Dark of Night (Troubleshooters Series) [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Suzanne Brockmann (Author), Patrick Lawlor (Reader), Renée Raudman (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009 | Series: Troubleshooters Series (Book 14)

For years, operative James Nash has performed ultra-covert “Black Ops” missions for The Agency, but when he decides to walk away from their dirty work, his corrupt bosses aren’t about to let him go. After Nash is nearly assassinated, Troubleshooters team leader Lawrence Decker launches a skillful deception to neutralize the threat and protect his friend. With the FBI’s help, Decker fakes Nash’s death, then brings him to a safe house with his fiancée, Tess Bailey, to recover from his injuries and strategize their next move. Only a handful of people know that Nash is still alive – and fellow Troubleshooters Dave Malkoff, Sophia Ghaffari, and receptionist Tracy Shapiro aren’t among them. Believing that Nash is dead and that Decker has begun a romantic relationship with Tess, Sophia settles for second best and begins a love affair with Dave, who has adored her for years. But Tracy puts two and two together, discovering the truth about Nash – much to Decker’s dismay. As passions flare, Decker struggles to keep his scheme afloat, and to keep Nash alive. But when he finds himself targeted for death, the game turns even more perilous, and Sophia, Tracy, and Dave are swept into the deadly play. Under fire and racing to unmask their relentless adversary, the Troubleshooters know that the closer they get, the greater the risks. But sacrifices and consequences come with the territory. Forced to choose between love and loyalty, they are no longer just solving a crime – they’re fighting for survival.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The spy games seldom interfere with the love games of the assorted couples in bestseller Brockmann's 14th Troubleshooters Inc. romantic thriller (after Into the Fire). In San Diego, sassy Troubleshooters receptionist Tracy Shapiro, who's survived several romantic disasters, may have met her match in Lawrence Deck Decker, Troubleshooters' macho team leader. Deck's the former partner of Jimmy Nash, a dead TS Inc. operative, who's actually in hiding with Tess Bailey, his girlfriend and colleague. Also in jeopardy are Dave Malkoff and his fellow op, Sophia Ghaffari, whose heart now belongs to Dave, who'll do anything to protect Sophia and their unborn child. When Dave's kidnapped to smoke out Jimmy, the TS Inc. team and the FBI unite in a rescue plan. While the pillow talk at times overshadows the action, Brockmann fans will cheer as her global problem solvers work out their latest sticky dilemmas, both personal and professional. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Troubleshooters Inc. operative Jimmy Nash’s death during a mission taking out a neo-Nazi cult leader changed everything. Not only does team leader David Malkoff feel responsible; he feels even guiltier because now that Jimmy is gone, David may finally have a chance with teammate Sophia Ghaffari. Lawrence Decker is one of the few people at Troubleshooters Inc. who knows the truth about Jimmy’s “death,” until the receptionist, Tracy Shapiro, figures it out and complicates things. As part of the group assigned to protect Jimmy, Tess Bailey finds separating herself from the job difficult given her past history and potential future with Jimmy. In the fourteenth installment of her wildly popular Troubleshooters Inc. series, award-winning and best-selling Brockmann picks up the action from Into the Fire (2008), as assorted characters work together to bring down the mastermind behind a deadly Black-Ops scheme. Once again Brockmann neatly blends high-adrenaline suspense and scorchingly sexy romance into an addictively readable mix. --John Charles --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD; Abridged edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423342720
• ISBN-13: 978-1423342724
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,773,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Suzanne Brockmann is the award-winning author of fifty-one books, and is widely recognized as one of the leading voices in romantic suspense. Her work has earned her repeated appearances on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as numerous awards, including Romance Writers of America's #1 Favorite Book of the Year and two RITA awards.

Married to author Ed Gaffney, Suz divides her time between Sarasota, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts and New York City. They have two grown children, Melanie, who is a personal trainer and a writer, and Jason, who is an actor and tap dancer, and two miniature schnauzers, C.K. Dexter-Haven and Little Joe, both of whom (unlike Mel and Jason) still live at home.

