who'd been missing and later found sexually abused and dead in a nearby field. When I looked into the incident further, I realized this type of crime is all too common. I wanted to shed more light on the subject. The need to raise awareness of this terrible problem eventually became a strong motivation for completing Retribution . I discovered the problem is more prevalent than most people realize and that the crime is indifferent to race, social class, or ethnicity. If you do the research, I believe you will find the statistics as shocking as I did. The perpetrators lurk on social media, in our neighborhoods, and sometimes in our homes. I chose to write an entertaining tale rather than recount a nonfiction drama of  one of the hundreds of these tragidies that occur here in the United States every year because I'm hoping this approach might reach a segment of readers who might typically avoid non-fiction and thereby miss the message. I hope you will enjoy this compelling romantic thriller.