Linda Howard Book Junkies discussion

"The United States refuses to negotiate with terrorists." Meg Moore remembered the warning from her job as a translator in a European embassy. Those same words will spell out a death sentence for her daughter and grandmother who have been kidnapped by a lethal group called the Extremists. Meg will do anything to meet their unspeakable demands; anything—even kill—to save her child.

When Navy SEAL Lieutenant, junior grade, John Nilsson is summoned to Washington, D.C., by the FBI to help negotiate a hostage situation, the last person he expects to see holding a foreign ambassador at gunpoint is Meg. He hasn't seen her in years, but he's never forgotten how it feels to hold her in his arms. John could lose his career if he helps her escape. She will lose her life if he doesn't. . . .

Like all the Troubleshooter books this one was fantastic.

This one is my favorite of that series. She does a masterful job weaving two stories into one book.

I wasn't that crazy about this book. Although the story line was great and I agree with you Nancy that SB did do a masterful job of weaving the two..well IMO it was three stories into one. Meg irritated me! I understand she is under extreme stress when terrorists kidnapped her daughter and grandmother, but she (view spoiler)[ she had lived in Kazbekistan, where the terrorist are from, and she knew you can't trust them. Instead of getting smart and trying to find a way to save her family she blindly does exactly what the kidnappers demanded, putting her family, her, and IMO the American government in jeopardy. In the beginning she does get in touch with Navy seal, John Nilson to help her. He manages with the aid of his team and the FBI to start to help her, then she double crosses him. (hide spoiler)]

Meg totally ruined the book for me as well. (view spoiler)[I can't imagine thinking she could manage more on her own than Navy SEALS and FBI combined. It was like the epitome of TSTL. I also was unimpressed with John and how he let her continue on doing everything her way. (hide spoiler)] After being so in love with the first book in the series, this one was a total let down.

I so agree with you about John and Meg as TSTL. In fact, I put that in my review. I kind of thought John was a pansy. I realize he is a tough no nonsense seal, but to let Meg get away with what she did when he could easily stop her seemed weak.

I also got annoyed with Meg. She is the one who called John to come help her and then she did everything possible to sabotage his efforts on her behalf. I liked this book, but not as well as the first.

I think I am looking forward to Over the Edge , book 3.

Dee wrote: "I think I am looking forward to Over the Edge, book 3."

Me, too. I see that Sam and Alyssa are characters in this book, too. I like the interaction that is going on between these two.

I like Sam and Alyssa but their book doesn't happen to Book 6 which makes their back and forth get really drawn out.

I know when I read the series before, and not in order, I got really sick of Sam and Alyssa. Right now I don't like Alyssa. I think she has a stick up her rear end. She is so afraid of being looked down upon because she is both black and female. I realize she was smart enough and good enough to probably make through seal training but those are the breaks why hold everyone hostage because the seals won't bend?

It's not like she's alone in the "I didn't get in" world.

I didn't feel that way about Alyssa at all. Yes, she has a hang-up about relationships, because she's beautiful and she works in a predominately male world and feels that men are just eyeing her as a good lay. I thought that what she was really upset about was not being eligible to be a SEAL. She is one of the best sharpshooters and was even sought out by SEAL Tom Paoletti in book 1 to be on his team for that stint, but yet couldn't be considered for a SEAL team because of her gender. I didn't get the impression that race entered into equation.

You may be right about the black thing, but my philosophy is you treat people the way you want to be treated. If a man she worked with tried to treat her as a sex object then and only then should she put her foot down, by doing what is necessary for the situation. Her team would come to respect her for being efficient and not taking guff from the men.

I believe that Alyssa does have a point about not getting into the seals, but unless she was willing to take it to the Supreme Court and literally fight for years she should accept life is not always fair and not take it out on the rest of the men.

Did Alyssa treat some of the other men badly? I only remember her being hurtful to Sam, but I felt that was because she didn't realize that he cares for her and sees her as more than a sex object. I don't think that either Sam or Alyssa have admitted to themselves the full extent of their attraction and feelings for each other. It is going to be interesting to follow their relationship to Book 6. CD, thank you for the tip on that.

I felt like Alyssa's choice to join the FBI was her way of moving on. You can tell that she yearns to be in the middle of any action that is going on.

I think she only treated Sam badly and a lot of her actions came from her own preconceived bias as to how she expected a macho guy form Texas would act.

I love Sam and Alyssa as a romantic-suspense couple. The way the SB takes them from snarling antagonism to true, deep love over the course of the series is one of the things I love most about this series.