Title: Into the Night
Author: Suzanne Brockmann
Publishing Date: December 2002
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: C
Sensuality: Warm
Into the Night is book 5 of the Troubleshooter Series. Mike Muldoon, with a face like an angel and a body of a warrior, is Joan DaCosta’s SEAL liaison for a presidential visit. Joan, who is a White House staffer, is seven years his senior and quite hung up on that fact, even though it doesn’t seem to bother Muldoon. Mike wants to impress Joan and see if he can take their relationship past the “friend” level. This is a challenge for Mike because he has never had to pursue a woman before. Usually they, proposition him and he says either “yes” or “no”.
I am having a really hard time rating this one. I am not sure how I feel about it. The first four books in this series are really top notch. They are excellent stories with compelling characters that are so hard to put down once you’ve started reading them. This book, on the other hand was difficult for me to get into. I was more than halfway through the book before I really felt enticed to finish reading it. Part of the problem for me was that I don’t particularly care for stories where the heroine is older than the hero. Call me old fashioned, but I get hung up on that. It’s silly. Yes, I know.
Another reason is that the side stories were not all that interesting and dragged a bit. Mary Lou Starrett, Sam’s wife, has a large roll as a secondary character. I have mixed feelings about this part of the book. Her story is very depressing, and has no true closure at the end. That was very frustrating for me, but I did like her growth as a person. I went from not liking her at all, to feeling sorry for her, to wanting her to get her “happy ever after” too.
Also, we don’t really get much background on Joan or Mike. A lot of time is spent focusing on their hang-ups (mainly the age difference). It is not until the last quarter of the story that we start to get a glimpse of Mike’s background. There were some issues with Joan’s family (mainly her father) that were only scratched on the surface. I would have liked for there to have been more about their backgrounds.
Even with all these problems, Brockmann is still a top notch writer and I still can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I do hope it’s a little better than this one.
3 comments:
Hi Jill, I love your blog! Great review. I don't like the older woman thing either. Brockmann is my favorite author bar none. Sometimes however, I don't like her heroines. I really couldn't stand Meg from Defiant Hero. She is my least favorite. As for Joan, I couldn't stand either. Mike is so charming and wonderful. How could he fall for someone who calls him "junior" (isn't that what she called him?)? And the scene with the mirror----holy moly that was good!
Anyway, as the series went on I really appreciated this book. After reading Gone too Far, Flashpoint and Breaking Point--then going back and reading the whole series over, I grew to really like this book so much more the second time around. So much happens in this book that is the genesis of the books to follow. With Tom and Kelly, Sam and Alyssa, Gina and even Sam's neighbor who sees the aliens....
Keep reading you won't be sorry!
Nikki,
I just LOVE Brockmann! She is great, but this book was such a let down for me. I wanted more of the magic from her other books. I am so glad to hear that there is more to this story. By the way, didn't you just love how Mike proposed to Joan? I must say that is the most unforgetable proposal I have ever heard!
I forgot about "alien man" and that we were left hanging, as we were with Mary Lou, but I figured that it will conclude with Sam's story (which I can't wait to get started on).
I am glad you like my site. Nice to know that I am not just talking to myself :)
Oh yeah!! Mike tells Joan what to do and what to say! Oh yeah, what a man!!!
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