Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as it could have been, October 3, 2005
When FBI hostage negotiator Max Bhagat discovers that his long-time love, Gina has been killed in a car bomb in Germany, he races to Berlin with FBI agent Jules Cassidy to identify the body and bring her home. When he discovers that it is not her, he sets a chain of events in motion to find out where she is and to finally profess his love. Max was finally successful in driving her away 17 moths earlier with his fears about their age difference, and Gina left him to join relief workers in Africa with her friend Molly (who was introduced in "Out of Control"). It appears that Gina was in Berlin to acquire a passport for Molly's husband, Grady Morant, who is an Army deserter turned former Asian drug lord's lackey.
When Jules, Grady, and Max reluctantly join forces to find the women, they are taken on a whirlwind trip all the way to Asia. But what appears to be a simple case of kidnapping leaves more questions than answers, particularly the motivations of the man who spirited the ladies away from Germany.
Missing from the story is the passion between the two couples. In previous stories, both couples burned up the pages; in this one, the romance is lukewarm at best. Also suspiciously absent from the story are members of SEAL Team 16 and the Troubleshooters, which have always been the reason to read Brockmann novels. As always, the saving grace was Jules to provide the comic relief. Unfortunately, he is absent for most of the book.
I wanted to love this book, particularly to find out how Max and Gina's love story progresses. Unfortunately, the writing was a bit clunky, mostly due to the constant jumping around in time. The plot was somewhat boring (or at least not well executed), and could have been tightened. I would have preferred a story told in chronological order, rather than the constant skipping. Once Brockmann chose the present to write about, the clunkiness subsided. As disappointing as the story was, it still held my attention, and with the time invested in the relationships already, I wanted to see them through to the end.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fell Short of Expectations, July 14, 2005
I had such high hopes for Max and Gina and waited with baited breath for "Breaking Point's" release. I actually drove to the nearest book store...30 miles from my home (and paid full hard cover price)...just to get the book on the day it was released. Does that tell you what a huge Brockmann fan I am??? Well, I have to say that I am so diappointed. While it had it's moments, the kidnapping plot was unbelieveable and never seemed to get off the ground. I know this book is supposed to center around two story lines...Max/Gina and Jones/Molly, but where are the SEALS and Troubleshooters we've come to know and love? We buy the troubleshooter books to spend a little time with our old friends and meet some new ones too. In "Breaking Point" we get a few old names thrown in the story here and there and we get Alyssa and George for two pages at the end of the book. No plotting and planning by our beloved characters like in my all time favorite "Out of Control." Where's Stan, Wildcard, and Sam for heavens sake. What, they get their book and they can't even be involved anymore??
There is no sensuality between the couples and the sex is wham, bam, thank-you mam. The story was choppy and some scenes seemed forced and could have been wrapped up by page 200 without all the useless and mundane stuff. Max seemed to become an alien...going from one extreme to another. I couldn't believe some of his lines and how he seemed to desolve into this putz by the second half of the book.
While I absolutely adore Jules, I feel that his character has become so defined by his sexual orientation that he's lost his depth. Yes, being gay is a huge part of who a person is, but gay men aren't on the make 24/7 and they don't eye every good looking male that comes along. Jules is a multi-faceted man and a great FBI Agent and his sexual orientation has been shoved in our face for the last two books. I feel Jules was so much better in the earlier books where he actually had a life and his being gay was just a part of the facinating and wonderful man he is. I hope when/if he finally gets a story all his own, it's more complex than just about his sex life!!
I was disappointed in "Hard Target" too, but I have loved Suz's books for so long that I'd hoped it was just a fluke. I guess not, because "Breaking Point" was even harder to stay focused on and the switching back and forth of the story at the beginning was mind boggling. I expected to get the book and read it until I finished...without putting it down all night long. Instead it's taken me three long days to finish, putting the book down and wondering why I was picking it back up again. For these reasons, I will probably get the next book from the library.
Suz...please don't lose the magic!
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sitting On The Fence Here!!!, September 24, 2005
I admit to sitting on the fence here for Ms. Brockmann's latest effort. I was greatly looking forward to Max and Gina's story like many of her other fans. Sadly, this story was just not as satisfying as her previous titles. I love how Ms. Brockmann manages to introduce new characters over the period of several titles while at the same time building the storyline. Max and Gina's storyline to date was compelling and not unlike a dangleing carrot for readers. Unfortunatly this read seemed rushed and not well developed. Another sad point seemed to be the editorial comments peppered through out the read.
Max has finally managed to push Gina away. Although he loves her he just can't get his mind to wrap around the age difference, nor her open way of doing things. She wants to talk, he would rather crease the sheets. So when he finally gets his wish, that she move on and get over her hero worship of him, his heart cracks when he is told that she has been killed in a bombing. Well, she hasn't been killed, but she has been kidnapped. Max along with Jules (another well-known character in these books...who is gay and sadly this time around "type casted) try to save Gina before the terroist make good their threat. Will Max be able to save Gina and admit that she it the one for him?
This story had so much potential but sadly the characters really never seemed to develope and at times seemed one-dimensional. A perfect example of this is Jules. His characterization at times was jarring. For long time fans of Ms. Brockmann I suggest coming to this story with an open mind. Everything was present here but it fell a little flat on many counts. Ms. Brockmann is still an author I would highly recommend and look forward to reading in the future. Perhaps we will get back what we didn't get this time around with Max and Gina in her next effort.
Official Reviewer for Romance Designs
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