DARK OF NIGHT (Troubleshooters #14; three stars)

[queenitsy]

Taking on the world's deadliest criminals is what the elite security force Troubleshooters Incorporated does best. But now they face a new and powerful threat from their most lethal enemy yet--a shadowy government outfit known only as The Agency

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

I do respect Brockmann because I am morally certain that most of the fanbase did not want the pairing to fall out this way, and she did what she wanted anyway, go her. And making Decker interesting was quite the accomplishment, I agree! But yeah, Dave suddenly action hero, and also I hated that everyone was like "no, Dave would never break under torture!"

This is the one where Tracy traps the Agency dude who'd previously slept with both her and the shrink, right? That was fun.

[queenitsy]

Yeah, looking back at Goodreads reviews from when this was released shows a *lot* of people were not thrilled with how the pairings played out. Part of me does wonder when Brockmann made up her mind about it. Dave was such a minor player in the book where Sophia was introduced that it feels like the love triangle came later - I kind of wonder if she took a second look at how she'd introduced Decker and Sophia to each other, realized how messed up it was, and introduced the Dave stuff to give Sophia a better option. (Especially because Into the Storm, where it first gets triangle-y, also features a scene where Decker finds Tracy's dildo, which was random if you read in order but in retrospect it's basically their meetcute.)

Yep, that's the one. Tracy is just such a great character.

[kate_nepveu]

Hmmm, dunno. Decker is such a nonentity until the later books that I could believe almost anything, you know? But if it wasn't the plan, then A+ for adjusting on the fly.

[poisonivory]

I thought the people who killed Dave's ex framed him for it a ways back and all that dirty laundry was just coming back to light now, not a re-framing, no? But you've read this book more recently than I have. ANYWAY SORRY I MADE YOU READ IT BEFORE YOU KNEW WHO ANYONE WAS.

[queenitsy]

I think someone framed him at the time, but it wasn't clear who or why? (Or why they'd killed her?) It could have been the Agency, but Dave worked for the CIA, so that woudl be even more random. But this was definitely a re-framing because they killed the agent who'd investigated him to make it look like he'd done it out of revenge.

IT'S OKAY THE DECKER/TRACY SCENES WERE WORTH IT