Force of Nature (Troubleshooters, Book 11) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Suzanne Brockmann (Author), Patrick G Lawlor (Reader), Melanie Ewbank (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2007

Florida private investigator and ex-cop Ric Alvarado’s life is spiraling out of control. His beautiful new girl Friday, Annie Dugan, is far more interested in fieldwork than filing, and despite Ric’s best efforts to ignore the attraction, sparks are flying between them. Then one of Ric’s clients turns femme fatale and tries to gun down an innocent man. Thanks to quick thinking and even quicker reflexes, Ric comes to the rescue, only to learn he’s done a very good deed for some very bad people. Suddenly Ric finds himself deep undercover with Annie, working for notorious crime boss Gordon Burns. One mistake from Ric’s painfully inexperienced partner and they’re both dead. FBI agent Jules Cassidy’s life isn’t in much better shape. For years the FBI has been trying to prove Gordon Burns’s ties to terrorist activity. Now, thanks to Ric and Annie, Jules has found a way into the lion’s den. But in the course of his investigation he comes face-to-face with Robin Chadwick, the charismatic but self-destructive and closeted movie star for whom Jules feels a powerful attraction. Robin’s in town promoting his latest film - and Gordon Burns is a star-struck movie buff. With Robin and Jules’s help, Ric and Annie are soon entrenched in Burns’s organization, surrounded by killers who may already have executed an FBI infiltrator. Before long the couple realizes that many more lives besides their own will be at stake if they make a false move. As the heat between them reaches dangerous levels, so do the risks they’re willing to take - in the line of duty, for the sake of loyalty, and in the name of something that runs even deeper.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Annie Dugan is tired of being private investigator Ric Alvarado's office assistant; she wants to be a full partner in the business. So when Ric accepts a seemingly simple case—find Lillian Lavelle's deceased daughter's missing roommate—Annie insists on being part of things. But the supposedly easy case quickly becomes complicated when the trail leads to Gordon Burns, one of Florida's most powerful crime lords. The FBI believes that Burns might be smuggling a 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. Charles, John --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (August 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596001593
• ISBN-13: 978-1596001596
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Books on Cassette > Mystery & Thrillers > Thriller
  • #91 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction

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

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great installment, August 30, 2007

By 

cmp (Merrimack, NH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Force of Nature (Troubleshooters, Book 11) (Hardcover)

OK. I'm one of the ones who has been waiting and waiting for Jules' story. I'm a suburban hetero mom, and I fully believed that Jules needed his story told. I understand that some people aren't looking for that - I won't force my beliefs on them, just as I don't want them to try to tell me what I should think. Brockmann is well known for "arcing" her story lines over several books, and I had been waiting, not so patiently, for this story to be told.

Dedicated readers will recognize Ric Alvarado as the policeman who briefly met Gina in "Sam & Alyssa's book" - Gone Too Far. It's a few years later, we've heard from Gina & Max, and now it's Ric's turn. Only, of course, in Brockmann's world, nothing is as it seems. This is definitely NOT "Ric & Annie's book" and those readers who follow the series realize that the end of a book where characters are supposedly "main" are not usually the end of their stories - witness Sophie & Decker, for example.

This is really "Jules'" book, and I'm still not sure it's the end of that arc, either. No spoilers, but we don't know what the future will bring.

The SEALS and even the Troubleshooters are mostly entirely absent here - Sam makes only a brief appearance and Alyssa is only virtually around - and I did find that it was somewhat refreshing not to have to keep track of dozens of supporting characters in a book. On the other hand, I did miss them. Partly, I think, this is because I WANT to know how they're doing - they're old friends and I care about them. That's Brockmann's genius.

Unlikely and over the top action, sure - but that's fiction. Enjoy the writing. Ric & Annie aren't the strongest characters I've seen, but they may develop. I would bet money on it.

If you're a Brockmann reader, you're going to get this, and I bet you'll like it. If you're not, well, this isn't the place to start. It's a great book, but you'll feel that you're missing something.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Romance-packed action, September 17, 2007

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Force of Nature (Troubleshooters, Book 11) (Hardcover)

When a typically easy missing persons case drops PI Ric Alvarado and his reluctant girl Friday Annie Dugan into an undercover FBI operation, the duo is recruited by FBI team lead Jules Cassidy to help bring down the evil Burns dynasty. His undercover agent worked in the Burns mansion and disappeared without a trace, and despite the love-hate relationship he and Peggy shared, he's committed to finding her. Both daddy and junior are responsible for a multitude of sins, including smuggling terrorists into the US.

