by Suzanne Brockmann

Ivy Books, March, 2001.
Paperback, 390 pages.
ISBN: 0804119538
Subgenre: Romantic Suspense

Meg Moore, a widowed mother of a ten year-old daughter, is not the kind of person that usually ends up on CNN as the perpetrator of a major hostage situation. But when Meg's daughter and grandmother are kidnapped by terrorists, Meg is forced to accede to the kidnapper's demands and abduct a rival terrorist who is currently visiting the Kazbekistani Embassy in Washington, D.C. Desperate for help, Meg tells the hostage negotiators that she will only speak with U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant John "Nils" Nilsson, whom she knows from her days spent as a translator in Kazbekistan. Willing to do anything to save her daughter, Meg lies to the FBI and to Nils, and sets off cross country to deliver the hostage to the kidnappers in exchange for Amy and her Grandmother. But Meg has more than terrorists to worry about. The handsome Nils is determined not to be left out of this op, and soon he's also along for the dangerous flight to rescue Amy, while avoiding capture by the FBI.

Suzanne Brockmann follows up her wildly popular Navy SEAL romance, The Unsung Hero, with another action-packed, exciting story that is sure to have fans turning the pages late into the night. Brockmann takes a pretty wild scenario, then peoples it with characters who are so real and so multi-layered that you believe in the story wholeheartedly. The story actually is of three romances: the backstory of Meg and Nils, the present-day romance adventure between Meg and Nils, and the funny and poignant story of FBI agent Alyssa Locke and SEAL Roger Starrett. Suzanne Brockmann's writing style is passionate, edgy and her dialogue rings true -- SEALs aren't saints, after all. But in Brockmann's book they have a hard time keeping up with a determined mother who is quite capable of killing, if it means saving her daughter. A smart, funny and passionate read.

The Defiant Hero is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the March, 2001 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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