Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed it! Fast paced and action packed!
Review: OK, I'm not a Suz superfan, I have only a vague idea who Sam and Alyssa are and I have only read five of her books, all from the TDD Seal Team Ten series (PRINCE JOE, FOREVER BLUE, FRISCO'S KID, EVERYDAY, AVERAGE JONES and NIGHTWATCH). I have THE UNSUNG HERO on my TBR shelf, but this is my first Troubleshooters book. And, personally, I really enjoyed it. I am really surprised that this book is getting two and even one star reviews. It may have flaws, but it's hardly a terrible book! Let's keep some perspective here! And all the nitpicking over minutae like the "gun stuff" as one reviewer called it seems overkill - call me blissfully ignorant, but I just didn't care. I mean if you want that level of detail read Tom Clancy or something! Anyway, I liked it and had fun reading it (though I would NEVER have paid for it in hardcover as hardcover romance novels are a pet peeve!).
Agent Diego "Jimmy" Nash is a hunky, sexy, love-em-and-leave-em type with a "serious 007 complex" and Tess Baily is a support specialist who has it bad for him. But Tess is smart enough not to let it show or act on it as that would be incredibly stupid! Tess is the nice girl-next-door type and everybody likes her. Jimmy likes her but he doesn't do nice girls. Jimmy's partner Lawrence Decker likes her but never mixes business with pleasure, plus he knows that she has a thing for Nash - they always do. She hopes to become a field agent and when she comes across a threat to Decker, she contacts Jimmy and together they come to Decker's rescue - after which Tess and Jimmy have a one night stand that both regret.
A month later, Tess discovers two things: one, that Jimmy and Deck have quit the agency without a word and two, that Tess is never going to get that promotion to field agent. She quits her dead-end job and accepts a position with Troubleshooters, Inc where she again runs into Jimmy and Deck. They are assigned to locate a laptop belonging to a top Al-Qaeda leader who was killed in an earthquake in Kazbekistan (think Afghanistan under the Taliban). K-stan has been closed to the West since the fundamentalist regime took power but the earthquake has opened up the borders to western relief workers. The team will pose as relief workers (with Tess and Jimmy posing as husband and wife) to locate and retrieve the missing laptop. While there team leader Decker encounters the mysterious Sophia who had been held by warlord Padsha Bashir until she escaped in the mayhem and confusion of the earthquake. He does not know whether or not to trust her, but she may know something about a former CIA contact that Deck needs to locate as a secondary mission. Their interactions are intriguing and Deck finds himself very ambivalent about her while she is desperate to get out of the country and sees Deck as her best last chance. Her presence complicates things a lot but she also has knowledge they don't. She's lived in K-stan for many years and knows her way around Bashir's palace. But will she prove herself trustworthy? Add into the mix a pesky American journalist who dogs their heels and the chance of discovery by warlord Bashir and everyone on is edge. Will they ever get out of this country, or shall I say "pit" alive?
OK there were some things that I wished were done better. The romance was definitely not the main event here as the story is dominated by the political and suspense aspects. Jimmy has serious jerk tendencies and is a very selfish person, but you know deep down he's a good guy, though he thinks he's not. Some things stretched believability, especially toward the end of the book. But on the whole, I liked it and I liked the characters - Jimmy, Tess, Deck, Sophia - and I hope to see them again in future books (especially Deck and Sophia!).
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the love?
Review: Suzanne Brockmann is at the top of my list of favorite romance authors. She ousted Linda Howard from the spot and that's saying a lot. Once I discovered Suzanne as an author, I found and devoured everything she wrote. She is a master of the romantic suspense genre because she always managed the perfect combination of action and romance. In an apparent effort to appeal to a broader audience, Suzanne has cut out half of what made her a favorite of mine - the romance - in her latest outing, "Flashpoint." Intimate encounters between characters are glossed over, alluded to or, in some cases, skipped entirely. Is it wrong to want details? I certainly don't think so. It's hard to describe, but the love scenes in "Flashpoint" feel like they've been edited nearly to the point of deletion. Having read all of her other books, I know Brockman knows how to write a steamy love scene. So why did she hold back in "Flashpoint?" I don't know if Flashpoint is a deliberate attempt to move away from being labeled a romance novelist in favor of becoming a suspense author, but what I do know is Brockmann messed with her winning formula and the result is a generic thriller that borders on bland. I rushed out to buy this book on the day it was released. I won't make the same mistake with her next release. I'll get it from the library before I shell out money.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Brockmann "Must Have"
Review: The main reason Suzanne Brockmann's books fly off the shelves is because she's an excellent writer. She has a way of creating characters that stick with the reader long after we close the book. She's also flawless with her creation of secondary characters, making us want more of them with subsequent novels. Ms. Brockmann does not disappoint with her writing in FLASHPOINT. It has the customary humor, so entwined in her romances; it also has the action, adventure and controversy we've to which we've become accustom. Once again, you'll love her hero, her heroine and especially the secondary cast of characters including the darling "Decker". My only question for Suz: When does Decker get his happily-ever-after?
Rating:
Summary: The secondary characters are so much more interesting.
Review: This book managed to hold my interest for a coast to coast flight, but only because I was completely intrigued by the secondary characters (Decker and Sophia). They were so much better written and frankly a thousand times more interesting than the main characters, especially the mysterious Sophia. I didn't give a rip about the main characters Nash and Tess. I found their romance and story rather slow and dull...although i admit it started off well enough. But the minute Sophia entered the scene, I was totally rivetted to her plight, and her story, which was only heightened when she encounters Decker - in a complicated but fascinating interplay which shames him and allows her to nearly succeed in killing him. Still, their chemistry is powerful, and their subsequent interactions intriquing and charged. Their reltionship is something the book never ties up which left me majorly dissatisfied, yet extremely HOPEFUL that Brockman will write her next novel about them. Because I actually found myself skimming/skipping over the Nash and Tess parts so I could just get to Sophia and Decker. I give Sophia and Decker's story a 4.5 and Nash and Tess a 2. The reason for my 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: very nice, very fast-paced. though the premises seem cliched, it's brockmann's style, characterization, and dialogue that move the book.
Rating:
Summary: Near Miss
Review: While probably not her best work, Flashpoint is still a book that I'll keep on my shelves for a re-read along with all the other SB books I've got. So I'm surprised that so many don't particularly care for it. The characters are interesting and have more depth than the average love story. All of which is to be expected when reading a Brockmann novel. Diego Nash isn't always a lovable character but his dark side contrasts well with the sometimes overly sweet Tess Bailey. Both are developed but fell short of the usual realism of a SB character.
The side characters are what make it a worthwhile read. Decker, Sophia, Dave, and Murphy keep things moving and temper the over-the-top personalities of both Bailey and Nash. Overall it would have been nice to see more of the original Troubleshooters from the SEALs as this is sort of the next step in the series. Then again, it's not their story...it's Diego and Tess.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Vince Flynn
Review: With "Flashpoint," S. Brockmann has moved out of the realm of romance writing and has entered into the mostly-male action genre. This book is superb -- worthy of Vince Flynn, and, dare I say it? even the great T. Clancy. There really is no better way to describe Suzanne's writing style here other than to say "she writes like a guy." This book is more plot-based than her other novels, and the action and dialogue keeps the reader in suspense all the way. I love the departure from Team 16 (that's just me though, I love the world of spydom more than the world of commandos). This book is so good that I think even my husband would enjoy it. The romance is secondary to the operation, which makes the book better, I believe.
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