Sudden Death [Hardcover]

Allison Brennan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 434 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Book Club Edition edition (2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607519453
• ISBN-13: 978-1607519454
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,015,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dear Reader:

Like most writers, I am an avid reader. I started light - Encyclopedia Brown, Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew - but by the time I was eleven, I'd discovered my mom's vast Agatha Christie and Ed McBain collections.

But two things happened on my way to becoming a mystery writer.

First, I discovered Stephen King.

As a thirteen-year-old book fanatic, I learned about page-turners early. I wrote Stephen King a fan letter after reading THE STAND and told him I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. He wrote back and told me: "If you want to be a writer, write." Which I took to mean, why wait until I grew up?

My problem? I never finished anything I started. As soon as I was well into the story and had figured out what was going to happen, I became bored and started a new project.

In high school, I became fascinated with true crime, and it wasn't until college that I started reading my mom's romance novels. They hadn't appealed to me as a teenager, but as a "mature" twenty-one year old, I found them entertaining.

Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, and others introduced me to contemporary novels that didn't involve murder, dismemberment, or deranged clowns living in the sewer.

Over the next decade, I built a career, married, had five kids, but never stopped reading--or writing.

I soon discovered a wonderful blend of suspense and romance with the romantic suspense novels of Tami Hoag, Kay Hooper and Lisa Gardner, and knew exactly what I wanted to write. I could take my mystery reader background, my fascination with true crime, and my desire for the happily ever after, and blend it into a romantic thriller.

I love romance because I want a happy ending. True love should win over adversity. IF the hero and heroine are worthy. They need to earn it, because nothing achieved easily is truly appreciated. But I also love intense thrills and chills because they are physical--fear causes the entire body to react, heart pounding, head thumping, hands shaking.

I'm thrilled to have a new series. LOVE ME TO DEATH started the Lucy Kincaid series. Lucy is an aspiring FBI agent with a troubled past. Readers can follow her from application to Quantico and -- hopefully -- as a Special Agent. The fourth book in the series, SILENCED, will be out on 4.24.12.

Thank you to all my readers who continuing to buy and read my books. I appreciate your feedback and enthusiasm. I will keep writing as long as you keep reading!

Happy Reading!
Allison Brennan

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New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan has published seventeen romantic thrillers, in addition to several short stories. Allison is a five-time RITA award nominee for Best Romantic Suspense, and the Daphne du Maurier winner for Best Mainstream Suspense for FEAR NO EVIL. She also has an essay on Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA in the Edgar-nominated 100 MUST READ THRILLERS.

A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in northern California with her husband Dan and their five kids. She's currently writing ... or attending her kids sporting events.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good....BUT...., July 3, 2009

By 

Southern Belle (MS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sudden Death: A Novel of Suspense (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a good read, but not for the faint of heart. I was happy Jack got a story. We have received glimpses of him in previous books - intriguing, mysterious and a complete alpha male. His persona didn't change in this book, but it didn't seem there was enough character development of this strong hero as Ms. Brennan has done with her heroes in previous books. I think if the integration of both investigations was incorporated earlier in the book there wouldn't be the feel that the relationship between Jack and Meg was so "rushed." Overall, it was a very good read, fast paced, disturbing in parts, but suspenseful with plenty of twists and turns.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This was labeled romance but there was less romance than I expected. It was ok as mystery suspense (warning: a lot of torture)., March 28, 2009

By 

Jane (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sudden Death: A Novel of Suspense (Mass Market Paperback)

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
This was labeled as romantic suspense, and the mislabeling is what bothers me the most. In my opinion, it does not have enough romance or development of a relationship to qualify for that genre. This is mostly mystery suspense with a lot of uncomfortable torture scenes. 95% of the story is about the authorities finding clues and slowly unraveling the mystery about serial killings. The small amount of romance consists of a couple meeting, working together on the case, and getting together at the end. I didn't get the feelings of anticipation or enjoyment that I normally expect from "romance" novels. Once in a while I will enjoy a straight mystery because the characters pull me in, or the dialogue is interesting, or I feel good while reading it. But this book didn't have those effects on me. I think mystery lovers will like this more than I did.

I had a minor problem with the smart good guys doing a couple of stupid or illogical things. Megan was stupid and careless toward the end which caused a major problem. Hans was angry at Megan for reasons I felt did not make sense or fit with his character.

STORY BRIEF:
Megan is a by-the-book FBI agent investigating veterans who had been tortured and killed. Jack is a former veteran and now a soldier-for-hire. He joins with Megan to find the killers after his best friend is killed (one of the victims). We learn early in the story who the killers are (Ethan and Karin) so I'm not giving anything away. Ethan was with a group of soldiers in Afghanistan. He was captured and tortured for three months by the Taliban before being rescued. He is suicidal and loaded with mental problems. Karin wants to learn torture techniques, but Ethan won't teach her. Therefore she convinces Ethan that he needs to capture and torture the veterans who were with him at the time, saying they abandoned him. She plans and helps him capture the vets, and then learns by watching Ethan stick needles into them. The main mystery is finding the killers, but a second mystery is why Karin wants to learn to torture.

DATA:
Story length: 424 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 2. Total number of sex scene pages: 12. Setting: California, Texas, Colorado and Arizona. Copyright: 2009. Genre: mystery suspense.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of her best so far...., March 27, 2009

By 

JGH "JH" (Miami, Fl.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sudden Death: A Novel of Suspense (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a huge fan of Allison Brennan but her last few books have been a little disappointing. This book was great! I couldn't put it down and read it in one night!!! The plot was exciting and I loved the characters... Finally the mysterious Jack Kincaid gets his story told. Ms. Brennan is back, I hope her next one is just as good.