Customer Reviews

Into the Fire (Troubleshooters Series)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Suzanne Brockmann is definitely one of the best romance writers out there. Her dialogue is snappy, her plots truly suspenseful and her characters expertly drawn. Plus, her books are very witty and laugh-out-loud funny in places. So there's no denying that on a fundamental level, ITF is a very good book that's worth reading. It's engaging, fast-paced, and full of surprises.

Like Into the Storm, Into the Fire is dark in tone. As it opens, Vinh and Hannah are both suffering and in great emotional pain. Seeing them come together and heal is very gratifying.

In fact, the theme of healing runs throughout the book, especially as it pertains to Dave, Sophia, and Decker. The flip-side of all this healing is that there's also a fair amount of suffering in the book, not much of it rectified by the end of the novel. Izzy's subplot, certainly, is just beginning and destined to follow the lead of Sam/Alyssa and Max/Gina and take many books (and thus, many years) to resolve.

And maybe that sense of having to wait is what made this book a trifle disappointing for me. I don't want to give too much away, but the Dave/Sophia/Decker triangle took a turn in this book that I suspected might occur after reading Into the Storm. Yet despite predicting what Brockmann was up to (a classic bait-and-switch whereby the couple you think is a given is not a given at all) I felt somewhat betrayed as a reader who has been waiting for the slow-moving Sophia/Decker arc to culminate in these two really hashing things out and loving each other.

And Izzy's new romance is intriguing (although I would say that some readers might be put off by the age difference), but I couldn't help but flash back to all the books that Sam/Alyssa had to suffer through before they had their happy ending. I guess for some readers and Brockmann fans, it's all about that delicious anticipation of sticking by your faves as you wait for that magical book when they FINALLY get together. As for me, I couldn't help but feel just a little bit put-out and tired of the constant waiting, only to then have the rug pulled out beneath me (and again, to be fair, this may simply be a personal reaction borne out of my frustration over where Brockmann appears to be going in the Sophia/Decker/Dave thing).

New characters are introduced in this novel (I predict the female doctor is destined to hook up with a key male character who's likely about to lose the girl) and a few former main characters have cameos, which makes the book a fun read.

Would I recommend ITF? Yes.

Am I feeling just a tad bitter about how it all played out, though? YES.

Grade: B

I have accepted that the Brockmann who gave us such classics as "Over the Edge" and "Out of Control" is gone, and this trend continues in her latest Troubleshooters book. Once again it's non-stop action, lots of injuries, and thinly drawn romance. It was, however, a very riveting book.

This review contains spoilers.

I've never been a fan of the "secretly in love with this guy but lets him marry her best friend, and wow, he's been in love with her too" story-line, so Hannah and Murphy interested me less than the secondary characters. For me those characters stole the book. Decker, Dave, Sophia, Nash, and Tess finally get a little more screen time. But let me break it to you - Sophia does not end up with Decker. Maybe Brockmann was going to go there several books ago, but she's not going there now. Which is very disappointing.

There is an explanation as to why Nash has always been such a secretive mess, and it satisfied me.

Now on to Izzy Zanella. I fell in love with Izzy in "Into the Storm", because the guy is such a freak and has such great one-liners. Kind of like the Wildcard of old. (Not the Wildcard of his own book.) But then Brockmann decided to pair him with a just-turned 18 year old who is pregnant with another man's child. Did I mention that Eden is Gillman's sister, Gillman, who hates Izzy? Oh, and Eden has the requisite awful childhood baggage, too. In one of Brockmann's favorite plot devices, they have a marriage of convenience which ends about as well as Sam's and Mary Lou's did. This storyline is not concluded in this book, since we are supposed to care about these star-crossed loves and follow their saga to the next few books.

Not for me. Not gonna happen. These two squick me out, for starters. She's 18, he's 29. They saw each other, got attracted, and that was the extent of their great connection. I don't WANT them together, I don't want to read about them so much as brushing elbows. I don't know if she thinks they are the next Gina and Max, but wow, they so are not. Eden is spunky and fiery, sure, but she's 18. And much as I love Izzy, he is not Max. I hate that she took Izzy there, just hate it. It's gross. It wouldn't work.

I'm sure in the next Troubleshooters book - or the one after that - since she loves to drag these things out - Izzy will be at the Ladybug Lounge, moping around, still wearing his wedding ring, waiting for his teeny-bopper wife to grow up. Then she'll get kidnapped by terrorists and they will rush in to save her, where they will argue while bullets fly around their heads, then hook up against a wall and decide they're in love. See, to me, this isn't romance. There's no build-up, no explaining WHY this person, just 1) Attraction 2) Hook up 3) Marriage and HEA. And in this case, I agree with Lopez; it's wrong and it won't work.

