Let me start by saying I've really enjoyed the other books in this series, but this one was pretty bad! Where do I start? With the fact that Gina is a very immature 22 year old chasing 40-something Max? That instead of the probably intended sexy romantic devotion she comes across as scary nympho stalker chick? That she actually gets in confrontations with Max's nursing staff, when she has no apparent education or experience of her own?
The beginning of the book takes place while Max is in rehab for injuries. He repeatedly asks Gina to leave, but Stalker Gina is sure he reallyreally loves her. That he's reallyreally just protecting her. After he asks her to go, she strips, hops into his bed and they have sex, while he tries repeatedly to tell her to leave. If you reversed the roles, say a young woman in rehab asking her male friend to leave, and he did this - he'd be up on rape charges. Stalker Gina never quite gets that she's always initiating, that Max has actually proposed to another woman, that he doesn't want a relationship with her and has told her this. Nope Stalker Gina knows that Max is her guy. Whether he wants to be or not.
I don't know whether Brockman intended to write Gina as the mentally and emotionally unbalanced stalker that she is in the early part of the book, but seriously - didn't anyone edit this? I just didn't see them as a viable couple for anything other than sexual attraction.
The beginning of the book takes place while Max is in rehab for injuries. He repeatedly asks Gina to leave, but Stalker Gina is sure he reallyreally loves her. That he's reallyreally just protecting her. After he asks her to go, she strips, hops into his bed and they have sex, while he tries repeatedly to tell her to leave. If you reversed the roles, say a young woman in rehab asking her male friend to leave, and he did this - he'd be up on rape charges. Stalker Gina never quite gets that she's always initiating, that Max has actually proposed to another woman, that he doesn't want a relationship with her and has told her this. Nope Stalker Gina knows that Max is her guy. Whether he wants to be or not.
I don't know whether Brockman intended to write Gina as the mentally and emotionally unbalanced stalker that she is in the early part of the book, but seriously - didn't anyone edit this? I just didn't see them as a viable couple for anything other than sexual attraction.
Helpful Score: 2
As commander of the nation's most elite FBII counterterrorism unit, agent Max Bhagat leads by hard-driving example: pushing himself to the limit and beyond, taking no excuses, and putting absolutely nothing ahead of his work. That includes his deep feelings for Gina, the woman who won his admiration and his heart with her courage under fire. When the shocking news reaches him that Gina has been killed in a terrorist bombing, nothing can keep Max form making a full investigation--and retribution--his top priority. At the scene of the attack, Max receives an even bigger shock. Gina is very much alive--but facing a fate worse than death. Along with Molly, a fellow overseas relief worker, Gina has fallen into the hands of a killer who is bent on using both women to bait a deadly trap. His quarry? Grady Morant, aka "Jones," a notorious ex-special forces operative turned smuggler who made some very deadly enemies in the jungles of Asia and has been running ever since. But with Molly's life on the line, Jones is willing to forfeit his own to save the woman he loves. The story takes you through the hotzone of global violence and corruption. Very well written and very exciting.
Helpful Score: 2
I know this book received many great reviews. But this was a book I couldn't get into. I've read many Brockmann books but this story kept jumping back and forth between 18 months before present day, to four months before present day, then present day, then back again and forward again. The jumping time periods in the major character's lives was disconcerting. Cuts down on the forward flow and the tension that needs to be built in a book such as this about terrorists and kidnappings.
Helpful Score: 1
Good book, but some of her earlier work is better.
Helpful Score: 1
This is the 9th book in the Troubleshooters series. This is the conclusion of the Max & Gina story that started in book 3 "Over The Edge". This book also has what seems to be the conclusion of the Molly Anderson & Dave Jones (AKA-Grady Morant) story which started in book 4 "Out Of Control". There are no members of Troubleshooters Inc. or SEAL Team 16 present like previous books. FBI Agent Jules Cassidy is along for the ride and brings his wit & cheeky attitude to keep everyone going.
