Product Description

Hard-driving suspense and intense passion are the hallmarks of bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann’s pulse-pounding thrillers. In her tales of daring, danger, courage, and desire, men and women of action fight fiercely, love deeply, and time after time raise the bar for adventure to new heights. Brockmann’s latest novel is no exception.

Florida private investigator and ex-cop Ric Alvarado’s life is spiraling out of control. His beautiful new girl Friday, Annie Dugan, is far more interested in fieldwork than filing, and despite Ric’s best efforts to ignore the attraction, sparks are flying between them. Then one of Ric’s clients turns femme fatale and tries to gun down an innocent man. Thanks to quick thinking and even quicker reflexes, Ric comes to the rescue, only to learn he’s done a very good deed for some very bad people.

Suddenly Ric finds himself deep undercover with Annie, working for notorious crime boss Gordon Burns. One mistake from Ric’s painfully inexperienced partner and they’re both dead.

FBI agent Jules Cassidy’s life isn’t in much better shape. For years the FBI has been trying to prove Gordon Burns’s ties to terrorist activity. Now, thanks to Ric and Annie, Jules has found a way into the lion’s den. But in the course of his investigation he comes face-to-face with Robin Chadwick, the charismatic but self-destructive and closeted movie star for whom Jules feels a powerful attraction. Robin’s in town promoting his latest film–and Gordon Burns is a star-struck movie buff.

With Robin and Jules’s help, Ric and Annie are soon entrenched in Burns’s organization, surrounded by killers who may already have executed an FBI infiltrator. Before long the couple realizes that many more lives besides their own will be at stake if they make a false move. As the heat between them reaches dangerous levels, so do the risks they’re willing to take–in the line of duty, for the sake of loyalty, and in the name of something that runs even deeper.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #422743 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-14
• Released on: 2007-08-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Ex-cop Ric Alvarado, after receiving word that Florida mobster Gordon Burns may be working with international terrorists, manages to gain access to Burns's inner circle in prolific bestseller Brockmann's enjoyable 11th Troubleshooters thriller (after 2006's Into the Storm). Alvarado's feat brings him to the attention of Jules Cassidy, a maverick FBI agent and counterterrorism expert derided by fellow agents for being gay. The message of tolerance and the personal issues—Cassidy's relationship with closeted Hollywood leading man Robin Chadwick; Alvarado's crush on his attractive assistant, Annie Dugan; Cassidy's determined struggle for acceptance and recognition—at times interfere with the terrorist plot in the mix of undercover police work and romance, but romantic suspense fans should be well satisfied. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Annie Dugan is tired of being private investigator Ric Alvarado's office assistant; she wants to be a full partner in the business. So when Ric accepts a seemingly simple case—find Lillian Lavelle's deceased daughter's missing roommate—Annie insists on being part of things. But the supposedly easy case quickly becomes complicated when the trail leads to Gordon Burns, one of Florida's most powerful crime lords. The FBI believes that Burns might be smuggling a top al-Qaeda operative into the U.S., and agent Jules Cassidy wants to team up with Ric and Annie to get into the Burns business operation. Ric is then determined to keep Annie out of the mission, especially once he realizes that he just might be falling for his new partner. In the latest addition to her utterly addictive Troubleshooters, Inc. series, Brockmann deftly delivers another testosterone-drenched, adrenaline-fueled tale of danger and desire that brilliantly combines superbly crafted, realistically complex characters with white-knuckle plotting. Charles, John

Review
PRAISE FOR SUZANNE BROCKMANN

Into the Storm

“Sexy, suspenseful, and irresistible . . . [this] novel has all the right ingredients, including terrific characters [and] a riveting plot rich in action and adventure.”
–Booklist

“Brockman is an undisputed master at writing military and suspense fiction [with] action, danger and passion all rolled into one.”
–curledup.com

Breaking Point

“Readers will be on the edge of their seats.”
–Library Journal

“An action-packed breathtaking thriller.”
–Romantic Times (Top Pick!)


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Another great installment
OK. I'm one of the ones who has been waiting and waiting for Jules' story. I'm a suburban hetero mom, and I fully believed that Jules needed his story told. I understand that some people aren't looking for that - I won't force my beliefs on them, just as I don't want them to try to tell me what I should think. Brockmann is well known for "arcing" her story lines over several books, and I had been waiting, not so patiently, for this story to be told.

