Force of Nature

June 25, 2007
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.

August 1, 2007
Annie Dugan is tired of beingprivate investigator Ric Alvarados office assistant; she wants to be a full partner in the business. So when Ric accepts a seemingly simple casefind Lillian Lavelles deceased daughters missing roommateAnnie insists on being part of things. But the supposedly easy case quickly becomes complicated when the trail leads to Gordon Burns, one of Floridas most powerful crime lords. The FBI believes that Burns might be smugglinga 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)