The Defiant Hero by Suzanne Brockmann @SuzBrockmann @CarringtonMacD

Meg Moore is a translator for the Kazbekistan embassy in Washington, D. C. She’s a divorced mother of a 10-year old daughter Amy and her grandmother Eve is visiting from England. As she’s leaving for work she is confronted by Kazbekistani extremists, demanding that she capture and kill Osman Razeen, the leader of a terrorist group who is currently being held in the embassy. They’ve kidnapped Eve and Amy and will kill them if she doesn’t comply. Meg takes desperate actions, creates a hostage situation within the embassy and makes her own demand…she’ll only negotiate with Navy SEAL Lieutenant John (Nils) Nilsson.

This is a reread for me, my first time over ten years ago but it’s also my first on audio. I’d forgotten the explosive start, made even more dramatic by the narrator. I was just as mesmerized as I recalled from earlier, if not more. The action never lets up and it transitions from present to three years earlier when Meg and Nils first met in Kazbekistan, providing their interesting backstory. We also get Eve’s narrative as she deals with the abductors, protects Amy and reminisces about her early years right before WWII in England. An added bonus was the developing “relationship” between Navy SEAL Roger (Sam) Starrett and former Navy sharpshooter Alyssa Locke who’s now an FBI agent serving on the counterterrorism unit.

I remember my exasperation with Meg the first time around, which continued this time but for different reasons. She’s six years older than Nils and made it an issue but it didn’t resonate so loudly for me. What did bug me was her stubbornness in refusing to accept help when it was the obvious choice to make. It got tiresome. But the real delight this time was Eve’s story and presence, which was much more profound. I also loved what got started with Sam and Alyssa, the promise of what’s to come oh so enticing. Switching to audio made this an even more wonderful experience. I have the original version featuring Carrington MacDuffie who delivered a strong performance. She managed a large cast of characters extremely well, along with an assortment of accents, romance and action. I definitely enjoyed this more the second time around.

Book Info

• Release Date: October 20, 2008 (originally 2001)
  
• Series: Troubleshooters #2
• Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie
• Audio Length: 13 hours, 53 minutes
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America

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