So why did Gina and Max work, but not Izzy and Eden? It's not just the age, although just-past 17 is TOO young, for me, but the situation. Max didn't take responsibility for Gina right after meeting her, he didn't marry her instantly and expect it to work. He tried to push her away, and while it got annoying, it made sense. But mostly I got a sense of the inside of their heads, and why they felt the way they did. With Izzy and Eden, I saw no reason why they liked each other beyond physical attraction. None at all. And it all happened SO fast.

It was an entertaining book, it kept my interest, but Brockmann is no longer an auto-buy for me. I loved seeing glimpses of my old favorites, and hope that she gives Lopez his own book. But I really miss the romance.

I couldn't decide how to rate this book because for about 390 pages it was SO depressing and boring and messed up I was ready to give it 1 star, but then on about page 392 the action/suspense suddenly appears! The rhythm picked up and the characters came together in one storyline. It still wasn't great, but was better than the 1st 390 pages. So I'm giving it 2 stars for pages 392 on.

I have loved Brockmann's SEALs books and troubleshooters books, but this one just didn't compare. It was depressing reading about everyone's misery, messed-up-in-the-head failures, grief that went on and on and on. I was bored with the psycho-analysis by the new character, the shrink (who I think was the dullest character in the book - no personality and a teaser about her and Decker, which was a total turn-off). She could have easily been a ghost character - like Kevin Costner in The Big Chill - where she is not really seen or heard from, but mentioned by the others.

Where was the action and suspense for the 1st 3/4 of the book? It was boring. I got tired of reading about the messed up relationships. It was a soap opera. Who's in love with whom, but can't act on it, because someone else has the same feelings or the object of their affections loves someone else, etc., etc. etc. There were happy endings for a couple of couples, but the others were left in misery. I prefer to read romances that are pleasing to read, not that bring me down.

The first part of the book was very confusing to me. It jumped around from storyline to storyline and different times. When all the characters came together near the end it was better, but there were so many characters up front and center I had a hard time keeping them straight - who was a SEAL, who was an agent, who worked for Troubleshooters, who was friends with whom, who knew whom, etc. (and I had read all the previous books).

Like I said, the 2 stars are for the action and resolution for a couple of the characters at the end. It kept me reading to the end. It was the previous 390 or so pages that was a mess. Another reviewer wondered who actually wrote this book and I did wonder that it was so unlike Brockmann's other stellar books. Even Jules Cassidy seemed like he had a different 'voice'. He was flat and just there, which I thought was unusual for his character. But, there were SO many other characters floating about, maybe there wasn't room for his character to really show up in this one.

Unfortunately, because of the soap opera tendencies of this book, I am hooked in to finding out what will happen with Izzy & Eden, Decker, Sophia & Dave. Though, I have lost interest in Decker. I used to want to read his and Sophia's story, but no longer. It has been dragged out too long and he has lost me.

I would only recommend this book to keep up with Izzy, as his story will surely continue. He's an interesting character who hopefully won't be dragged along for several books like Decker.

I have read all of Ms. Brockmann's books to date and this has to be my least favorite of them ever.

I am used to her multiple storylines and can follow two ongoing stories but in this case there were 4 which was too many to many for me to keep up with in one book.

None of the major characters: Murphy and Hannah, Eden or Izzy captured my attention, the most compeling story line was with Nash and Tess, who has already had a book (liked that one) but still. The Decker, Sophia and Dave storyline nosedived into really dissapointing territory for anyone who has been wanting Decker and Sophia to get a HEA, that no longer looks likely.

A 5 book story arc is too much for me and then yanking your readers back and saying no, not going there anymore. I was highly irritated. This may or may not be my last Brockmann book - I was that disgusted, but for sure this author is no longer an automatic purchase for me.

Wisecracking SEAL Izzy Zanella is settling down for a drink at his favorite watering hole when an underage gal pops in and he feels an instant attraction. When he learns she's not only a fellow SEAL's sister but also 17 with nowhere to go, rather than say tah tah, he invites her to his place, where despite all the best intentions, the two become intimate. When she turns up pregnant with another man's baby six months later naming Izzy as the baby daddy, his friend Gillman is out for blood. Izzy takes responsibility for Eden because he fears she'll be further traumatized by her cruel stepfather. A shotgun marriage between two people who barely know each other (but thanks to lots of introspection, really like each other) will take the former ladies man off the market.

