Over Stacked

As usual, Suzanne Brockmann is so very easy to read. Her writing always goes down so smooth, like a well blended chocolate milkshake.

But also as has been the case with her last few installments of the Troubleshooters series, this book provides an uneven read. Some characters are fantastic (Izzy, Ben, to a small degree - Eden) and others are either completely annoying and irredeemable (Danny Gillman is NOT a hero) or basically useless (Jennilyn is TSTL for putting up with Danny the Tool). The story itself is adequate although a good 2/3 of the book is devoted to either vast amounts of introspection or dithering about why one character does or does not trust/love another character. Only the last quarter of the book involved any form of real action. This is unfortunate because the central Big Bad - a ring of child prostitute human traffickers - is a real evil that deserves thorough treatment.

And also unfortunately, Brockmann uses this vehicle as a bully platform for her pro-Gay Rights agenda. While I am firmly in the pro-Gay Rights camp, I find being hit over the head with how truly eeeevil anti-gay people are to be a bit tiresome. I do believe that those conversion camps exist and are probably not only vile to the nth degree but possibly even illegal, Brockmann is preaching to the choir. I'd much rather get a dose of see-gay-people-are-normal-and-great via Jules Cassidy or giving Ben a bit more power over his own life.

While I'll always look on the Troubleshooter series fondly as one of the best written and most entertaining in contemporary romantic fiction, I do think the quality of the stories has declined over the course of its run. I'll go back to "Out of Control" and "Over the Edge" and "Flashpoint" for my rereads. This one will probably get dusty on the proverbial shelf.