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Brockmann's first novels were stand-alones. But as her career progressed, she noticed that romance mini-series, with their opportunities for character development and intersecting story lines, had become extremely popular. Seeking to increase her readership, she decided to write a mini-series of her own. She found her "hook" in a magazine article on Navy SEALs and, in 1996, she released Prince Joe, the first novel in her Tall, Dark and Dangerous series. The alpha males of Brockmann's fictional SEAL Team 10 proved to be the perfect romantic heroes, and the series was an immediate hit with readers. Four years later, she launched a second series of military/romantic thrillers centered on the friendships, romances, and working relationships among a team of Navy SEALS and members of an elite security agency called Troubleshooters, Inc. Starting with The Unsung Hero in 2000, the Troubleshooters books have catapulted the author to the top of the charts.
Brockmann is known in the industry as a risk-taker, having written stories around such sensitive topics as interracial romance and homosexuality, In 2004, she garnered attention for her eighth Troubleshooters novel, Hot Target, which involved one of her most popular recurring characters, openly gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, in a romantic subplot. Brockman, who dedicated the book to her gay son Jason, was not sure how readers would respond. To her surprise, the reaction from gay and straight alike proved positive. She stated on her website: "I love the fact that the world I've created in my books -- a diverse American world filled with the same variety of people who live in my urban American neighborhood -- has been so enthusiastically embraced by readers."
Brockmann's distinctive literary blend has come in for its fair share of praise. Writing in the Chicago Tribune, veteran Booklist reviewer John Charles stated: "Brockmann strikes the perfect balance between white-knuckle suspense and richly emotional romance." And USA Today has called her "[t]he reigning queen of militaray suspense." As further proof of her mainstream appeal, she remains one of a handful of Romance novelists to have made the leap from mass market paperback to hardcover.
A serious history buff from her youth, Brockmann has read widely on WWII and has been known to incorporate stories from that era into the books of her Troubleshooters series.
Brockmann loves music. She attended Boston University as a film major with a minor in creative writing but dropped out to perform with a rock and roll band. She also sang with and served as music director for a Boston-based a cappella group called "Serious Fun" and produced its first and only CD in 1998.
Brockman is married to novelist Ed Gaffney.
The mother of an openly gay son , Brockmann is a proud member of PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays).
In her writing, Brockmann employs a device she calls Deep Point of View. She explains it in an interview with the online writers' journal Writers Write: "In my books, I use subjective point of view, but I'm not satisfied with merely showing the reader what that camera sees from its perch atop a character's head. I bring the camera down, inside of that character's head, so we see the world through that character's eyes. We hear things through his ears. We smell what he smells, feel what he feels, think what he think. With deep POV, I write using words that that character would use. I tell the story with that character's voice."
Anonymous
Posted May 30, 2011
The one thing I would suggest to anyone wanting to read this series is write character names down. She refers to them as their first name, last name & call sign. Once you get further into the series it can be "Wait, who is that?". To be honest, I quit reading the series at the end of book #10. I wasn't sure how deep she would go into the homosexual love scene. I have been told that if you want to skip book #11 and go to #12 that you wouldn't realy miss anything character wise.
I read the "Tall, Dark & Dangerous series first and LOVED them.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.After reading several wretched novels on a romance book recommendation list, this contemporary novel of "romantic suspense" set in the Boston area was a relief. The novel features some of the usual overwriting found in the romance genre about the gorgeousness of the lead characters, but not quite as incessant as in most. Likable leading characters at that: both over 30 for once and both career professionals--Tom Paoletti, a Navy SEAL officer, and Kelly Ashton, a divorced doctor. There were even memorable and appealing supporting players! I liked the secondary geek-love romance between Mallory, Tom's niece, and David, an artist even more--it's what raises this book to a four star for me. (And David *gasp* is Asian--I can't tell you how rare it is in the romance genre to have a romantic protagonist to be anything but Caucasian.) And behold a real plot along thriller lines. I did have some style issues, and I wouldn't call the novel a keeper: not a prose style to savor or quotable lines, and it never elicited tears or laughter or a gasp of surprise. But it was entertaining--a good beach/airplane read. This is the first of a series and since some have told me the novels get much better, I intend to try the next one.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 25, 2004
This book was simply OK, it was missing the intensity of the others that I read first. She's improved a lot in the four years since she wrote this book. If this is your first Suzanne Brockman book, don't be discouraged the ones that come after are significantly better.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Carra69
Posted April 14, 2009
Tom an Kelly are romantic.Great start to the trouble shooters series.
Hope she continues with the series. It would be ashame to end it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 19, 2008
Tom and kelly's romance did not do it for me. This is not one of Brockman's best. TOm was a great guy but kelly came of emotionally cold. Not my favorite heroine. I liked the side story with David and Mel.But the other story about uncle Joe and charles could have been shorter, there was too much going on.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 30, 2004
This story was very romantic and very hard to put down!!! I recommend it to all Romance Readers!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Paolitti is injured during a rescue mission, which leads to a hospital stay. When Tom learns that Rear Admiral Turner plans to eliminate his troubleshooting team, he loudly complains. The doctors claim that his outrageous behavior is a normal reaction to the head injury he suffered. Thus, he is sent home for 30-days of convalescent leave.
