DARK OF NIGHT – Suzanne Brockmann
Troubleshooters, Book 14
A Perfect 10
Ballantine Books Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-345-50155-4
January 2009
Romantic Suspense

Los Angeles, California – Present Day

It all started with such a mundane thing as a coffee cup. Not just a regular coffee cup, but a coffee cup with a smiley face on it. The coffee cup Jimmy Nash and Lawrence Decker fought over every day, until Jimmy was shot and killed. Tracy Shapiro, receptionist at Troubleshooters Incorporated --- a personal security firm started by Tom Paoletti --- has a reputation as being kind of flighty and certainly not smart enough to put two and two together and come up with something that will be the start of kidnapping, torture, bullets flying, and being thrust into danger from every side. But first…

Tracy works for Troubleshooters and is as normal as any woman can be working with a bunch of ex-CIA, ex-black ops, and ex-Navy SEALs. When she tells Decker that she thinks Jimmy is still alive, he has to take her into protective custody, since the story of the supposed "death" is an attempt to bring out the men who tried to kill him. Only Decker and Tracy are like catnip to a mouse; their relationship grows more intimate with each conversation, and though physical intimacy is at the top of their minds, there is no time for that, and for once each of them must talk to and get to know something about the other before sex rears its ugly face, well, something like that... Then there's...

Sophia, who has gone through having her husband murdered in front of her, being prostituted by the man who killed him, and had an encounter with Lawrence Decker when she was a prostitute that has left a mark on both of them. Years later, Sophia has put everything behind her and gotten on with her life. Decker, though, suffers in a world of his own making and can seemingly find no way out. Sophia has longed for Decker ever since he saved her from that life, brought her to America, and helped her get a job and an apartment. But, finally, Sophia has come to terms with the fact that Deck just ain't gonna be the man she wants. Could that man be…

Dave Malkoff? Dave, the nerdy tech guy from a government agency who quit to work with Troubleshooters is the quiet guy in the corner everyone ignores. Not exceptionally handsome, not particularly tall, he's the guy every girl wants to be best friends with and the one to go out to drinks with and bemoan your lack of a sex life to. But Dave, ah, Dave is in heaven when Sophia finally notices him, kisses him, and she even…well, as he's being tortured, it's the heights of passion he remembers when he goes into his mind and remembers his time spent with Sophia as the fingernails are being pulled out of his fingers. Dave knows he's second choice after Deck, but that's not such a bad place to be when Sophia is the prize. Now if he can just keep secret the hiding place where…

Jimmy Nash is, everything might go back to normal. Apparently someone wants Jim dead pretty seriously, and his fiancée, Tess, and Lawrence Decker are the only ones who know his whereabouts, until everything starts to go wrong. Then Jules (FBI) is called in, and it seems Jimmy's past and the black ops directors who have been blackmailing him for the past years to continue "deleting" people are about to explode if they find out he's not dead. But black ops isn't for dummies, and with people getting knifed and tortured, someone for sure suspects something. What does Jimmy have in his past that could have led to an assassination attempt, and why has he kept all this from...

Tess Bailey, Jimmy's fiancée and computer expert for the Troubleshooters? Tess has known for a while that Jimmy was disappearing for something not related to his work at Troubleshooters and was keeping secrets from her. Her love for Jimmy is true, but Tess is not sure how long she can put up with his destructive behavior, until he is almost killed and they must go into hiding, with only Lawrence Decker on their side, trying to find out who the traitors are.

Suzanne Brockman has written an epic story that hardly can be described by a mere mortal in less than one thousand words. Almost every ex-operative she has brought into our lives the past years is here, doing his job the best way he can, and the ex-Navy SEALs' and others' best is way more than most mere mortals can aspire to. Writing that brings every person to life by going into their history and showing their pasts and what has made them they way they are now is her specialty. The excitement just keeps coming, and even though there are several situations taking place at the same time, her clarity and flow is unmatched by any other romantic suspense writer around. As this is my favorite genre, Suzanne gets to the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty details, and we know everything about everybody. The sheer size of the world she puts us into swells our hearts with the love we feel for every character.

If you have read any of Suzanne's books, you'll find almost everyone you have met appearing here. Sam and Alyssa Starrett are still in charge at moments of the greatest stress; there's "Wild Card" Karmody (whose story I must read again). Tom Paoletti, Cosmo, Stan, and many others make brief appearances. I must also say that Jules Cassidy and Robin Chadwick are also in the middle of things, and this time Jules lets down his strong side and for once accepts the strength that Robin has, and has been developing over their relationship.

Okay, if you haven't read any of Suzanne Brockman's Troubleshooters books, DARK OF NIGHT is an excellent one to start with. There are plenty of people, yes, but not so many that you are confused; rather it will suck you into their lives and leave you longing to read their stories, too. And now you are in trouble, haunting used bookstores and on-line booksellers looking to learn the fascinating stories of each person. Really, a Perfect 10 doesn't begin to describe DARK OF NIGHT, but it's a beginning.

Carolyn Crisher