Book 4 in US Marshals: Task Force 9 · Dark-edged romantic suspense · Reads as a standalone · Guaranteed HEA
About the book
A Marshal posing as a buyer. A trafficker's contractor with a secret. Two cons, one penthouse, zero room for mistakes.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Silas "Rook" Jensen reads people for a living. As Task Force 9's profiler, he's gone deep undercover as a crypto billionaire with dark appetites, buying his way inside the Consortium, the trafficking ring that slipped through his fingers in Chiang Rai.
Dahlia runs the Consortium's deliveries through the Golden Triangle. Cold. Precise. Untouchable. Ten years ago, she was one of the girls in the back of the van. Now her boss wants the new American buyer owned, and she's the weapon he sends.
Dinner at the Peninsula becomes a negotiation. The negotiation becomes a night in his penthouse neither of them can walk away from.
He's lying about who he is. She's hiding the one person she'd die for, and a plan the Consortium would never believe. Every move she makes on the riverboat south is a move against him. Every move he makes is a move against her.
By the time the boat docks, only one of their plans can survive.
Tropes, heat and content notes
- Tropes: double honey-trap, undercover lovers, enemies to lovers, morally gray heroine with a secret, profiler hero, possessive protector, touch her and you die, negotiated power exchange, forced proximity on a riverboat
- Heat: explicit, with a dark edge. Negotiated power exchange and BDSM elements
- Point of view: dual first person, present tense, Rook and Dahlia
- Ending: a happily ever after, with no cliffhanger
- Content notes: human trafficking (not graphic), a child held hostage (off the page), past sexual assault (off the page), impact play, a beating to protect a cover, rough sex, gun violence. Adults 18+.
Where it fits in the series
ROOK is book 4 of 6 in US Marshals: Task Force 9.
- Before it: WRAITH: Lethal Impact (book 3).
- After it: BRONCO: Lethal Velocity (book 5). The end of ROOK sets up Bronco's mission. Out December 1, 2026.
Questions readers ask
Can I read ROOK as a standalone?
Yes. Rook and Dahlia's story is complete in this book. In the final act, characters from Ellie's Guardian HRS and Cerberus series join in. Readers of those series will recognize them.
How spicy is ROOK?
It's explicit, with a dark edge. Rook and Dahlia negotiate a power exchange. The book includes BDSM elements.
Does ROOK end on a cliffhanger?
No. Rook and Dahlia get their happily ever after.
Is ROOK in Kindle Unlimited?
Yes. Every book in US Marshals: Task Force 9 is in Kindle Unlimited.