Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann @SuzBrockmann @PLawlorAudio @reneeraudman @BrilliancePub

the setup…
Former Troubleshooters operative Vinh Murphy hasn’t been seen by any of his former teammates or his best friend Hannah Whitfield since his wife Angelina was murdered by a neo-Nazi group minion a few years ago. Tim Ebersole, the leader of that group called the Freedom Network, was recently murdered and now Murphy is the primary suspect. He turns to Hannah, unsure of anything he’s done during that time when he was consumed by grief and alcohol. Hannah is a former police officer who was seriously injured resulting in her being deaf. While Murphy is being hunted, they decide to work together to figure out if he has any culpability. Meanwhile, Izzy Zanella is in the middle of his own drama after rescuing his nemesis Dan Gillman’s baby sister Eden and spending one night with her. Now she’s returned and is pregnant, claiming him as the father. And there’s still more drama, this one involving operative Jimmy Nash who is secretly involved in some high risk activities, keeping his wife Tess Bailey and best friend Lawrence Decker in the dark. Yikes!

the heart of the story…
There’s no one good place to start in summarizing this story that feels like three separate books at times. It all seems to work rather wonderfully, the three plots eventually connecting explosively. In the meantime, the journey to that point was exciting as I was caught up in each drama. If I had to rank them, the Izzy-Eden-Dan soap opera had me the most riveted. It had everything…humor, heartbreak and romance…with no predictability as to where it would lead. Vinh and Hannah’s story comes next as we learn about his relationship with this woman who was more important to him than I’d ever imagined. I loved his relationship with Angelina but this one has its own magic. The details surrounding Nash’s issues were murky at best (no surprise there!) but the focus is on Decker as he investigates in his typical superior fashion and he was fascinating.

the narration…
There’s a change in the team who’s been narrating the series and I couldn’t be happier. Renée Raudman has joined Patrick Lawlor and I’ve loved her voice from the Kate Danielsseries. She has a wonderful storytelling style and it fits beautifully here, especially with so many characters to handle. She put me in my happy place and is a perfect partner for Lawlor.

the bottom line…
This is a reread for me and listening to it the second time around is an entirely different experience. There’s a LOT going on but the pace is rapid, even at 19 hours! I whipped through the book and never had a dull interlude. It’s exciting, romantic, mysterious and downright funny at times. I love multiple plot lines so it suits my nature perfectly. While Vinh and Hannah’s story reached a resolution, there’s a twist to Nash’s situation that’s still open and Izzy & Eden aren’t even close to being settled. This was great storytelling that felt fresh and new the second time around.

Book Info

• Release Date: July 22, 2008
• Series: Troubleshooters #13
• Narrators: Patrick Lawlor & Renée Raudman
• Audio Length: 19 hours, 32 minutes
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio

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