FORCE OF NATURE

Author: Suzanne Brockmann ISBN: 0345480163 8/2007 SUSPENSE Publisher: BALLANTINE

Florida private investigator and ex-cop Ric Alvarado’s life is spiraling out of control. His beautiful new girl Friday, Annie Dugan, is far more interested in fieldwork than filing, and despite Ric’s best efforts to ignore the attraction, sparks are flying between them. Then one of Ric’s clients turns femme fatale and tries to gun down an innocent man. Thanks to quick thinking and even quicker reflexes, Ric comes to the rescue, only to learn he’s done a very good deed for some very bad people. Suddenly Ric finds himself deep undercover with Annie, working for notorious crime boss Gordon Burns. One mistake from Ric’s painfully inexperienced partner and they’re both dead. FBI agent Jules Cassidy’s life isn’t in much better shape. For years the FBI has been trying to prove Gordon Burns’s ties to terrorist activity. Now, thanks to Ric and Annie, Jules has found a way into the lion’s den. But in the course of his investigation he comes face-to-face with Robin Chadwick, the charismatic but self-destructive and closeted movie star for whom Jules feels a powerful attraction. Robin’s in town promoting his latest film—and Gordon Burns is a star-struck movie buff. With Robin and Jules’s help, Ric and Annie are soon entrenched in Burns’s organization, surrounded by killers who may already have executed an FBI infiltrator. Before long the couple realizes that many more lives besides their own will be at stake if they make a false move. As the heat between them reaches dangerous levels, so do the risks they’re willing to take—in the line of duty, for the sake of loyalty, and in the name of something that runs even deeper.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

FORCE OF NATURE is one of Suzanne Brockmann's best. This story combines four main characters which usually irritates me as I feel like the second story is taking away from the first. This is not the case with FORCE OF NATURE. Both of the couples are so compelling, I never felt like skipping over anything to get back to the 'main' story.

Ric and Annie have known each other since they were children. Ric was friends with Annie's older brother, Bruce, and as the kids got older, Bruce made sure Ric and Annie would never have anything to do with each other—as only a big brother could do.

Jules and Robin also take center stage in this story. Jules and Robin met in a previous book, when Robin's sister was being threatened and Jules came onto the scene as part of the team keeping her safe. At the time, Robin had not come out—even to himself. The attraction between the two has survived years apart, but once they are in the same city, all bets are off.

I think Suzanne Brockmann does an excellent job of portraying Jules and Robin as simply two people who care deeply about each other. This wasn't written for impact, but is truly part of the story. This is a relationship trying to survive obstacles most people never face. It gave me a new perspective on gay relationships that I've never really considered before. This is also not a euphoric relationship or environment. Jules faces some definite homophobic characters as well as developing new relationships with people who are initially not exactly comfortable with him being gay.

Ric and Annie are funny and endearing as long time friends and as a couple. Ric has left his job on the police force after the killing of a young boy during a police chase. He thought opening his own PI agency would allow him to pick and choose his cases and do some good. Only what seems to be a quick and easy case, soon lands both Ric and Annie right in the middle of a local mob family, the disappearance of an FBI agent and possibly terrorists.

FORCE OF NATURE does a wonderful job developing both relationships with help from past characters that fit seamlessly into the storyline. There is great emotion, humor and suspense from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book to any fans of suspense.

April Luth