Into the Storm

July 31, 2006
Prolific romance novelist Brockmann returns with the next installment in her popular "Troubleshooter" series following U.S. Navy SEAL Team Sixteen. Here the focus is on Petty Officer Mark "Jenk" Jenkins and Troubleshooters operative Lindsey Fontaine. As part of a winter training exercise in the New Hampshire mountains, the SEALs team up with civilian counterterrorism outfit Troubleshooters Incorporated, run by former SEAL commander, Tom Paoletti. On Jenk's recommendation, Tom hires eye-candy Tracy Shapiro as a Troubleshooters receptionist. Jenk has a crush on the clueless Tracy, while it's Lindsey who appreciates all his jokes. And, that's just for starters. All the women are smart and sexy; all the men are brave, handsome and sensitive; and all the sex is hot-and safe. Everyone carries emotional baggage, or as the author notes, "they all had their pain." As the SEALs and Troubleshooters train together and work out their relationships and emotional issues, they discover a serial killer is on the loose. The multiple subplots converge when the killer, who scalps and mutilates his victims, snatches Tracy, setting off a frantic race against time and nature-an inconvenient blizzard socks the area-to rescue her. Jenk and Lindsey must put aside their feelings and work together to save their friend. Brockmann knows her readers and doesn't disappoint in this suspenseful and entertaining action romance.

While participating in a training exercise, Lindsey Fontaine, an employee of Troubleshooters, Inc., and Navy SEAL Petty Officer Mark Jenkins struggle to keep their personal relationship from interfering with their work. But it all gets personal when one of their team is kidnapped. However, the characters' voices are not sufficiently differentiated, and often it is difficult to figure out who is talking. Melanie Ewbank reads quickly with a staccato tempo that varies little, and Patrick Lawlor's voice is on the boyish side. Inane relationships and dialogue also detract from the story. The decision to use two readers doesn't make sense, since both are weak. But in the hands of one good reader some of the problems could have been overcome. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine