Customer Reviews

Sudden Death

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Allison Brennan is a terrific writer. She never fails to deliver in her romance/ mysteries. She is very proflic, but leaves you wanting more at the end of each book. Her books are not blood and guts gory, but give you enough detail to make sense of the story line.

I really liked this book and found it difficult to put down. I loved Jack and Megan and it didn't feel like a forced connection that you sometimes get with romantic/suspense novels. The attraction seemed real and intense. I do have a few hang ups though. This story is slightly disturbing so be forewarned. There are some torture scenes and they got to me a couple times. I had to put the book down and come back to it after a few hours. The other thing I didn't much care for was that it was mid way through the book before Jack and Megan even meet! I like my romance to start early and be intense. Now how they met was great, I loved it! But I wish it could have happened a bit sooner. Overall I really did enjoy this book, and love Allison Brennan!!

Sudden Death was my first Allison Brennan book and I really enjoyed it. I generally don't go for romantic suspense, but the emphasis in Sudden Death was on the suspense with just the right amount of romance sprinkled in. FBI agent, Megan Elliot, finds herself assigned to a serial killer case. The common thread in all the murders appears to be the victims' military service. As Megan heads down that path, she encounters Jack Kincaid, a former Delta Force soldier hiring himself out for rescue missions, whose close friend was one of the victims. The unlikely pair of Jack and Megan join together to track the killer and in the process fall in love. The general storyline reminds me of Iris Johansen novels. I will read Allison Brennan again.

I generally love Allison Brennan and while her books are never heavy on the romance, this book held almost no romance. For at least the first 1/3 of the book Jack and Megan don't even have any interactions with each other. When they finally meet it's instant attraction and jumping into headlong into a full blown relationship. I don't have a problem with that sort of quick falling in love, but in this book it seemed like an after thought thrown in there with little development. Even after Jack and Megan meeting and instantly fall in love there isn't enough interactions between the 2 to really draw me into the story.

As a straight novel of suspense, it was good. I gave it 3 stars for a few reasons though:

1. I really was expecting more romance if this was going to be marketed as a romantic suspense

2. The extensive, graphic attention devoted to the torture of the victims and the sexual pleasure the killers get from the torture was disturbing. I don't mind some torture scenes but Brennan described in great detail multiple torture scenes to the point where it finally made me uncomfortable and I started skipping the scenes devoted to the killers.

3. I understand that giving insight into the killers is a great device when telling a good mystery/suspense novel but I felt she gave too much attention to the killers. Some of the scenes felt repetitive and too detailed. Maybe I feel that way because I don't normally read strict suspense novels, but I would have liked it more if there were less pages on the killers and more on the development of Jack and Megan's relationship.

4. The conflict between Hans and Megan seemed forced and could have been developed better I think.

If you go into this novel understanding you're not getting much romance and that there's graphic, at times disturbing scenes of torture, then you'll probably like this book more than I did. I just really wasn't prepared for what I got in this book.

Enjoyed reading about the Kincaid family again. The suspense/mystery was great as well. The book could have used some more romance. It almost felt like that author knew she needed a romance and stuck it in there. The ending (meaning the relationship between Megan and Jack) was rushed. Again, the romance portion of the book is what held me back with that 5th star. If the author would have added a bit more romance, I would have totally given it 5 stars. Everything else was great!

I absolutely adore Allison Brennan's books. Although I have not read one if a very long time, they were always page turners, suspenseful, and I could never put the books down. I enjoyed her way of having the books suspenseful mysteries, with a little romance thrown in with the hero in the book, whether it was the cop, detective, or other hero in the book. Some of her books spooked me out a little, and I can only describe it as me making sure my back was against the wall, and that I could see every inch of the room I was in. Great books, great reads, great author, really recommend!

Book arrived quickly, a real steal for the money! Great reading! I love Allison Brennan books! Thumbs up!