Dedicated readers will recognize Ric Alvarado as the policeman who briefly met Gina in "Sam & Alyssa's book" - Gone Too Far. It's a few years later, we've heard from Gina & Max, and now it's Ric's turn. Only, of course, in Brockmann's world, nothing is as it seems. This is definitely NOT "Ric & Annie's book" and those readers who follow the series realize that the end of a book where characters are supposedly "main" are not usually the end of their stories - witness Sophie & Decker, for example.

This is really "Jules'" book, and I'm still not sure it's the end of that arc, either. No spoilers, but we don't know what the future will bring.

The SEALS and even the Troubleshooters are mostly entirely absent here - Sam makes only a brief appearance and Alyssa is only virtually around - and I did find that it was somewhat refreshing not to have to keep track of dozens of supporting characters in a book. On the other hand, I did miss them. Partly, I think, this is because I WANT to know how they're doing - they're old friends and I care about them. That's Brockmann's genius.

Unlikely and over the top action, sure - but that's fiction. Enjoy the writing. Ric & Annie aren't the strongest characters I've seen, but they may develop. I would bet money on it.

If you're a Brockmann reader, you're going to get this, and I bet you'll like it. If you're not, well, this isn't the place to start. It's a great book, but you'll feel that you're missing something.

Romance-packed action
When a typically easy missing persons case drops PI Ric Alvarado and his reluctant girl Friday Annie Dugan into an undercover FBI operation, the duo is recruited by FBI team lead Jules Cassidy to help bring down the evil Burns dynasty. His undercover agent worked in the Burns mansion and disappeared without a trace, and despite the love-hate relationship he and Peggy shared, he's committed to finding her. Both daddy and junior are responsible for a multitude of sins, including smuggling terrorists into the US.

Ric and Annie have known each other for decades and he's been attracted to her, despite a small lie his best friend (her brother) told years earlier. When the two start training to be on the FBI team, Ric discovers that perhaps Annie is cut out for more than answering phones and typing. Much to Jules chagrin, his crush on closeted alcoholic actor Robin Chadwick is thrust to the forefront, as Robin is in town for a film festival that Burns is sponsoring, providing them with the perfect cover to get in. As the group schemes to crumble the Burns empire, Robin's problems with the bottle resurface and draw new attention onto their investigation.

I really liked the story, particularly the chemistry between Ric and Annie, and their bantering. I think this is her strongest romantic duo since Sam and Alyssa, as both sets of characters are pretty equal (and both women are better shots!). But I pity any couple who dare share space with Jules and Robin, as their romance tends to be overshadowed. Just as in "Hot Target," they steal the show, but as nice as it is to have Jules finally have a romance of his own, it's hard to find a redeeming quality about Robin's character, other than his physical beauty. When Jules cleaned up his vomit AGAIN (just like in "Hot Target"), I hoped he'd see the light, send Robin packing and find a more deserving life partner - maybe a new young SEAL... Unfortunately, the terrorist plot took a huge backseat to the romantic entanglements (and a heck of a lot of chatting about feelings), which was a huge miss on Brockmann's part, as well as the absence of the Troubleshooter characters, and the introduction of bit characters whose storylines fizzled out. At times it got a little preachy; overall, it was a vast improvement over her last book, "Into the Storm."

I can't let go of the past
Because I miss her paperback books, when she wrote real, fleshed-out stories. I've noticed since she went to hardback that it's all action, heroic, unbelievable situations that everyone gets out of somehow, etc, etc., it's so boring. In her older books, like "Out of Control", "Over the Edge", the story was so fleshed out, she got inside the characters head's so well, you almost knew what they MIGHT do next. I felt like I WAS the Senior Chief, seeing Terri and feeling that longing, or WAS Wildcard, messing up my chance with the ladies. I BELIEVED the romance between Molly and Jones. She took the time to set it up, and you cared how it ended, even if you had to wait a few books to GET the ending.

But now, it's so different. I liked Annie a lot, but sorry Ric, I don't believe you loved her either, just because you said it a million times. Jules and Robin were a lot more fleshed out, but I guess I needed to be shown more, told less.

If anyone wants to read really good Brockmann, start with "Over the Edge" and even the two before that, and stop after Gina and Max finally get their HEA. (And their book, too, falls into the "huge action, less story" category. But at least you already knew who they were and how they felt.) Back in the paperback days, you could pick up a big ole' book and know you were in for a good story. Not anymore.