Customer Reviews

Fade the Heat

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Colleen Thompson's writing just gets better and better. FADE THE HEAT is a superb book: tightly plotted, full of finger-biting suspense, sizzling with romantic tension and hot love scenes, and stars two of the most interesting, fully realized characters it's ever been my pleasure to read: Jack Montoya and Reagan Hurley. Since others have summarized the story, I won't repeat. All I'll say is, if you love terrific romantic suspense, BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. Just go to the top of the page and CLICK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I don't write many reviews, but felt compelled to share my thoughts on FADE THE HEAT. What a fantastic book! The writer grabbed my interest on the first page, and didn't let me go until the exciting end. Jack Montoya is a fantastic hero -- not afraid to step over the line to defend his principles. Reagan Hurley, a female firefighter, is all things brave and admirable, but softly feminine at all the right moments. There's some really fantastic secondary characters as well. I would recommend this novel to any fans of well-written suspense!

Romantic suspense is a broad description-perhaps broader than it should be, considering some of the stories that carry this label-but if you want to read a book that's the very definition of "romantic suspense," then look no further than Colleen Thompson's FADE THE HEAT. Without sacrificing the action or the emotion, she masterfully weaves a suspense plot that never lets up with a tender, oh-so-believable romance between two satisfyingly original characters.

Jack Montoya and Reagan Hurley are strong, larger-than-life heroes with touching vulnerabilities that make them seem so real that you'll root for them to the very end and keep a soft spot for them in your heart long after you finish the book. (OK, especially for Dr. Jack, a gorgeous physician who saves sick children, works at a small clinic in a dangerous neighborhood instead of at a fat-cat medical practice, and loves his mama and his sister. Could he be more scrumptious?!)

You'll enjoy not only the twists and turns of the intricately-crafted plot and the sweet build-up of romantic tension, but also the vivid detail of the Houston setting. Just as in the enthralling FATAL ERROR, Thompson deftly uses the backdrop to make her story and the characters in it feel like very real people fighting real problems and finding, of course, real love-but make no mistake: it's a love that they'll have to fight for.

I highly recommend this amazing book, and unless you want to go into work late and/or tired, I also recommend buying it now and saving it for the weekend because once you get started, it's impossible to put FADE THE HEAT down until you reach the very end!

Trouble begins for Dr. Jack Montoya when Reagan Hurley walks back into his life and into his clinic. The lovely firefighter needs him to give her clearance to go back to work because she's been sidelined by asthma. However, medical ethics prevent him from giving her that, and so, when Jack's car is vandalized, he is sure Reagan did it. While he confronts her, someone torches his apartment. This is only the beginning of trouble. An arson waves sweeps over Houston. Moreover, Jack and Reagan have become the targets of a stalker. Death, bad publicity, and violence drive these two old friends into discovering a romance that will have the power to save or doom them both.

**** Fast paced action races the reader along to a nerve wrenching, surprise conclusion. The author so acccurately portrays Houston that long time residents will have the fun of identifying the familiar parts of town, and if you've ever wanted to visit Houston, this is the next best thing. ****

Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer

Reagan Hurley is a tough, kick-ass sort of a girl. You have to be when you're a firefighter on Houston's urban streets. It's the only thing she's ever wanted to do, since her father died a hero fighting a fire when she was just a kid. Reagan works hard for her reputation of `matching male rookies axe-stroke for axe-stroke - despite her slender five-six frame'.

But now her career is threatened by the damnable weakness in her own body, asthma. Not willing to give up her hard won position in suppression, she searches out a childhood friend, knowing he's now a doctor in a poor county sponsored clinic - a doctor who can sign the medical release she needs to return to the job.

Dr. Jack Montoya's childhood taught him to survive by walking a narrow path between right and wrong in a tough neighborhood barrio. Now he uses that skill to manipulate social programs to get much needed medical help for illegal immigrant children. But someone blows the whistle on Jack, and has the city's `tell-all' talk radio host, one trying to steal the upcoming mayoral election with sensationalism, trying to feed Jack to the hungry crowd.

When Jack doesn't sign Reagan's release, she knows her choices are limited. She can `cave in now or go down swinging, but Reagan Hurley is looking for Option C . . . some passage through this firestorm that would help her `fade the heat.'

Even though she's angered at Jack's refusal to help her, the sparks ignited from their reunion burn bright.

A series of incidents, which at first seem unrelated, draw the two together, deeper into a twisting tunnel of danger. Soon it becomes evident that they are the targets. As these two fight to solve the mystery that threatens their lives and the lives of their loved ones, both are forced to question truths they've always counted on. But sometimes enough heat can melt black and white into gray, blending the essence of their realities.

Take a serving of political intrigue mixed with a portion of social fanaticism, throw in some petty jealousy and personal vendettas, and you have a complex story filled with non-stop action. Season it with a sprinkling of tasty secondary characters: Jack's sister Luz Maria, the Firebug, Reagan's neighbor Peaches, and a white greyhound named Frank Lee. Fire the oven with Jack and Reagan's torch for each other, and Colleen Thompson serves up a spicy treat of suspense along with a passion too hot to handle.

