The Woman Left Behind

by Linda Howard

William Morrow

March 6, 2018

ISBN-10: 0062419013

ISBN-13: 9780062419019

Available in: Hardcover, Audio, e-Book

The Woman Left Behind
by Linda Howard

Jina Modell works in Communications for a paramilitary organization, and she really likes it. She likes the money, she likes the coolness factor—and it was very cool, even for Washington, DC. She liked being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room.

But when Jina displays a really high aptitude for spatial awareness and action, she’s reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with one of the GO-teams, an elite paramilitary unit. The only problem is she isn’t particularly athletic, to put it mildly, and in order to be fit for the field, she has to learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, shoot a gun…or else be out of a job.

Team leader Levi, call sign Ace, doesn’t have much confidence in Jina—who he dubbed Babe as soon as he heard her raspy, sexy voice—making it through the rigors of training. The last thing he needs is some tech geek holding them back from completing a dangerous, covert operation. In the following months, however, no one is more surprised than he when Babe, who hates to sweat, begins to thrive in her new environment, displaying a grit and courage that wins her the admiration of her hardened, battle-worn teammates. What’s even more surprising is that the usually very disciplined GO-team leader can’t stop thinking about kissing her smart, stubborn mouth…or the building chemistry and tension between them.

Meanwhile, a powerful Congresswoman is working behind the scenes to destroy the GO-teams, and a trap is set to ambush Levi’s squad in Syria. While the rest of the operatives set off on their mission, Jina remains at the base to control the surveillance drone, when the base is suddenly attacked with explosives. Thought dead by her comrades, Jina escapes to the desert where, brutally tested beyond measure, she has to figure out how to stay undetected by the enemy and make it to her crew in time before they’re exfiltrated out of the country.

But Levi never leaves a soldier behind, especially the brave woman he’s fallen for. He’s bringing back the woman they left behind, dead or alive.

Other Books by Linda Howard



Linda Howard's Bio

I began writing at the age of nine, far too young to know better. I've always lived with other people inside my head, so I'm at a loss when people ask me where I get my ideas. Coming from a long line of smart-asses the way I do, I'm always tempted to say "From the Idea catalog." Is that better than admitting to a form of schizophrenia? The voices in my head don't tell me to kill anyone, they tell me to write. So I do.

On the outside, I live a rather normal life. I attended a small country school, then a small community college where I was the only journalism major. I promptly dropped out of college and got a job at a trucking company, which greatly expanded my knowledge of people in general and men in particular. No, I wasn't a truck driver, I was an office worker -- officially a secretary, though I did almost no secretarial work. Somehow I ended up doing things like payroll, dispatching, insurance, cost-control studies, shipment tracing, and even -- when I got bored with the color of the office -- a painter. I loved that job, and the people with whom I worked.

I loved writing more, though. I got up at 3:45 in the morning, got to work around 6:30, and was usually home by 5 p.m. I still had all the normal things to do at home: laundry, dishes, etc. It was usually around 7 by the time I got to the typewriter (which later became a computer), and I would write until I was too tired to sit up any longer. After a few hours' sleep I started all over again. Eventually, though, the writing became more lucrative than my day job, with more and more demands on my time, so the day job had to go.

I met my husband at the trucking company; since we worked together, that saved wear and tear on two cars. We bought our first bass boat in 1979 and he began tournament bass fishing, which was the start of another career for him. I eventually quit work to write full time, and he quit work to fish full time. H'mm. I wonder who got the better deal. He travels all over the country fishing on the B.A.S.S. pro circuit, and most of the time I go with him. It is NOT an easy or glamorous way to make a living.

Over the years, I've written just about every kind of fiction except horror, which I avoid because it gives me nightmares. Science fiction, fantasy, adventure, romance, paranormal -- I've written it all. So far, the science ficiton and fantasy have been for my own entertainment. One day -- who knows? I write whatever interests me at the time, and I'm interested in almost everything.

I'm a morning person, and a mountain person. I like the beach, but I'm happier in the mountains. I need to at least SEE a mountain. I wake up disgustingly early, usually before dawn. My office faces the east, so it's bright with morning light. I like to work in one place -- my office. In fact, it's difficult for me to work anywhere else, because a change of location splinters my concentration. Once I moved my desk from one wall to another -- in the same room -- and couldn't write a word for almost a month.

I love writing so much that, if I never sold another book, I would still write. Those people would still live inside my head, their stories swirling and coalescing until I have to get them out. The satisfaction of telling their stories is intense. Some stories aren't as interesting as others. I've never yet written anything with which I was satisfied. The written word, and my talent, does not measure up to the stories as they are in my head. So I keep trying, and maybe one day I'll get it right.