Customer Reviews

Gone Too Far

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is the first Suzanne Brockman and I loved it. Its action packed Sam is hot (sizziling) I hope the other Seal books are as exciting. If yes i am really going to enjoy myself. I want to read them all(in order this time)

It seems that those who've given 'Gone Too Far' less than the stellar reviews that it truly deserves simply don't get it. It's like they like things wrapped up in one nice and neat package, and unfortunately for these readers, 'Gone Too Far' is not the easy beach read that many expected. It's an emotional rollercoaster ride into the minds and hearts of two people with a lot of preconceived notions and personal baggage.

In many romances, the alpha male and the beta female stay in their tidy little box and never experience any emotional growth whatsoever. That formula has long since outlived its usefulness and personally, I've way outgrown such trite plots and characterizations. I say, challenge me and make me feel something different.

Thankfully, Ms. Brockmann has written a gritty and wonderfully realistic romantic-suspense novel with two of the most multi-dimensional characters ever to grace the pages of any book.

Sam Starett is both maddening and wonderful. He's got a true heart of gold in his rough and tumble exterior. Sometimes you want to kiss him and other times, you want to kick him. And knowing a little more of his backstory (from The Defiant Hero) makes him even more sympathetic.

What can I say about my girl Alyssa Locke? Ms. Brockmann wrote a character I fully identify with, being a black woman in a predominantly male field. I totally understand how Alyssa feels--that she has to be better, smarter and tougher than the guys in order to be seen as competent. Sam and Alyssa's sparring matches are one of the major highlights of this book. Oh yes, they're going to get together, but it's not going to be easy--but it will be worth it.

Sam and Alyssa have got to be one of the best (as well as one of the sexiest)in romantic fiction. I consider them like 'old friends' and can't wait to see if they appear in more adventures.

A small yet cynical part of me thinks that those who didn't like 'Gone Too Far' haven't quite left the dark ages when it comes to a book that deals honestly and refreshingly with interracial relationships. In this day and age, we're supposed to be a lot more enlightened--and I've always believed love to be colourblind. I'm glad to see that Suzanne Brockmann feels the same way.

I have to congratulate the rest of the reviewers that have ploughed their way through this entire series. I read one before this "Defiant Hero" and that's enough for me, thank you. It is hard to believe a writer could drag out a story that takes place in 1 week folks, check the dates, but the way she did this was to sandwich in all the childhood trauma of Roger/Sam and the letter writing between Dot and Walt. She not only filled us in on all the background but kept beating us over the head with it. And talk about sexual hangups these characters had them all. At least any more in this series will have a change of pace you can hope since there are some career changes taking place, and maybe everyone will get lucky and Max will go off to Kenya and do some real adjusting.

I'm really struggling with finishing this book. After reading the part about Alyssa's 2 sisters pregnancies, I realized this sounded familiar and checked my list of books read. I checked this one out from the library, didn't go looking for it on purpose. This story is just too much to swallow. Why does an author try to cover EVERY subject in the world with one story? Terrorist, AKA 9/11, spousal and child abuse, porn, inter-racial marriages, red neck stereo type casting, FBI paranoia,etc? Better to pick one theme and stick to it. I hope our countries security and safety is not hinged on these sex obessed people as described in this plot. Help. Did we really swallow the accident Gina had with Max just happening to be there to the rescue? And that the drivers mimiced her cousin that was her father's 4 youngest brother's 3rd youngest son. Give me a break. My last foray into the world as seen by Ms. Brockmann.

I all honesty I was not looking forward to this book as I'd tired of the Sam/Alyssa romantic mess in a previous "Team Sixteen" book and had all intentions of skipping it. Sam Starrett, in my book, had morphed from a sexy hero type into a Class A jerk, a bad boyfriend, a terrible husband, a lousy father and an all around sad sack. Fortunately (as it turns out) my local book reading friends chose this as a reading selection and I forced myself to begin what I assumed would be an irritating read.

