Customer Reviews

Into the Night (Troubleshooters, Book 5)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I wish there was a 4.5 star choice.

I own all of the Troubleshooters and most of the Tall, Dark and Dangerous series and consider myself to be a die hard fan of either of Brockmann's SEAL novels. I impatiently looked forward to her new book INTO THE NIGHT, especially because I really loved Mike Muldoon as an ancillary character in her other Troubleshooters books.

As with all Troubleshooters books, there are several stories running concurrently which eventually intertwine. INTO THE NIGHT is no exception. The WWII story is lovely and well told, and I also really enjoyed getting to know Mary Lou Starett who I really didn't like prior to this book. Brockmann does a great job of creating a sympathetic character who you find yourself identifying with. Her humaness is what makes her so compelling. It also shows a new side of Sam Starett, who is my all time favorite SEAL character the author has written, and not all of that side is pleasant. Also fun is getting to see what our favorite past heroines are up to and how they deal with their husbands' scary jobs.

The primary love story, between Mike and Joan DeCosta is well written, but not as dynamic as her other stories. The build up of sexual tension is not up to Brockmann's usual par and when the two finally get together, it's almost anticlimactic, although the scene itself is unbelievably steamy.

I found myself rooting for the secondary characters more than the primary characters and have to admit to being a bit disappointed in not getting to see more interaction between Sam and Alyssa Locke, but I guess that the author is just whetting our appetites for her next outing GONE TOO FAR.

I would definitely recommend this book, however if I were recommending a Troubleshooters book to someone new to Suzanne Brockmann, I'd choose OUT OF CONTROL or THE UNSUNG HERO, which I think are even better than this novel.

I rushed out to purchase this book ASAP. I began reading at 5:00pm, stopped at 1:00am, (Thanksgiving Eve, I had to have some sleep)and began again at 8:00am and was finished by 9:30. It was great, of course. It's Suzanne Brockman, how could it not be?! I felt like I was checking up on old friends. I thought Mike and Joan were great together. Although their relationship was kind of slow to heat up, but once it finally did... I loved the way he proved his point in the bar and the scene in the truck... I know the windows had to be completly steamed! Then there was Mary Lou. I kept thinking, "No, I don't want to like her. I don't want to feel sorry for her! She broke up Sam and Alyssa." Now, of course I want Marry Lou to find happiness, too. There is a sneak peak at the next book from Ms. Brockman, which is supposed to be Sam and Alyssa's story. It left me hanging by my finger tips and now I have to wait until July! But, I know that once agian, it will be wonderful and worth the wait! I miss these guys already. I may have to pull out my old books and start from the beginning.

First, I have to say that I pretty much was convinced by the end that this was a book about Sam, Alyssa and Mary Lou with the story of Jane and Mike just a substory. It certainly felt that way with Mary Lou getting more attention and action than Joan or Mike ever got!

The thing I love about Suzanne Brockmann books is that they are always filled with action and have beautifully interwoven plots. Unfortunatley, her latest effort fell far below par. There was no action until the very very end, and even that was rather dull. The "bad guy" was easy to guess from the begining, and for the first time ever I found myself considerably bored with the WWII substory.

In previous books the WWII story was interesting and it actually moved the main plot along. Here, Brockmann seemed to have written it simply because she's done one in all her other troubshooter novels.

Overall, I was really dissapointed because I expected more; however, dissapointed with Brockmann is better than other authors' best works, so I suppose I recomend you read this some day. It's just not one that will keep you up late. If you haven't yet read a book by Brockmann, go pick up Out of Control instead!

Into The Night is Suzanne Brockmann's latest entry in her on(and on and on)going SEALS saga. In this story yet another of her larger than life heroes falls prey to true love while battling a terrorist cell or two along the way. While I've been following this series since its beginning I do believe I may be done waiting with breathless anticipation for the next installment which promises to wrap up character Sam Starret's love story. More on that later.

This time around Lieutenant Mike Muldoon finds love. He's a twenty-five year old sweetie-pie of a man who prefers brainy, older, unconventional looking woman and wants to be loved for more than his drop-dead gorgeous looks. Awww. When the President sends his public relations assistant, 30-ish Joan DaCosta, to scope out his team and view their maneuvers Mike is assigned as her SEAL liaison. He's instantly smitten by the smart, funny, sexy woman and pulls out all the stops to impress her. Unfortunately, Joan insists on thinking of Mike as her "younger brother by a different mother" and refuses to enter into any sort of relationship with him because she feels he's way too young and sexy for an older lady like herself. Instead she tries to set him up with the President's daughter which, of course, backfires in the worst way possible.

Though Joan is intelligent and has a wonderful sense of humor she doth protest too much when it comes to her relationship with Mike. And, as much as I enjoyed their love story I do wish more of the book had been committed to it. Sadly, Mike and Joan's relationship seemed like just another subplot to the many others crowding the book and I didn't experience the closeness to the characters that I have in the previous Brockmann SEAL books. Taking up a whole lotta space was the obligatory World War II flashbacks and the extended glimpses into Mary Lou and Sam Starret's miserable marriage.

