If you have not figured it out already, Iris Johansen is one of my favorite authors. I find that she writes really good books. This is yet another great Iris Johansen book. Although it is #26 in the Eve Duncan series, Eve Duncan plays a fairly minimal role in the story. The story mainly follows that of Eve Duncan's adopted daughter Jane MacGuire and also that of Seth Caleb, who is Jane's past lover and has mysterious powers of his own (blood and the persuasion). Jane and Seth's relationship has always been that of intense sexual desire and longing for one another. It really reminds me of Eve and Joe's relationship in some ways.

The persuasion and/or Seth's blood powers have been a mystery and not very understood except for by Seth. Seth has also been a man of mystery with little about him known. We did learn a little bit more about Seth when Jane was having dreams of a girl, who turned out to be Seth's sister Lisa, in Mind Game by Iris Johansen. Persuasion, as you can probably guess by now, is about Seth' ability to persuade individuals to do his bidding and this book takes us further into his power of persuasion and his family home in Fiero Village, Italy.

Michael, Eve Duncan's son, also plays a bit of a bigger role in the story. It is so surprising to see how fast he has grown since he was first introduced in Night and Day. Michael has his own psychic powers, which have been very vague and not as well understood partly due to Eve and Joe. However, this changes in The Persuasion. Michael has also grown to become very close to Seth for obvious reasons due to their unique abilities.

The Persuasion does tie in a bit of the most recent released Eve Duncan book prior to this one, Smokescreen. As it has Eve still being in Maldara working on the skulls of the children who were brutally murdered in the small village. If you haven't read Smokescreen yet, you definitely should, but you will not be lost at all in this next series installment.

I quite enjoyed this book. It was filled with action, supernatural, sexual tension, mystery, and suspense. It is everything that you expect to find in an Eve Duncan story. I cannot wait to see what continues to unravel and happen between Seth and Jane. I hope that we continue to learn more about Seth and his past, as I find it so intriguing. I look forward to seeing how Michael continues to grow, especially with his powers and the way that Eve and Joy's views on them have evolved in this story.

The setting of the story takes you to a few different countries, which I quite enjoyed. You have your usual Eve Duncan characters that came back including Lord MacDuff. You can't have the story take place in Scotland and not have Lord MacDuff be apart of the story.

Rating: 5 out of 5. This books did not disappoint. It was everything that I expected it to be and more. It is a must read.

Thank you Goodreads and Grand Central Publishing for the copy of the book to review.

A madman is determined to own Jane MacGuire, Eve Duncan’s daughter in this novel. He’s had his plan in the works for years and thinks he is a physiological genius who can’t be stopped. The book will keep you on the edge of your seat and you won’t want to put it down until you finish it. This is a fast action thriller that proves Iris Johansen never disappoints her readers but rather always leaves them wanting more.