For the last four years, Vinh Murphy has mourned the senseless murder of his wife (see "Hot target"). As he medicates himself in copious amounts of alcohol and plots revenge on the Freedom Network militia leader responsible for her death, he manages to experience black outs. He seeks solace in the arms (and bed) of his best friend Hannah, a former cop who had to retire due to an accident which caused deafness. When they discover that the leader has been murdered and Vinh is wanted for questioning, the two go on the run to try to determine whether or not Vinh is guilty of murdering his nemesis. As an assortment of SEALs and Troubleshooters work to bring in Murph, who went AWOL from the group after his wife's death, there's plenty of downtime to discuss at length who likes who and why so and so is so distant.

This book is all over the place and there is just way too much going on. I don't think that either romance (Hannah and Murph; Izzy and Eden) were fully developed, and I hate the plot device of the best friend who stands aside while letting her best friend marry the guy she loves (or noble guys who stand by and to marry a woman pregnant with someone else's kid). It's just too trite. Hannah was an intriguing character, but had me wondering why she'd wait around for an idiot like Murph. Izzy and Eden were only a bit more interesting. While her age did not creep me out (until Izzy thought she looked like she was 12 when she removed her make up and still wanted to jump her pregnant bones), I think that despite a 12 year age gap, the two are intellectually the same age. Both romances are completely overshadowed by the Decker/Sophia/Dave triangle which has gone on far toooooo looooong, and the new angle Brockmann is exploring with Nash and Tess (which I actually liked).

Murph was a throwaway character and I never really cared if he showed up in another book; I also didn't really care for the character of Izzy initially, but he's grown on me. I thought he was annoying, particularly his constant breaking into song. No - actually it's the constant breaking into songs that someone his age would probably not know the words to. Is it just me, or does he sings songs from oh, I don't know, Brockmann's youth? Not a single current song (until the end when he sang Eden's fave song by Maroon 5). It just doesn't ring true to me. At least he has not sung "Hooked on a Feeling" yet - that would really gross me out since it is Jules and Robin's song.

And speaking of Jules, where the heck was he? Yeah he was "in" the storyline, but instead of the witty and engaging presence we are used to, we get Joe Friday meets the Stepford Husband. Where were the "sweeties" he's so known for using with his colleagues? This was not the Jules those of us who have grown with the SEAL 16/Troubleshooter series are used to - literally Brockmann could have inserted any name in there as head of the case. It seems like once they get their HEA, the characters are no longer in... character. They become neutered and interchangeable. She did the same thing with Max. He was unrecognizable after "Breaking Point."

While I liked "Into the Fire" more than "Storm," Brockmann is still off my auto-buy list and has become a definite library loan. Her books continue to travel a downward spiral in quality. It seems like once she went hardbound, she really stopped caring about developing and maintaining her characters. Her writing has gotten so pedestrian and childish. While I can appreciate that she likes to provide introspection into her characters to give them depth, come on, enough is enough. She also makes up all kinds of stupid words - it's like she's trying to relate to the younger folks and failing miserably. And there is always way too much going on. She needs to limit her storylines to two instead of the four+ she has going here. It is confusing (especially how it jumps around) and just not developed like her earlier novels. And I wish she'd end some of these freaking arcs already!! But despite the criticism and the lack of direction of late, she has created characters that I really care about and want to know what happens in their lives.

© Tracy Vest, September 2008

I love this series so much and was eagerly anticipating this installment. I was left disappointed. Just like book 12, the "main" characters had a boring story and the secondary characters were much more interesting. There were WAY too many stories to track. It felt like none of them got nearly enough attention or detail. I like Izzy, but seriously--a just-turned-18, pregnant girl he meets in a bar then marries? Decker is an idiot, and I'm hoping he falls off the plant and Sophia ends up with Dave. Gillman is a jerk, so naturally the next book will be about him. Finally, WHERE was Jules Cassidy? My favorite character in the entire series had absolutely no recognizable dialogue and barely made it into the book. I know this is a series, but we're left with too many cliffhangers, not enough resolution, and far too long to wait between books.

I fell in love with Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters right off the bat with The Unsung Hero (Troubleshooters, Book 1) and enjoyed reading about each new couple (or two) introduced in the subsequent books of the series up to and including Hot Target (Troubleshooters, Book 8). Since then, unfortunately, the proverbial wheels appear to have fallen off of this well-oiled machine.

With her latest effort, "Into the Fire", SB once again fails to focus on developing the relationship between the main romantic leads and chooses to leave not just one but three relationships "to be continued". I may have gotten into Hannah and Murphy's story had SB not so often shifted away from it to the myriad story lines she had going on in this book. It surprises me that SB's plotting has become so scatterbrained, considering that in the first three or four book of the series she was able to almost seamlessly weave her patented WWII-flashback, secondary romances into the main plot. She abandoned this plot device in Flashpoint (Troubleshooters, Book 7) and also in "Hot Target", both successfully, I might add, so it's not like SB needed the flashback crutch at all.