This brings me to the ongoing tale of doomed romance between fellow SEAL Sam Starret and Alyssa. Several books back I ached for the couple who were separated just when they'd found true love. Now, I'm just sick and tired of them. In this entry Sam (who married Mary Lou when he discovered she was pregnant with his child a few books back) is transformed into a miserable husband and a neglectful father. He spends the bulk of the story doing nothing but pining away for his Alyssa instead of acting like a real man and asking Mary Lou for a divorce (which would be a blessing for her). A miraculous thing does happen here though. Mary Lou, who was previously an obnoxious, drunken lush, is now a recovering alcoholic and a loving mother who becomes a sympathetic (but still quite needy) character. She struggles to do the right thing and longs for love with a desperation that is almost heartbreaking. Mary Lou is friendless and out of a need for comfort and help battling her want for alcohol she forms a tentative friendship with a kind man of Arab descent despite her initial fear of his looks. Their friendship was genuine and interesting. Too bad I can't say the same for Sam whose appearances were tedious and unsympathetic. At this point Sam is a creep in my book and I could care less if he gets together with Alyssa in a future book.

Also going on is (what seems at this point to be) the token look back in history. Joan's grandmother Charlotte DaCosta looks back to the grief filled year she lost her husband and met a young soldier named Vince during World War II. These glimpses into the past were more of a distraction than anything and I felt jolted out of the story every time they appeared. Normally these flashbacks add richness to the current story but this time they didn't work for me and they didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the story at all.

Finally, unlike Brockmann's previous books, "Into The Night" contains a shockingly small of amount of action (I say this because her books are usually non-stop and are impossible to put down!). As a result, it took me over four weeks to get up the ambition to finish this one despite the great characterization of Mary Lou, the humor threaded throughout and the mostly enjoyable love story between Mike and Joan. In the end this book simply didn't live up to my high expectations for a book written by Suzanne Brockmann.

~ Laurie Shallah

I am a HUGE Suzanne Brockmann fan. I have every book she's written (save for one that I *sigh* can't find) but this book was a little on the lack-luster side. Typically, I buy her books and have them read by the end of the night. This one, I let sit for a few days. Once I sat down to read it, I did do it in one sitting, but not with the same fire as I did with her other books.
Mike and Joan were a very good couple. I really liked Joan's character. She was witty, strong and not a rail, but I felt like something was missing. Or more to the point....this story was a set-up for Sam, Alyssa and Mary Lou's story. I am not a fan of the WWII sub-plots and this one really did have me skipping over it and since it really wasn't an integral part of the story, I didn't feel I missed much by skipping these pages.
While I am def. waiting for Sam and Alyssa's story, I am ready for Suz to move on. Her single title "Heart Throb" was an excellent single title and while I LOVE the SEALs, I am ready for soemthing else. I am still looking forward to Wes' story in the TD&D series and my first love is the alpha squad, but I'm ready for Suz to expand her focus.
I def. recommend this book. It's by Suz! LOL, but don't let this be your first Suz book....

I HATED this book. I had so many problems with it, I'm not sure where to start. First off, I didn't care for Joan. She really got on my nerves with all the "He's so freakin' young" comments (he's 26, she's 32). It's only a six year difference! Geez. It's not like he's 16 and she's 22. Also, I have a big problem believing that they could make their relationship work when they've only known each other a short time, and they will not be living together. I'm sorry, but seeing each other "whenever we can" does not make a solid relationship. I'm supposed to believe that with today's divorce rate this will work? Don't think so. Yes, I know it's fiction, but it is a romance and it is supposed to be believable.
In regards to Sam and Alyssa, I'm glad that Alyssa has a new relationship. Max seems like a nice guy and he treats her well, which she deserves. I don't even think the Sam character is likeable. I understand that he doesn't like his wife, but he does have a daughter at home, and he tries to stay away as much as possible? Good father material. I'm supposed to root for this guy? I also thought he was a jerk when he rolled his eyes at Donny (I also thought it was convenient he lived next door to Sam), who has a MENTAL ILLNESS. His character is just so insensitive that I think Ms. Brockmann will have to do quite a bit to make me feel sympathetic for him in his story. Hopefully she can accomplish this. I was really disappointed in this book, although I did like the Mike Muldoon character.

Wow, this book has more boring page fillers than any other book that I've ever read.

The main storyline is about Seal Team 16 member Mike Muldoon and Joan DaCosta who works at the White House. Mike and Joan are thrown together when the President decides to present an award to the team at their base in San Diego. Mike is assigned to Joan as her liaison while she scopes out the base for the President's visit. Unfortunately, the the Seal Team commander is not happy about this high profile visit due to possible terrorist threats. Of course, Joan and Mike are instantly attracted to each other, but Joan has a problem with their age difference. Mike is 25 years old and Joan is 32. Mike pursues her and is basically rebuffed due to Joan's insecurity.

The reason I call this book a soap opera in my title is due to the fact that there are so many characters and storylines going on at once. There is Joan and Mike. The love/hate quadrangle of Sam, Alyssa, Max, and Mary Lou. Mary Lou and Ihbraham. Charlotte and Vince. Last, but not least, Donny who has a severe mental illness and the brother of Joan.

