Rowena’s review of Do or Die (Reluctant Heroes #1) by Suzanne Brockmann.
Navy SEAL Ian Dunn went rogue in a big way when he turned his talents to a lawless life of jewel heists and con jobs. Or so the world has been led to believe. In reality, the former Special Ops warrior is still fighting for good, leading a small band of freelance covert operatives who take care of high-stakes business in highly unofficial ways. That makes Ian the hands-down choice when the U.S. government must breach a heavily guarded embassy and rescue a pair of children kidnapped by their own father, a sinister foreign national willing to turn his own kids into casualties. Shockingly, Ian passes on the mission… for reasons he will not–or cannot–reveal.
But saying no is not an option. Especially not to Phoebe Kruger, Ian’s bespectacled, beautiful, and unexpectedly brash new attorney. Determined to see the abducted children set free, she not only gets Ian on board but insists on riding shotgun on his Mission: Impossible-style operation, whether he likes it or not.
Though Phoebe has a valuable knack for getting out of tight spots, there’s no denying the intensely intimate feelings growing between Ian and Phoebe as the team gears up for combat. But these are feelings they both must fight to control as they face an array of cold-blooded adversaries, including a vindictive mob boss who’s got Ian at the top of his hit list and a wealthy psychopath who loves murder as much as money. As they dodge death squads and play lethal games of deception, Ian and Phoebe will do whatever it takes to save the innocent and vanquish the guilty.
Or die trying.
This is the first book in Suz Brockmann’s new Reluctant Heroes series. This book tells Ian Dunn’s story of true love and while it was good, I can’t say that I connected with anyone in this book as much as I have with pretty much everyone in Brockmann’s other Navy SEAL worlds.
The story is as follows: Ian Dunn is serving time in prison to protect his younger brother Aaron from the homophobic asshole that just so happens to be his partner Sheldon’s father. He had agreements in place to ensure the safety of his brother’s family and everything was going according to plan until the government needs his help to rescue a couple of kids who have been kidnapped by their dangerous foreign national father. Ian wants nothing to do with the mission because he cannot step foot out of prison or the deal he had with the bad people after his brother went away and his family is right back in danger.
Of course, none of that matters to the U.S. Government. They need his help and he’s going to give it to them whether he wants to or not.
Now, he’s out of prison, in danger and rushing to protect his brother from harm. He’s got a lawyer that he doesn’t want but would not kick out of his bed and a shit load of problems that he doesn’t quite know how to fix. When he meets up with his brother after many, many years of being away, his brother is pissed at him and is a total dick about so many things that I wanted to kick him in the nuts.
Phoebe Kruger’s first day at her new firm brings her to Ian Dunn’s doorstep and he is not happy about it. All she wants, is to do her job but it’s hard when your client doesn’t want you to be their lawyer. But she’s gone and done it now, she’s stepped into it and she’s got no other option but to see it through. She’s unofficially a part of Ian’s team and while she’s trying to make the best out of an awkward situation, she’s doing the best she can and it’s hard to do that when parts of Ian’s team doesn’t want her anywhere near their mission.
There’s a lot going on in this book. There’s the crap with Aaron and Sheldon and Sheldon’s piece of shit father. There’s the two kidnapped kids that need to be rescued and then there’s the relationship that Ian wasn’t looking for (and didn’t want) but can’t seem to shake. Lots of stuff to keep the story going and while I did enjoy the action that the story provided, I wasn’t a really big fan of anyone in this new series. Except maybe, Martell. And Yashi. And Deb. Oh and I adored Sheldon. Okay, I liked those four and I did end up liking Ian and Phoebe.
But Aaron and Francine? They got on my hot damn nerves. Aaron acted like a spoiled brat and straight up dickhead toward Ian for far longer than I thought was necessary and Francine? Ugh, I get that she went through some pretty horrific things in her life but I hated that it turned her into such an ugly person toward people that didn’t deserve her bitchiness. Aaron’s saving grace was Sheldon. I liked seeing the softer side of Aaron when he was with Sheldon. I also liked seeing him with the baby. As for Francine? There were some vulnerabilities shown with Martell that I was hoping we’d get more of but we didn’t so she still has a long way to winning my affection.
This book was kind of slow to start but once it picked up, it really picked up and I went on a roller coaster ride. Brockmann excels at writing fast paced stories that really come alive for the reader but what missed its mark with me with this story were the characters. They weren’t very likable at times and I didn’t connect with them as much as I was hoping I would. But even still, I’m curious to read the other books in this series and I’m wondering who’s book we’ll be getting next…and who Francine ends up with? Who would put up with all of the baggage that she brings to the table.
This book wasn’t as enjoyable as her Troubleshooters series but it’s still worth a try.
Grade: 3 out of 5
This book was provided by Random House. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I’m very leery on getting into another Brockmann series, so I’ve given this a wide berth so far. However, I remember that The Unsung Hero seemed slow for me at first, and it’s never held up as well for me as some of the later books, but still it’s a solid beginning to what turned out to be an outstanding series. And so, I’m torn…