Ric and Annie have known each other for decades and he's been attracted to her, despite a small lie his best friend (her brother) told years earlier. When the two start training to be on the FBI team, Ric discovers that perhaps Annie is cut out for more than answering phones and typing. Much to Jules chagrin, his crush on closeted alcoholic actor Robin Chadwick is thrust to the forefront, as Robin is in town for a film festival that Burns is sponsoring, providing them with the perfect cover to get in. As the group schemes to crumble the Burns empire, Robin's problems with the bottle resurface and draw new attention onto their investigation.

I really liked the story, particularly the chemistry between Ric and Annie, and their bantering. I think this is her strongest romantic duo since Sam and Alyssa, as both sets of characters are pretty equal (and both women are better shots!). But I pity any couple who dare share space with Jules and Robin, as their romance tends to be overshadowed. Just as in "Hot Target," they steal the show, but as nice as it is to have Jules finally have a romance of his own, it's hard to find a redeeming quality about Robin's character, other than his physical beauty. When Jules cleaned up his vomit AGAIN (just like in "Hot Target"), I hoped he'd see the light, send Robin packing and find a more deserving life partner - maybe a new young SEAL... Unfortunately, the terrorist plot took a huge backseat to the romantic entanglements (and a heck of a lot of chatting about feelings), which was a huge miss on Brockmann's part, as well as the absence of the Troubleshooter characters, and the introduction of bit characters whose storylines fizzled out. At times it got a little preachy; overall, it was a vast improvement over her last book, "Into the Storm."

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars--loved half of it, anyway, October 11, 2007

By 

maria dante (boston ma) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Force of Nature (Troubleshooters, Book 11) (Hardcover)

First, let me say I think Brockmann is one of the very best writers of romance out there. Her characters have depth, she understands motivation, and is a really good stylist, given the genre. I just discovered her about two months ago, and I've plowed through the entire Troubleshooters series in record time. Now I'm rereading my favorites. Loved Sam, liked Alyssa (she's less developed as a character, but I love the sharpshooting angle), loved Max and Gina, Stan and Teri, Tom and Kelly. Less thrilled with Joan, from Into the Night--I thought she was pretty unlikable as a character, and the romance with Muldoon wasn't really believable. Too much attitude, not enough heart, I thought. My favorite of all the stories, I think, is Hot Target, because I loved both Jane and Cosmo to pieces and I adore Jules. I think he's humane, smart, and as confused about things as most of us are. I can tell the author has a real soft spot for him, too--not surprising given that hr beloved son is gay. I have no problem with gay characters and romances--love comes in all shapes, sizes and seasons. What I was REALLY disappointed in in this book was the hetero romance. Neither Ric nor Annie seemed real or even interesting to me. Ric's a latin hunk, Annie has a wide caboose. That's all I remember about either of them. Frankly it seems that they are only there to provide hetero "cover" of Brockmann's real interest: Jules and Robin. I suspect the Jules-Robin story was the one she really wanted to tell, and Ric-Annie were just place-holders. They were nowhere near as developed as any of her other characters,and when you take away the SEAL/Troubleshooter context, there wasn't much to interest me about their story at all. BORING. I sincerely hope she banishes them to the hinterlands of the Troubleshooters world. I am much more interested in Sophia-Decker-Dave, or maybe Gilligan or Lopez...anything but these two!
That said, a few words about Jules and Robin and her handling of the gay love affair. I love them both as characters, and I'm looking forward to their nuptials (yeah, I really don't get why people are so wiggy about gay marriage. Committed relationships make for stable societies. Ergo, more of them are good. Get over it). My only objection: why do all the gay characters have to be so gorgeous? This is a real stereotype--surely there are gay men who are average-looking. I mean, there are. I know some. I guess she's trying to hold feminine interest by describing their perfect cheekbones and ripped abs, but really, come on. One of my favorite stories was about Stan and Teri--perfect woman and homely guy who's so much more inside. Can't she do that with gay characters as well? Well, that said, I can't wait to read more about the Troubleshooters and their world. Maybe Ric and Annie can spend the next few books in "an undisclosed location," though!