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Title: Into the Night by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0-8041-1972-4 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 26 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.7 (57 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: 4 stars, but ONLY because I grade on a curve! Otherwise 5
Comment: I started at 5:00 PM and didn't take a break to do anything but heat dinner until I finished, so yes, it's enjoyable and far better than most of what's out there. But it's not going to challenge Over the Edge and Out of Control as my favorite in the series.
I liked Muldoon in Over the Edge, and his attempts to follow the romantic advice of his buddies are pretty funny, but there didn't seem to be the depth of characterization that Brockmann gave her earlier heroes in the series. Sure, he has a problem, but I was reminded of the end of Streets of Fire, where the mechanic says to the hero, "Somehow, I don't think getting girls has exactly been your problem in life." I would have liked to see more time spent on Muldoon's problem with the Admiral's wife, or more motivation for his desire for something lasting with Joan.
I found Joan unsympathetic, but I live inside-the-Beltway. I'm also married to a younger man, so what's the big deal? Where's she been for the last decade that she's so hung up on appearances? Or is it just that she's shallow... Working at the White House is an instant mark against her, but a bigger one is that she's a PR flack. And really, how can straight-arrow Mikey be happy with a woman who lies for a living and works with, and for, completely skeevy characters like the White House PR crew?
I thought there were some textual hints in Donny's story that should have been expanded, but that was minor. Into the Fire must have been written on a tight schedule for it to reference the events of 9/11/01 and after, so that's understandable.
Mary Lou... even less sympathetic, but beautifully fleshed out as a character. It was very daring of Brockmann to have ML as a POV character, especially after revealing how racist she is, and I respect that decision, I just don't like the character. Discovering the reasons for her behavior make her consistent, but still unpleasant. The teaser for the next book was just mean (and icky).
I'm feeling really sorry for Max, BTW. I liked that the book was structured with no POV FBI character, but it was somewhat frustrating not to get an update on the continuing characters. But the update on the couples from earlier books at the "wheels up" party was fun.
Like everyone else, I'm now eager for next summer's book. Textual hints are pointing at Cosmo as a potential major character...
Rating: 3
Summary: A bit disappointing :(
Comment: Into The Night is Suzanne Brockmann's latest entry in her on(and on and on)going SEALS saga. In this story yet another of her larger than life heroes falls prey to true love while battling a terrorist cell or two along the way. While I've been following this series since its beginning I do believe I may be done waiting with breathless anticipation for the next installment which promises to wrap up character Sam Starret's love story. More on that later.
This time around Lieutenant Mike Muldoon finds love. He's a twenty-five year old sweetie-pie of a man who prefers brainy, older, unconventional looking woman and wants to be loved for more than his drop-dead gorgeous looks. Awww. When the President sends his public relations assistant, 30-ish Joan DaCosta, to scope out his team and view their maneuvers Mike is assigned as her SEAL liaison. He's instantly smitten by the smart, funny, sexy woman and pulls out all the stops to impress her. Unfortunately, Joan insists on thinking of Mike as her "younger brother by a different mother" and refuses to enter into any sort of relationship with him because she feels he's way too young and sexy for an older lady like herself. Instead she tries to set him up with the President's daughter which, of course, backfires in the worst way possible.
Though Joan is intelligent and has a wonderful sense of humor she doth protest too much when it comes to her relationship with Mike. And, as much as I enjoyed their love story I do wish more of the book had been committed to it. Sadly, Mike and Joan's relationship seemed like just another subplot to the many others crowding the book and I didn't experience the closeness to the characters that I have in the previous Brockmann SEAL books. Taking up a whole lotta space was the obligatory World War II flashbacks and the extended glimpses into Mary Lou and Sam Starret's miserable marriage.
This brings me to the ongoing tale of doomed romance between fellow SEAL Sam Starret and Alyssa. Several books back I ached for the couple who were separated just when they'd found true love. Now, I'm just sick and tired of them. In this entry Sam (who married Mary Lou when he discovered she was pregnant with his child a few books back) is transformed into a miserable husband and a neglectful father. He spends the bulk of the story doing nothing but pining away for his Alyssa instead of acting like a real man and asking Mary Lou for a divorce (which would be a blessing for her). A miraculous thing does happen here though. Mary Lou, who was previously an obnoxious, drunken lush, is now a recovering alcoholic and a loving mother who becomes a sympathetic (but still quite needy) character. She struggles to do the right thing and longs for love with a desperation that is almost heartbreaking. Mary Lou is friendless and out of a need for comfort and help battling her want for alcohol she forms a tentative friendship with a kind man of Arab descent despite her initial fear of his looks. Their friendship was genuine and interesting. Too bad I can't say the same for Sam whose appearances were tedious and unsympathetic. At this point Sam is a creep in my book and I could care less if he gets together with Alyssa in a future book.
Also going on is (what seems at this point to be) the token look back in history. Joan's grandmother Charlotte DaCosta looks back to the grief filled year she lost her husband and met a young soldier named Vince during World War II. These glimpses into the past were more of a distraction than anything and I felt jolted out of the story every time they appeared. Normally these flashbacks add richness to the current story but this time they didn't work for me and they didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the story at all.
Finally, unlike Brockmann's previous books, "Into The Night" contains a shockingly small of amount of action (I say this because her books are usually non-stop and are impossible to put down!). As a result, it took me over four weeks to get up the ambition to finish this one despite the great characterization of Mary Lou, the humor threaded throughout and the mostly enjoyable love story between Mike and Joan. In the end this book simply didn't live up to my high expectations for a book written by Suzanne Brockmann.
~ Laurie Shallah
Rating: 4
Summary: Romantic Times Review
Comment: SEAL Team 16 is preparing for a presidential visit to their home base of San Diego, CA. Lt. Mike Muldoon is assigned as the official liaison to White House staffer Joan DaCosta. Joan has the unenviable task of setting up positive press for the president's headstrong, troublesome daughter Brooke.
The minute Mike lays eyes on Joan he is attracted to her; but Joan sees him only as a handsome younger man. Under Mike's persistence, Joan finds herself weakening; however, a PR disaster with Brooke puts a large monkey wrench into the works.
Rising fears that the president's upcoming visit could increase the risk of a terrorist attack prove correct when an elaborate assassination plot is uncovered.
INTO THE NIGHT is timely, thrilling and makes for excellent reading. As with the previous books in this series, there are multiple story lines melding together to produce a complex new tale. (Dec., 480 pp., $6.99)
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Title: Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0804119708 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0804119716 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 26 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Unsung Hero by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 080411952X Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 06 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0804119538 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0345462270 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 15 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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