Henry Lee has been from HELL & BACK and just when things look like they may be looking up terrorists have a deadly virus in their sights. He and his new partner Ruby Toth, members of the Outbreak Task Force, are in a race of their (as well as many thousands) lives.

Henry doesn't mind working with Ruby as he feels she respects him, he has had more than enough pity for all he had lost overseas, including his leg. But he also has a feeling she is hiding something and worries she might be the traitor who is leaking crucial information.

Ruby certainly has a secret and it deals with her family. Her brother has been kidnapped by the terrorist and she has a choice - turn over a vial of smallpox or know she caused his death. She might be able to get Henry to help but she is also in the group as a spy to find who is behind the plot to release a pandemic. Who can she trust?

HELL & BACK is author Julie Rowe's fifth book of her Outbreak Task Force and though close to the fears and worries we face today it is still a very fine, action-packed read. Henry is a no-nonsense, smart and cunning with a bit of a temper. He might be medic trained but he is a warrior and even with a prosthetic leg isn't going to back down. He is amazed at how well he and Ruby work together because of his single-minded and grumpy ways. In Ruby's case, she comes from a spy family and is very calm and capable but in this case torn between duty and family. The romance might seem a bit quick but it is a very tense time, so emotions do tend to go crazy. Well done and quite believable considering the crazy work and world they deal with.

The action is intense as is their attraction and though you might figure out the bad guys early it is fun to watch this couple fight the good fight. Secrets, pressure and triumph simplify HELL & BACK, but there is so much more to it that readers will not want to let this couple go.

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