Headed for Trouble by Suzanne Brockmann

Headed for Trouble

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank

This is a collection of the various short stories Brockmann has written about the characters from her Troubleshooter series over the years. Most of them have been published, sometimes as lagniappe in her books, others in PDF format on her original website (I wasn’t able to find them on her new website). In addition to the short stories were a couple of faux interviews she wrote – her interviewing the TSS characters, which was fun, a glossary of military terms she uses in her books, and a FAQ/Q and A of things she has been asked over the years. In between the stories, which are read in chronological order as they would fit into her TSS world, is narrative about the stories such as where they fit in the series and sometimes why she wrote them. There’s also a series timeline – it’s pretty comprehensive, and I think this is a book TSS fans might want to own in print as a reference. It reminds me of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlandish Companion in that way.

It also works as an audiobook because of all the stories. I admit I was caught unaware when Patrick Lawlor announced the first story title – When Frank Met Rosie – and I promptly burst into tears. If you aren’t a TSS fangrrrl, you won’t recognize the story (and frankly, why would you listen to this if you weren’t a fangrrrl??). Spoiler – Frank is a minor character in a few of the early books, a member of the SEAL team who is a casualty in a terrorist attack in the mythical Middle East country of the TSS world. The other stories often feature fan favorites Sam Starrett and Allysa Locke in various suspenseful plots that sometimes include their kids and other TSS characters as well. The “interviews” are written in first person from Brockmann’s POV. The final story is the preview to the futuristic book Born in Darkness which explains why Shane was dismissed from the military. I notice the reviews on Amazon average 3 stars and frequently mention their disappointment that it isn’t new material, so let me be clear – if you are looking for a full length TSS novel with all new material, you will be among those reviewers in your disappointment. I, however, was expecting the various short stories and interviews and such, because I had read the synopsis. (Ok, I just wasn’t mentally prepared to hear Frank’s story first, and it’s a fun story; it’s just sad because – spoiler again – I already know what happens to him.)

In my head, Patrick Lawlor is the voice of Suzanne Brockmann’s books. After using different narrators for the first six books in the series, the publisher began using a dual narrator approach, where Lawlor is the narrator for her male POV sections, and Melanie Ewbank or Renee Raudman as the female POV narrator – both have done a great job. It isn’t so much Lawlor’s voice as it is his masterful delivery – he imparts a real sense of urgency in suspenseful moments, and he captures the humor and friendly banter of the characters when they’re just shooting the breeze. His pacing and his characterizations are truly spot on. A criticism I’ve seen for this dual narrator approach is that the characters sound different when each narrator reads them, to which I say, well duh. Of course they do! Brockmann writes in what she calls deep POV, so that when Lawlor is reading, he is giving you a blow-by-blow of that character’s inner thoughts, and how that character hears other characters will be different than how the characters Ewbank is reading hear them. At least, it makes sense to me. I wish the publisher would go back and re-record the first six this way as none hold a candle to the Lawlor/Ewbank/Raudman versions. (There aren’t three narrators, but some include Ewbank and the others Raudman.) Both Melanie Ewbank and Renee Raudman are good narrators as well; Ewbank is a great counterpoint to Lawlor in this book, where she reads from Brockmann’s POV as well as the female POV in the stories when it appears.

To recap: this is a collections of short stories, all previously released in different formats, with other reference materials, mostly relating to the Troubleshooters series, read by Patrick Lawlor and Melanie Ewbank, and I liked it.

Melinda


Narration: A

Book Content: A

Steam Factor: glad I had my earbuds in, but it’s pretty tame

Violence: Fighting

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

 

 

Headed for Trouble was provided to AudioGals for review by Brilliance Audio.

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