In THE FIFTH DOCTRINE, Karen Robards takes an action-filled plot that has a few twists and turns and creates a book that is gripping, touching and ultimately extremely satisfying. There are many chase scenes and a lot of mistrust and chicanery, and this third installment in The Guardian series is such a fun read.

Bianca St. Ives is loving her life in laid-back Savannah, enjoying her friends and her private security business. Then her nemesis, Colin Rogan, appears in her office. That's the first tip-off that those in the intelligence community know who she is and where she lives. And some in the CIA want her dead because she is the last in a failed experiment in genetic engineering that was discontinued. The fact that she is physically and mentally superior to most normal people works to her advantage, except that no one, including Bianca herself, can outrun or outsmart a concerted CIA operation designed to kill her.

"Robards' writing is in top form here. The action scenes are thrilling, and the romance between Bianca and Colin is perfectly played."

Colin offers her a way out, but to get there, she has to take a covert job for a consortium of intelligence agencies from five countries. And while selling what appear to be state secrets to North Korea, she also has to avoid the hit squads that are trying to get rid of her or attempting to steal those state secrets. The bottom line is that it's Bianca and Colin against the rest of the spooks. Staying alive was never so challenging.

Robards' writing is in top form here. The action scenes are thrilling, and the romance between Bianca and Colin is perfectly played. How do you fall for someone you don't think you can trust? That works both ways, and readers feel for Colin, who is falling hard for Bianca --- even though he can't trust her, either. And then there's her father, Richard St. Ives, an ex-CIA agent and career criminal who is high on the CIA hit list. Richard taught Bianca everything she knows, and she still cares for him, so it frustrates her that she's not entirely sure she can trust him.

The plot winds around perfectly, and the book is filled not only with thrills and excitement, but also with a nice slice of humor. Bianca's relationships grow more complex, and that's a wonderful part of the story. She finally shows some vulnerability, an attractive quality that will only make readers like her more.