Whew! There is just too much going on and these storylines do not connect fluidly with each other. I'm reading about Joan and Mike one minute and the next thing I know I'm reading about someone completely different. Each storyline comes to a jarring halt every few pages. I found the WWII storyline completely superfluous. I was very irritated much of the time while reading this book.

I assumed that this book was a Suspense/Romance story, but it lacked suspense and the romance just dragged on and on between the main characters for strange and unbelievable reasons.

I will try one of SB's other books as I have read some of the reviews for "Out of Control" and "Over the Edge" and these books sound promising.

Moreover, from the reviews that I have read, Sam and Alyssa seem to appear in SB's other books and I did read the preview pages for Sam's story at the end of the book. From the pages that I read, Sam's book also seems promising. I just hope that SB does not add unnecessary characters and storylines so that it seems like a thick hardcover book. The editors should realize that the reader looks for a satisfying read and not necessarily a long read to feel that we got our money's worth.

I wouldn't believe it if someone had told me, oh three books ago in this series, that I would be saying "thank goodness for Mary Lou." But while reading this book, that was totally my feeling.

So far, I think this is the weakest of Suzanne Brockmann's very fabulous Navy Seal Team 16 series.

First, I hated Joan. I am sorry, she just did not resonate with me. She was too everything. Too slick, too loud, too sarcastic, too mouthy etc.

Second, I didn't think she and Mike had any chemistry whatsoever. So far we've had some excellent matches whose chemistry just leapt off the pages (Teri/Stan, Tom/Kelly, Nils/Meg and of course Sam/Alyssa) but this one just wasn't working. I kept wondering why he liked her so much. It totally took me out of the story.

Third, the flashback storyline wasn't even interesting at all.

But this book isn't a complete wash and that is all due to what I like to call the Redemption of a Former Seal Groupie named Mary Lou. If you are a die-hard Sam/Alyssa fan, as I am, then Mary Lou is on par with Voldemort in the Harry Potter books. She got knocked up on purpose to grab Sam just as he and Alyssa were finally, finally! getting it together. She has problems with interracial romance, she's a whiner and full of self pity. In short, she was a useless individual and nothing more than a roadblock to Sam and Alyssa's true love. But in this book SB delves under the skin of Mary Lou and we find a flawed, three dimensional character.

Mary Lou does what is necessary to make a good character. She grows. She knows her faults, she's not apologetic but she tries. She soul searches and she finally comes to the realization that you can't make someone love you. I actually went from actively despising this character to liking her. Her struggles and the subplot of the assasination attempt were what made this book even remotely readable.

Read the Mary Lou/assasination plot parts, ignore the rest.

I started at 5:00 PM and didn't take a break to do anything but heat dinner until I finished, so yes, it's enjoyable and far better than most of what's out there. But it's not going to challenge Over the Edge and Out of Control as my favorite in the series.

I liked Muldoon in Over the Edge, and his attempts to follow the romantic advice of his buddies are pretty funny, but there didn't seem to be the depth of characterization that Brockmann gave her earlier heroes in the series. Sure, he has a problem, but I was reminded of the end of Streets of Fire, where the mechanic says to the hero, "Somehow, I don't think getting girls has exactly been your problem in life." I would have liked to see more time spent on Muldoon's problem with the Admiral's wife, or more motivation for his desire for something lasting with Joan.

I found Joan unsympathetic, but I live inside-the-Beltway. I'm also married to a younger man, so what's the big deal? Where's she been for the last decade that she's so hung up on appearances? Or is it just that she's shallow... Working at the White House is an instant mark against her, but a bigger one is that she's a PR flack. And really, how can straight-arrow Mikey be happy with a woman who lies for a living and works with, and for, completely skeevy characters like the White House PR crew?

I thought there were some textual hints in Donny's story that should have been expanded, but that was minor. Into the Fire must have been written on a tight schedule for it to reference the events of 9/11/01 and after, so that's understandable.

Mary Lou... even less sympathetic, but beautifully fleshed out as a character. It was very daring of Brockmann to have ML as a POV character, especially after revealing how racist she is, and I respect that decision, I just don't like the character. Discovering the reasons for her behavior make her consistent, but still unpleasant. The teaser for the next book was just mean (and icky).

I'm feeling really sorry for Max, BTW. I liked that the book was structured with no POV FBI character, but it was somewhat frustrating not to get an update on the continuing characters. But the update on the couples from earlier books at the "wheels up" party was fun.

Like everyone else, I'm now eager for next summer's book. Textual hints are pointing at Cosmo as a potential major character...

I would give her other books 4-5 stars, but not this one. As with many of the other reviewers I have also read all of Ms. Brockmann's books and this one was a real bummer. Characters and plot were slow moving,(although at the end of the book we find out why). I found myself looking at how few pages were left and thinking, "A heck of a lot needs to be wrapped up here." This book is just the begining of the rest of the story, which comes out in July 2003. The teaser pages at the end of Into the Night have me eagerly anticipating what awaits the main character from a previous Brockmann book. If you are already a fan of Suzanne Brockmann you will read the book anyway, if you are new to her try Out of Control or any of her others first.