Navy SEAL Ian Dunn went
rogue in a big way when he turned his talents to a lawless life of jewel
heists and con jobs. Or so the world has been led to believe. In
reality, the former Special Ops warrior is still fighting for good,
leading a small band of freelance covert operatives who take care of
high-stakes business in highly unofficial ways. That makes Ian the
hands-down choice when the U.S. government must breach a heavily guarded
embassy and rescue a pair of children kidnapped by their own father, a
sinister foreign national willing to turn his own kids into casualties.
Shockingly, Ian passes on the mission... for reasons he will not–or
cannot–reveal.But saying no is not an option. Especially not to Phoebe Kruger, Ian’s bespectacled, beautiful, and unexpectedly brash new attorney. Determined to see the abducted children set free, she not only gets Ian on board but insists on riding shotgun on his Mission: Impossible-style operation, whether he likes it or not.
Though Phoebe has a valuable knack for getting out of tight spots, there’s no denying the intensely intimate feelings growing between Ian and Phoebe as the team gears up for combat. But these are feelings they both must fight to control as they face an array of cold-blooded adversaries, including a vindictive mob boss who’s got Ian at the top of his hit list and a wealthy psychopath who loves murder as much as money. As they dodge death squads and play lethal games of deception, Ian and Phoebe will do whatever it takes to save the innocent and vanquish the guilty.
Comment: This is the first book in a new series, the Reluctant Heroes, which works as a spin off of the well known Troubleshooters, the series that made the author also known for more readers. This book was initially published in 2014 but there hasn't been a second installment yet.
The month of October in the TBR Challenge tends to be the month for paranormal or romantic suspense so I decided to pick something more along the lines of adventure...
In this book we meet ex Navy Seal Ian Dunn, someone who seems larger than life and who is in prison when the story begins. Why he is in jail might or might not be directly connected to the prologue where he and some fellow tam members successfully conclude a very specific mission. However, stronger governmental forces get him out of jail so he can help with a delicate situation and for that effect, that same day, he gets to meet his new lawyer Phoebe Kruger, someone he doesn't know and can't trust immediately.
Phoebe thinks Ian might be just one more brash military guy but there's no denying his allure. She insists in being part of the mission the government wants him to do so she can keep an eye on him. As the dangers amount and the secondary characters join the mission, will she and Ian give in to their attraction or not?
When the Troubleshooters series was at its peak among the readers, I was not yet aware of it. I've started reading the books late 2008 or early 2009 and devoured the ones published until then.
There was a two year hiatus and in 2011 there was another release, and then another one only in 2017. These last two weren't as vibrant as I remember the first ones to be. That means this spin off is the opportunity for the author's talent to shine but I can't seem to help thinking this is a (not totally successful) attempt to rekindle her lost momentum...
Two things to consider in this book (and her others): 1) the focus should be divided between the main couple and the plot and 2) the emotional content should glue the reader to what will happen next.
At least these are the elements I would highlight from her books. The stories are full of adventure, full of incredible situations quite difficult for the average person to imagine but the protagonists and their friends are strong and able and trustworthy to try and do their best while often also dealing with personal issues/feelings.
This, I would say, summarizes mrs Brockmann's books for me and I expected it from this one as well.
However, I would say her work has lost some of its appeal and I can't decide if it's one of those cases of "me, not you" or if she simply changed her focus into the wrong/weaker elements...
The plot is quite confusing and has several scenes with fights, with apparently complicated plans related to the saving of two children and the running from a bad guy and the deceit of another bad guy. Since the story is so long and mixes up different threads, at some point I got confused and simply started to read the action scenes int he diagonal. Let it be said the good guys win after a lot of planning and dodging the bad guys' attempts to get them.
For me, what made me read the books the most was the way the author did the character's interactions and how they revealed their personalities in every thing, especially in the personal/emotional situations they faced or dealt with.
I was looking for to have a good romance but also that sense of family and partnership and even camaraderie between Ian, Phoebe and the other good guys who were part of Ian's team.
It was certainly good to get to know them all a little, Aaron, Sheldon, Martell, Francine, Deb and Yoshi (who had showed up in other books but I no longer remembered them) and even Berto, who seems to have been set to become a hero or a secondary one at some point.
The interactions between these people were all fascinating but in such a long book, they did seem too many, especially because too many things were on going.
Then the main couple's romance. For me it was done a bit abruptly. We have them spending time together, whether in calmer or adrenaline fueled scenes, but their connection for me never went beyond the superficial even when they discussed details to convince us it was not so. With so many pages I think more focus on them and not as much in all the secondary issues would have worked out better. Phoebe is a person not used to military scenarios so some of her behavior felt unlikely. Ian is such a fierce guy, I liked to see his softer side but he was a bit too perfect in some aspects and not as great in others.
I've seen some comments by readers who praise the author and others who have followed her writing for longer and they hint at some reasons why it feels things changed. Of course, everyone sees things in a personal way but thinking of some details, it does feel as if her writing was affected by her personal life. I don't really mind the messages she seems to want to convey but the stories don't have the same feel.
The suspense side of this book was not that difficult to foresee and the romantic element was not as easy to separate from all the other stuff happening.
So long has passed since this was published, I wonder if something else will come out. Some characters still intrigue me so I might try but time does dilute things...
Grade: 6/10
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