Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank

Lovers of romantic suspense titles are surely familiar with Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series. With over 16 titles, not counting novellas, this is one of the longest running SEAL & private, elite security experts romantic suspense series around. However, I had not yet had a chance to experience the magic of this series, so when I saw the Blackstone Audio released a new version of this audio in May 2016, I jumped at the chance to review it.

For those of you who are wondering if Into the Storm can be read as a standalone, the answer is yes. While you will get the most enjoyment out of listening to this series in order (since many of the main characters have been introduced in prior books), the romantic arc of this couple and the immediate suspense arc is primarily contained in this book.

SEAL Petty Officer Mark “Jenk” Jenkins has been in love with his older sister’s best friend, Tracy Shapiro, since they were kids. Of course, as the little brother of her best friend, Tracy hadn’t really noticed Jenk in any particular type of romantic fashion before. However, Jenk already has their future planned out in his head.

So when a joint SEAL training exercise with Troubleshooters brings them together (Tracy is the new Troubleshooters receptionist), Jenk is ready to make his dreams come true. Tracy with her high drama lifestyle, however, has other plans.

It is among this backdrop that Jenk begins to really get to know Lindsay Fontaine, a former police officer turned Troubleshooters security expert. Lindsay has the hots for Jenk from day one, but no way is she signing up to lust after a man who already has his dream girl in mind – no matter how fruitless that quest seems.

Just who will Jenk end up truly falling for: his dream girl or the one he realizes he is constantly thinking about? Moreover, when their “training” mission turns from a test to the real deal, with a potential serial killer on the loose, just who will team up and stay safe and who may learn the hard way that saving lives can be a matter of life and death for the rescuer as well?

Rounding out this fast-paced action adventure is the talented narration by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank. The chapters are generally split from different characters’ perspective. Mr. Lawlor narrates the ones from a male’s perspective and Ms. Ewbank, the ones from a female perspective. This style works well for this book giving the listener natural transition points.

I particularly enjoyed Mr. Lawlor’s zest and the way he delivers the plentiful comical lines. Sounding like a real military guy, he is a natural for the male roles. Ms. Ewbank also has a good ability to communicate the satire of the comical lines and sounds equally genuine in her portrayal of the various female roles.

Perhaps my only observation is that neither narrator provided much differentiation between the deepness of the intonation for their female and male roles, making it a bit difficult to catch dialogue transitions, particularly given this large cast. Nonetheless, this really was only an issue a few times, so overall I did not think this was much of a detractor.

I can’t wait to listen to more of this series. There are so many interesting characters and both the romance and suspense are well done. I can definitely see why this series is so popular among romantic suspense enthusiasts.

BJ

Narration: B

Book Content: B+

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Fighting

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Blackstone Audio

Into the Storm was provided to AudioGals by Blackstone Audio for a review.