Suz is a proud member of PFLAG -- Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. She is also a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, and MassEquality. A firm believer in civil rights for all people, she has fought hard to bring equal marriage rights to all citizens of her home state, Massachusetts.

Suz also recently produced her first independent feature-length movie, a romantic comedy called THE PERFECT WEDDING, that she co-wrote with her husband Ed and her son Jason. The film is currently in post-production. (Find out more at www.ThePerfectWeddingMovie.com)

Visit Suz's Website at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com
Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SuzanneBrockmannBooks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How to jump the shark - contains spoilers, January 31, 2009

By 

Scout "Scout" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark of Night (Troubleshooters, Book 14) (Hardcover)

This book should be used as an example in writing classes on HOW TO jump the shark (if for some reason an author were so inclined) If you have not followed the series you may enjoy this book but for those of us who have been waiting for the past 5 years for a resolution to the story arc it's pretty brutal.

Characters have been completely re-written and in some cases are nothing like the previous books. Nash and Dave who have barely exchanged more then a few sentences are suddenly great friends! Same with Decker and Tracey, apparently there was an animalistic attraction between the two of them for years now! Surprise!!! Dave, who in past books has been described as geeky, needy and insecure is suddenly an Alpha hero who's tough as nails and of course saves the day. AND could be a SEAL with one hand tied behind his back. Gimme a break.

Tracey, sweet ditzy Tracey who was introduced to us in ITS as not smart enough to work a phone system, clothes obsessed and sexually inexperienced (2 previous partners not including one night stand Izzy) is suddenly the smartest character in the book, quickly putting all the pieces together and is sexually confident enough to order Decker around and act out his BSDM fantasies. The thing about character growth is we actually need to see it - Brockmann just makes drastic changes to their personalities and we are supposed to believe that it's just peeling back the layers, we just didn't see those aspects in them before. And if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska. Of course I'm more of 'show me, don't tell me' kind of reader and Brockmann seems to have lost her ability for subtlety.

For those who were devastated that Decker and Sophia would not find their HEA together (despite all the signs in prior books and lets not forget those misleading polls that Brockmann has on her website indicating their couple status) this book doesn't make you feel better. Prior to the release spoilers indicated we would find out exactly WHY Sophia and Decker would never work out - and the reason why? Decker apparently is a closet BSDM wannabe. I read that and thought, seriously??!! Does the author really believe her readers are that naive?? We would simply say, oh it's ok they aren't together because Decker wants to be tied up, covered with a hood and whipped! That's a good reason to suddenly pair her with Dave. I feel the author had to come up SOME reason since she changed her mind halfway through the arc and thought this might do it. Paging JR Ward!!! The one conversation that Decker and Sophia have about their past is disappointing and anti-climatic.

The plot is beyond unbelievable and I was laughing out loud at parts that were not intended to be funny.

Now onto the couples. Dave and Sophia were nauseating as expected. Granted I would have been a tough sell in order to find them believable as a couple and unfortunately Brockmann failed to convince me. I still don't believe that Sophia is IN love with Dave but rather loves him, their baby and the life they will have together. The basic premise of her realizing that she loves Dave, her best friend is when he is in danger and is almost killed in the parking lot....so it's OMG you almost died, I do love you after all!!! And right near the end of the book she tells Decker she's a bit jealous of his and Tracey's happiness, but at the same time she's not. So she's slightly jealous? She obviously still has feelings for Decker then. Not exactly an HEA worthy of a romance novel, more like real life where the girl settles for 2nd choice, but has kids and a house and joins the PTA and is very content.

Tracey and Decker were the best part of the book (their character issues aside) and I would have liked to have seen more of them, particularly at the end which felt very rushed. Again, I'm not really convinced of a very happy HEA....they seemed a bit more in lust then in love.

Very happy to have Tess and Nash wrapped up and happy.