At Logan Airport, Tom spots a person with the mannerisms of international terrorist The Merchant. He calls it in even as the brass wonders if he is being paranoid due to the recent trauma. Tom stays with his Uncle Joe while next door is Dr. Kelly Ashton who is temporarily residing with her dying father. For fifteen years, Tom has carried the torch for Kelly. As they reacquaint themselves, Tom and Kelly fall in love. However, can a Navy SEAL find lasting happiness with a pediatrician especially when he keeps seeing a terrorist who, if it is him, apparently is targeting the VIPs at the upcoming WW II anniversary celebration.
THE UNSUNG HERO is an entertaining romantic suspense novel that centers on various relationships. The story line is enjoyable because the different types of relationships ring genuine even that between Tom and The Merchant. The intrigue elements provide additional excitement, but Suzanne Brockmann's tale works because of the interplay between several members of the cast.
Harriet Klausner
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Keridwen
Posted December 5, 2011
The strengths of this author include her ability to advance the linked the story lines of three disparate couples, without losing the momentum created by her plot. Her deft characterizations coax the reader into accepting both male and female protagonists with a range of ethnicities, ages, occupations, and socio-economic backgrounds. The attraction comes as much from the content of their character as the carnal appeal of toned abs. Brockmann manages to credibly ratchet up the tension and suspense elements of her story while remaining true to the beating heart of romance - omnia vincit amor.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.nana1947
Posted October 19, 2011
Really gets the series off to an exciting start. Found the whole series to be excellent and will reread this many times.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Wow, just wow. The first in Brockmann's Troubleshooter series, The Unsung Hero was a fantastic read. It had it all--action, drama, romance, human relationships, history--and was a whole lot of fun to read. If I'd had the time to read this all in one sitting, I'd have loved to; as it was, when I wasn't reading this book I was thinking about it and figuring out how soon I could finish what I HAD to do to get back to it. I loved all the characters--they were well written, believable people who you'd want to know in real life. The main characters are Lt. Tom Paoletti and pediatrician Kelly Ashton, but the secondary ones--Kelly's father Charles and Tom's uncle Joe, World War II veterans; Tom's niece Mallory and her geeky friend David; and the makeshift members of Tom's thrown-together anti-terrorist team--are just as solidly written. The main storyline: Tom, on convalescent leave from the Navy, has thirty days to prove he's healthy enough to keep his leadership position, but believes he sees a presumed-dead terrorist on his first day back in his uncle's small New England town. Suffering from headaches and dizziness, he is torn between his fear that it's all in his head and his need to act on his instincts. This book had me laughing and crying--multiple times--and really caring what happened to each and every one of them. The storylines were all well-crafted, and came together nicely in the end. This series was begun before 9/11--significant both because it follows a Navy SEAL special ops unit and its terrorist theme--so it will be interesting to see what the author does with the books that take place after that time. I will definitely be looking for more books in the series.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 14, 2011
Not as much action as I had hoped.
Never tells you if they got the person out safely in the beginning.
sunfire114
Posted February 11, 2011
Suzanne Brockmann does it again! Tom is a great character himself, but when you put the sexy seal with his highschool crush...wow the sparks fly. Then the side stories with Toms Uncle and Kelly's Dad pull at the heart strings. Suzanne makes you believe in that one special love. A great first book for a great new series!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is the first book in Brockmann's Troubleshooter Series. Unsung Hero is Tom's story, which is the best place to start because Tom is the leader of the eclectic group of men and women that... save the world, to put it simply. They later form the Troubleshooters, but for now they're SEALs.
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I'm not going to put a synopsis because the "Details" tab explains the story line perfectly. What it doesn't mention is that Brockmann tells her stories in the perspective of three different couples. The first couple is Tom and Kelly; the second is Tom's niece and her new friend; the third is Tom's uncle and Kelly's dad.
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Brockmann has an amazing ability to make you love all of these characters. Her gift is in the way she creates characters that are believable. They have fears, they have ambition; and because of that they stick with you.
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The WWII segment of this book was informative without making it feel like a history lesson. (FYI: The first stories include flashbacks from WWII, from the perspective of one or more of the characters).
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I hope this review makes sense. This is a great book and a great series. If you remember anything from this review, I hope it's that.
I really recommend this book!!! It was great! And I love how there is two love stories going on, a teenager love story and an adult love story!!!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 23, 2003
This book was so terrific. I couldn't put it down. I love romance novels but often I am disappointed by the lack of an exciting plot, lack of action, or lack of well developed characters. This book has it all and has none of the ridiculous silliness that goes with so many romance novels.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 7, 2003
This book was excellent. I loved how Suzanne Brockmann had 3 different stories going and they all came together in the end. I've read Defiante Hero and am currently reading Over the Edge. All of them have been really good.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 5, 2002
Start with this book and keep going until the end of the series. I've read all of them, including an advance copy of "Into The Fire", and I can't wait for more. This author has what it takes to make you want to keep reading and ignore everything else.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 29, 2002
I LOVED this book and I am very picky! This book has it all--love, romance, sex, adventure, action...I laughed and cried every other page. I highly recommend it and if all her books are as great as this one, then I'm in for a treat!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 29, 2011
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Anonymous
Posted December 14, 2009
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Overview
After a near-fatal head injury, navy SEAL lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton-the sweet "girl next door" who has grown into a remarkable woman. The town's infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for ...