If you enjoy page turning tension that never lets up, not to mention trying to figure out a whodunit, this book is for you. It'll keep you guessing until the very end.

All he wanted to do was live up to the Hippocratic Oath by providing medical care to the children of illegal immigrants. Instead Dr. Jack Montoya has become pilloried on talk show radio for providing services that enable these outsiders to stay and becoming a hero worshipped by the Latino community for getting involved. He wants neither; he just wants to be recognized as a good doctor by his patients.

Asthmatic firefighter Reagan Hurley turns to Jack her childhood friend to sign documents that would allow her to return to work, but instead he shows a siege mentality behaving nasty and cynical towards her. Jack refuses to sign anything as he warily has become a victim of a war on illegal aliens. When an arsonist tries to burn down Jack's apartment, but in the process kills Reagan's captain, they team up to bring this fiery killer to justice while trying to overcome being considered pariahs by everyone including her peers. This drives them close to each other as love blossoms between them.

The arson homicide who-done-it is cleverly designed so that the audience never knows who committed the act until the climax. Yet as exhilarating as that key subplot is, the story line is owned by the lead couple as readers will commiserate with Reagan wanting to return to the front lines and with a beleaguered Jack tired of his fifteen minutes as a pawn. Colleen Thompson keeps the heat high with this strong thriller that also focuses on the issue of medical and other public assistance to the children of illegal immigrants.

Harriet Klausner

Firefighter heroine is resisting her asthma diagnosis & its repercussions re: her well-loved job & goes to public-clinic doctor hero, who's her old childhood friend, for help. Both become coincidentally embroiled in an arson-murder with the hero as its focus.

Thompson writes well but I found her detailed writing & characterization distracting from the book's emotional pace. In fact, I found this book NOT emotionally engaging. It's like watching the news versus a movie...and I prefer my books to be like movie-watching. It's probably because it's more suspense-focused. The romance was 2ndary & lacking in heat.

Partially recommended for the suspense but not the romance.

Fade the Heat was the first book of Colleen's that I read. I have since read it a couple of more times. This book made me a fan of Colleen's writing.

She takes the elements of romance and combines it with suspense to get a rare read. This is a darn good book.

I have read all but one of Colleen Thompson's books ( I just received the last one today.) She writes well, her characters are interesting and fully realized and her plots are clever. She stands out in this genre.

Ask anyone who knows me and my reading habits, and they'll tell you that romantic suspense is my favorite genre-and it's authors like Colleen Thompson who keep feeding my obsession. Being fortunate enough to read Fatal Error, her 2004 release that went on to become a RITA finalist, I was anxious to get my hands on FADE THE HEAT. Let me tell you, you cannot possibly go wrong with this book. From heart-pounding action-adventure to immersion into the world of the hero and heroine to palm-sweating, sizzling romance, this book is at the top of what the romantic suspense genre is all about.

Dr. Jack Montoya has only one goal in life, and that's to be the best doctor he can be. He's always been determined to do whatever he can for the people in his Spanish barrio community in Houston. The son of a Mexican man who drowned while trying to illegally enter the United States, Joaquin "Jack" Montoya has been accused of both being too sensitive to the needs of Mexicans, and not being Mexican enough. Now that the press has found out about his practice of doctoring his paperwork to provide free health care to the children of illegal immigrants, he's being alternately crucified and canonized for his activities. Jack, though, doesn't want to be a scapegoat or a saint-he simply wants to live up to the Hippocratic Oath and do all that he can for the sick individuals who enter the East End Clinic. Unfortunately, doing anything doesn't apply to falsifying medical records for beautiful firefighter Reagan Hurley.

For Reagan, being a firefighter for the city of Houston is all she ever wanted to be. It defines who she is, and she's determined that being diagnosed with asthma will not slow her down. Except the asthma is slowing her down, is, in fact, threatening to end her fire-fighting career in its tracks. She went to Dr. Montoya's office both because she knew him personally, and because she assumed that with his sympathies towards illegal immigrants, he might be willing to help her out. Reagan needs a doctor who will sign off on her medical forms, and she had hoped Jack would be the one to do so. But then he tells her, in no uncertain terms, that he won't jeopardize his own career-or disobey the Oath-to lie to her superiors about her health situation, especially when it could get her killed. So Reagan leaves the clinic, mad at both Jack and the world and her own body's traitorous condition.

Later the same day, Jack's apartment is the victim of a torching, and his mind immediately turns towards Reagan. Was she so angry at him that she would set his home on fire? If that's the case, then how did Reagan's Captain end up dead?

As the heat intensifies, with fires being set all over the barrio, Reagan becomes the main suspect in the eyes of her fellow firefighters. As for Jack, he's now fighting both the press over the practices of his Clinic, and his growing feelings for Reagan. As the two of them delve ever deeper into the mystery of who's behind the arsons, they must learn to trust in each other and the power of their convictions.

FADE THE HEAT is one book all lovers of romantic suspense will not want to miss. The action never stops, nor does the growing relationship between Jack and Reagan. These are two characters who are all too human in their thoughts and feelings, and the story is better for it. Thanks, Ms. Thompson, for such a compelling and enjoyable read!