Near the end of the novel Sophia is talking about Dave and Decker and how the two of them are not interchangeable. Which is the exact complain many fans have with Brockmann at this time. For years she builds up Sophia and Decker and then in one very anticlimactic novel she switches it all around so she could have her surprise ending. I guess we are supposed to celebrate her edginess??? Praise her for pushing the boundaries??? Sorry, but when you create a 5 year story arc and then have it end in such a cluttered book she should be prepared for the backlash she is now experiencing. Maybe this won't effect her sales, maybe this book will be a hit for her but I'm tired of being manipulated.

This series has been on the decline for some time now and this was the final nail in the coffin for this reader. I'm sad to say that I think Brockmann is going to places that I just don't care to follow. I think her style has changed and perhaps mine has as well........I just don't like to read romance novels that are more like far fetched soap operas....or perhaps more like 90210 considering the lingo of most of the characters. It really wouldn't surprise me at this point to have characters come back from the dead, like Bobby Ewing in Dallas.

Some of you, particularly Dave fans, may enjoy this book but for me it was a wall banger.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get it from the library, March 31, 2009

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark of Night (Troubleshooters, Book 14) (Hardcover)

Jimmy Nash is reported to be dead and the few Troubleshooters that know he's alive want to keep it that way as they search for the people from his black ops past who want to see him silenced forever. While mourning, Sophia finally makes her choice in geeky spy Dave Malkoff, and Decker moves on to receptionist Tracy who guesses that Nash is alive, thus putting her in danger - so it's off to the safe house for her (though getting there will be a chore).

Brockmann continues the downward spiral that started with the mess that is "Into the Storm," ironically the book that introduced Tracy to the masses as a bit of a scatterbrain. But believe it or not, she and Decker really click as a couple (though she is far too needy and falls in love too easily). I could care less if Sophia chose Dave over Decker; these just are not the same characters or the same level of writing that I have come to love over the years. Gone are the great action sequences and fully-developed characters with a little romance sprinkled in, replaced with too much talking and narrative to move the story along. When Brockmann uses introspection, all her characters sound/think in the same teeny bopper voice. These are grown men, some well over middle age. Her decision to have Decker into BDSM was an interesting direction, but was poorly executed - what few love scenes he had with Tracy were pretty chaste by comparison of other novels she's written. Brockmann - once an auto-buy - is still a definite library loan.

© Tracy Vest, March 2009

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Himmmming and Hawwwwwing, February 25, 2009

By 

T. Paczek "Addicted to Reading" (D.C. Metro) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dark of Night (Troubleshooters, Book 14) (Hardcover)

I must say that when I saw the reviews for this book I was upset. I really wanted Sophia and Deck to get together. I mean, that's how Brockmann set it up. I had received the book the day before I read the reviews. I was furious that Brockmann decided to change the tide. I wanted to return the book immediately. Well, I got distracted and didn't get to the book for a few days and so I got over my initial anger.

Well, I ended up reading the book. I can't say I wasn't disappointed. Although Brockmann made a good effort of rearranging everything we had hitherto read about Deck, Sophia, and Dave I was left feeling kind of blah. Yeah, the way she wrote it went okay, but the fact that she changed our perception of Deck, Tracy, Dave and Sophia by rearranging their personalities didn't fly true with me. I couldn't get over waiting for Dave to do something completely geeky or for Tracy to do something completely dumb blondish.

I'm disappointed that Brockmann chose to represent the characters one way in previous books, then changed their characters to show different personalities. I realize it is a work of fiction, but the reason most of us read these types of books is for the realism that is represented. When things go way beyond reality (i.e. completely changing your IQ and personality), the book and author loses credibility.

Does this mean I will no longer read Brockmann books? No. But I feel like if it happens again, I might go looking elsewhere for my thrills. I love the troubleshooter series. I've read EVERY one. However, I have a hard time dealing with such an obvious deviation from an originally intended plot. I almost feel deceived. Brockmann led us to believe one thing, but we ended up with something different. The book was good, but you have to completely shut out the voices that are asking "what?" "how is that possible?" "She is so not that smart!" etc.