Gone Too Far is a bit different in format than the previous books in the "Troubleshooter" series which were very much action/adventure romances and I've seen a few complaints that the beginning was too slow but this wasn't the case for me. It had been months since I read the last book in this series but I quickly fell back into the flow of things and was immediately hooked by the gripping characterization and the suspenseful plot line. The story opens as Sam is headed to his estranged wife Mary Lou's home to claim the signed divorce papers she promised him three weeks earlier. Sam finds the divorce papers alright but he also finds a dead body that may or may not be Mary Lou's and their young daughter Haley is missing. Sam, of course, becomes prime suspect #1.

Meanwhile Alyssa is sent to detain Sam and bring him in for questioning. I'm still not clear exactly why this happened but hey it gets them together (finally) so who am I to complain? Sam and Alyssa go on a search for the missing (and possibly dead) Mary Lou and Haley and learn a whole lot about each other in between arguments and fighting off their undeniable attraction to one another. Brockmann, in flashback and dialogue, allows the reader an in-depth look into Sam's troubled past and explains away much of his bad and difficult to understand behavior in previous books. Alyssa, always a cold and steely-type comes across as more human in this book as well. And it's about darn time too! Before long I found myself, if not liking them wholeheartedly, at least rooting for them to work things out once and for all.

Rounding out the story is a multitude of subplots (too many if you ask me) all competing for attention. There's Sam's childhood memories, the World War II flashback story between a white female pilot and the black man she falls in love with, there's Max and Gina's compelling, pain filled on-going love story, Team Sixteen's former leader Tom Paoletti is accused of aiding terrorists and his sweetheart of a wife is . . . well it goes on and on and it all gets to be a tad too much to keep track of after awhile. This book would've been a much "cleaner" read if the author hadn't crammed in so many various (but interesting) plot lines into one book.

Though Sam and Alyssa aren't always easy people to like their story is compelling, passionate and filled with intense emotion. I can't say this about most of the books I've been reading this year and am very thankful to my reading friends for "forcing" me to read this one!

Wasn't a bad book but not nearly as good as the "blurb" in her previous book would have led you to believe. Think Suz is just getting desperate trying to come up with more titles for this series. Make them worth the read or don't make them!
(...)

Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann, is a blessed addition to this series. All questions from the previous installment of this series are answered. I was very pleased with that! Love this writer and enjoyed this series.

All Lt. Sam Starrett needs is a signature on the dotted line and his disastrous marriage will be over. The problem is that his wife, Mary Lou, has not been in contact with him for three weeks-and she currently has custody of their daughter. Sam decides to drive to Sarasota to confront Mary Lou, but when he arrives, he discovers a badly decomposing female body and his daughter is nowhere. Nearing panic, Sam attempts to contact his FBI agent friend, only to get his nemesis, Alyssa Locke, on the phone.

Things also look bad for Sam's SEAL Team 16. Lt. Commander Thomas Paoletti is being questioned about weapons used in the attempted assassination of the president six months ago. While it was SEAL Team 16 who saved the president, someone seems determined to implicate them, including Sam, in a conspiracy. Could these two seemingly unrelated matters be connected? Is Mary Lou the key to solving the conspiracy theory?

With her newest book, GONE TOO FAR, bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann makes the leap into hardcover. Fans of SEAL Team 16 have been waiting a long time for Sam's story to play out-and it was definitely worth the wait. This is her best book to date! (Jul., 464 pp., $19.95)

I'm a fan of this writer and this series and have enjoyed all of the books. The action is fast and the plot had me eagerly turning the pages !!!

Ms. Brockmann's series following the SEALS is incredible. I love the mix of love stories and find her books in general to have just the right mix of soul searching and action, not too much of either. Her characters are believable and lovable and I can't wait to read more of Max's story and, of course, Alisha's partner, too. These books are definitely worth the wait and worth the price.