What do you think?
Rate this book
Family Secrets #1
Enemy Mind
SUBJECT: Zach Ingram, brawny brain, aka Professor Ingram
FAMILY HISTORY: The Ingram heir, brother of financial whiz Jake
DEEPEST SECRET: He'd always envied his brother -- until now...
Professor Zach Ingram was believed to have classified information about genetically altered humans, and agents from the top secret MEDUSA wanted it enough to kidnap him. But was the iron-willed academic truly the one they sought?
Beautiful psychiatrist Dr. Maisy Dalton was unwittingly brought in to hypnotize the ruggedly handsome Zach into talking about the "memories" hidden within him. But the innocent doctor couldn't control her feelings for the mysterious man who spoke of mistaken identity and something called the Extraordinary Five. In her heart, Maisy knew Zach was telling the truth, and was willing to risk her life and love to help him unravel the secrets of MEDUSA and the potentially dangerous X5...
Five extraordinary siblings,
One dangerous past.
Unlimited potential.
FAMILY HISTORY: The Ingram heir, brother of financial whiz Jake
DEEPEST SECRET: He'd always envied his brother -- until now...
Professor Zach Ingram was believed to have classified information about genetically altered humans, and agents from the top secret MEDUSA wanted it enough to kidnap him. But was the iron-willed academic truly the one they sought?
Beautiful psychiatrist Dr. Maisy Dalton was unwittingly brought in to hypnotize the ruggedly handsome Zach into talking about the "memories" hidden within him. But the innocent doctor couldn't control her feelings for the mysterious man who spoke of mistaken identity and something called the Extraordinary Five. In her heart, Maisy knew Zach was telling the truth, and was willing to risk her life and love to help him unravel the secrets of MEDUSA and the potentially dangerous X5...
Five extraordinary siblings,
One dangerous past.
Unlimited potential.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
1 person is currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Shayne
265 books2,585 followersI live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 3, 2018
Now I'm starting the Family Secrets series proper. We start out with Zach Ingram (we're pretty sure that Jake Ingram, his adopted brother, is one of the "Extraordinary Five" - super children who were genetically created in the 1960's). Anyway, Zach is kidnapped. Then we have hypnotist and mind-doctor, Maisy who is called in by Zach's kidnappers to come unlock his mind. They claim he's a long-lost nephew, by the name of Jake who was living with a cult and now can't remember his childhood, so they'd like her to unprogram his brainwashing and help him remember his childhood. Maisy drinks the kool-aid for the first day or so, but once "Jake" starts waking up from the drugs they've been giving him, Maisy starts to see the light. And she starts to see that she's with some very bad people who have no idea they've got the wrong guy...and she has to get him off the drugs and healthy enough to run before they figure it out and kill him.
So this is definitely a romance, but this suspense plot sort of takes front and center and drives the romance plot along with it. Zach sees Maisy, dubs her an angel and begins to fall in love with her as she sees how brave she is in defending him. He also starts to resent that he can't do anything to help her until he's healthier. Maisy for her part is attracted to Zach right off the bat, but she's got some baggage that prevents her from attempting any sort of romantic risk. The chemistry between Zach and Maisy is pretty passionate (and it comes across on the page) and Maisy wants none of that messy, painful feeling - she's quite happy in her numb, comfortable, safe little bubble she's had since before her husband died. This is where the angst came from - Maisy's struggle to want more out of life and love...which made Zach unsure whether he'd ever be more than her friend. But that angst wasn't totally necessary given the suspense plot and the set up. This was done really well (you know, other than the obvious question - how could the kidnappers be so lethal, professional and organized and yet grab the wrong guy?). Beyond that though, it was a unique set up as Maisy and Zach find themselves trapped in a ranch house and trying to keep pretending they don't know what's going on. It was such an interesting read that I got to the 50% mark and was surprised how much I'd read without getting distracted. So kudos to the author for that. Let's hope the rest of the series is this good.