Going back to "Into The Fire", at this point it's clear (to me, at least) that SB is using the Decker/Sophia/Dave and Nash/Tess situations to string us along through the next couple of books in the series. Some may say that she did this with Alyssa and Sam back in the early books of the series, but I would disagree. In those books, the main and secondary romantic couples were the primary focus, well-developed, and got their due HEAs (happily ever afters), while Alyssa and Sam's relationship chugged along at a snail's pace, but was always firmly in the background such that you would've enjoyed the books even if their "sections" had been excluded.

In "Into the Fire", however, SB appears to be focused on maintaining not just one ongoing, longer-term, romantic arc, but three, which leaves hardly any time to devote to the main romantic couple. I found myself literally flipping through the "main" plot and reading only the Decker/Sophia/Dave and Nash/Tess sections, when it should be the other way around. However, I actually really like where SB is going with both of these situations and hope that her next book is devoted primarily to them and their resolution, with Izzy/Tracy serving as the ongoing, background romantic arc.

I have always loved Suzanne Brockmann's book buts I can't recommend this one. What a mishmash of characters and plots - and those plots sag and drag almost until the bitter end when the action finally picks up. At that point, you barely care who makes it out alive. Wait for it to come out in paperback - better yet save your money and borrow it from the library.

I became hooked on this author with Over the Edge and Gone Too Far. I just had to start at the beginning and go back to The Unsung Hero and The Defiant Hero. I even reread Over the Edge (I seldom read books twice) and then went on to Out of Control and Into the Night. I was back to Gone Too Far and read it again too, enjoying even more the second time. The characters drawn in these books were awesome and the way Brockmann intertwined the World War II stories was something else.

Then came Flashpoint and Hot Target. It was like she ran out of stories with Navy Seals and had to find more characters, so she created Troubleshooters, Inc., and added a new cast. I adapted, but they were no where as good in my opinion.

We then entered the Jules phase. I love the character of Jules, don't get me wrong, but I did tire of him and Robin. Their story went on book after book. Let's face it, they are not Sam and Alyssa, who deserved to be there for several books. (and who I wish could get a storyline and continue on) Her books to me at this point became more of political forum for gay rights as opposed to a romantic suspense story of any kind.

Now, we've come to book number 13, and between the Navy Seals, the FBI and Troubleshooters, I am having trouble keeping up with everyone, and who belongs to who, who should be with who, and why we should care. Sophia and Decker lost me several books ago. I vaguely remembered Vinh Murphy, but for the life of me could not remember if I was supposed to know who Hannah was.

I really like Izzy, but I have to agree with most of the reviews I've read here, his relationship with Eden was just a bit on the "icky" side. Though still a college student, Gina was at least an adult woman when she fell in love with Max, and the circumstances Brockmann created for them made her love for him seem realistic, and it wasn't like they just looked at each other in one book and fell into bed like Izzy and Eden did. The pains Brockmann went to for the sex to happen after midnight so Eden would be eighteen was just plain stupid.

And, finally, the cameo appearances of our previous heroes at the end did not do it for me at all. When she had them all come to Jules and Robin's wedding, at least she gave us an update on their lives.

Please, Ms. Brockmann, bring back the Seals of old that we love. Surely Tom and Kelly, Sam and Alyssa, Sam and Terri and the gang have had an adventure or two since their book. Cut down the cast and focus on the depth of your characters again like you used to do. Give us their history, and show us the qualities that makes us care about them.

I did enjoy the story. (I listened to the audiobook version.) However, I enjoyed all of the sideline stories much more than the main story of Hannah and Murphy. Izzy and Eden were a much more compelling and interesting couple. Much like in the last book where Jules and Robin were more interesting than the main couple. I really hope we see Izzy and Eden again, but back to the review. The story is very mobile, both the characters and the plot are all over the place. There are about 3 story lines, maybe more--and it could never be considered a stand-alone novel, because if you haven't followed the series you will be ridiculously lost with the incredible amount of characters. I really didn't get interested in Hannah and Murphy until the last quarter of the book. One thing I missed is the SEALS. There hasn't been a lot of SEAL action in the last few books, and that was what hooked most of us in the first place. And I don't just mean the actual SEALS themselves, but their missions and such, and the action that follows. This book just didn't bring it the way former Team 16 books have. However, it was an enjoyable read, provided you are familiar with the series.