So this is definitely a romance, but this suspense plot sort of takes front and center and drives the romance plot along with it. Zach sees Maisy, dubs her an angel and begins to fall in love with her as she sees how brave she is in defending him. He also starts to resent that he can't do anything to help her until he's healthier. Maisy for her part is attracted to Zach right off the bat, but she's got some baggage that prevents her from attempting any sort of romantic risk. The chemistry between Zach and Maisy is pretty passionate (and it comes across on the page) and Maisy wants none of that messy, painful feeling - she's quite happy in her numb, comfortable, safe little bubble she's had since before her husband died. This is where the angst came from - Maisy's struggle to want more out of life and love...which made Zach unsure whether he'd ever be more than her friend. But that angst wasn't totally necessary given the suspense plot and the set up. This was done really well (you know, other than the obvious question - how could the kidnappers be so lethal, professional and organized and yet grab the wrong guy?). Beyond that though, it was a unique set up as Maisy and Zach find themselves trapped in a ranch house and trying to keep pretending they don't know what's going on. It was such an interesting read that I got to the 50% mark and was surprised how much I'd read without getting distracted. So kudos to the author for that. Let's hope the rest of the series is this good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2008
Professor Zachary Ingram teaches economics. He's not a hero. He's just an average guy. At least until push comes to shove and he has to find the hero inside himself to survive. Dr. Maisy Dalton is a psychiatrist specializing in the deprogramming of former cult members. When she gets a call about an intriguing case, she can hardly refuse.
What she finds is not exactly what she was told. And Zach is not the man his kidnappers expect him to be.
This is the first full length ebook I've read from Harlequin, and I have to say, it was a fantastic first pick. I only vaguely remember seeing anything about this continuity when it came out in 2003. Obviously I didn't read it then, but I intend to finish it this year.
The strength of this book lies in Maisy and Zach's characterization, I think, though the plot intrigued me and none of the other, secondary characters bugged me. I was a little worried that the "bad guys" would be of the TSTL variety for a while, but Ms. Shayne managed to give them brains and make them not nearly as incompetent as I feared. As a matter of fact, I found myself grudgingly impressed.
I can't imagine the pressure an author must be under to set up a continuity, establish the world and some of the major points of consistency for it, and still somehow manage to write a compelling story. I think Maggie Shayne did all of that expertly with Enemy Mind. If things like genetically enhanced humans and organizations with names like MEDUSA and the Extraordinary Five sound like fun, check out this book!
What she finds is not exactly what she was told. And Zach is not the man his kidnappers expect him to be.
This is the first full length ebook I've read from Harlequin, and I have to say, it was a fantastic first pick. I only vaguely remember seeing anything about this continuity when it came out in 2003. Obviously I didn't read it then, but I intend to finish it this year.
The strength of this book lies in Maisy and Zach's characterization, I think, though the plot intrigued me and none of the other, secondary characters bugged me. I was a little worried that the "bad guys" would be of the TSTL variety for a while, but Ms. Shayne managed to give them brains and make them not nearly as incompetent as I feared. As a matter of fact, I found myself grudgingly impressed.
I can't imagine the pressure an author must be under to set up a continuity, establish the world and some of the major points of consistency for it, and still somehow manage to write a compelling story. I think Maggie Shayne did all of that expertly with Enemy Mind. If things like genetically enhanced humans and organizations with names like MEDUSA and the Extraordinary Five sound like fun, check out this book!
June 9, 2022
I couldn't really get into this book. Although the intention to grab my attention and keep it was clearly there, I just couldn't buy into the scenario described, so there was no worry or suspense for me. And no pull to continue this series with a book by another author. Otherwise, I might have given the next book a look-in, just to see if it got better.
December 25, 2021
I love this series!
October 26, 2008
“Enemy Mind” is more of a mystery plot than the regular contemporary romance. So, if you are looking for lots of passion, then this is not the book for you. If you want a mysterious plot, two prisoners, and a whole bunch of questions- then this is the book for you. It was well written, as Maggie Shayne is with all of her books, but even though it was more of a mystery it wasn’t too exciting. I admit, it was a good book, it did have the potential to be great, but… just wasn’t.
January 12, 2009
This one starts off the series. This one is about the brother of one of the Extraordinary five that looks a lot like his brother and is mistaken for him and so he is kidnapped because of it.
October 17, 2016
reading again....
July 10, 2014
meh. it was okay, but i wanted just...more from it. but i love conspiracy stories and such (orphan black fan here ), so it wasn't complete fail. recommend slightly to fans of romance and conspiracy.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews