cover image Dark of Night

Dark of Night

Suzanne Brockmann, . . Ballantine, $25 (418pp) ISBN 978-0-345-50155-4

The spy games seldom interfere with the love games of the assorted couples in bestseller Brockmann's 14th Troubleshooters Inc. romantic thriller (after Into the Fire ). In San Diego, sassy Troubleshooters receptionist Tracy Shapiro, who's survived several romantic disasters, may have met her match in Lawrence “Deck” Decker, Troubleshooters' macho team leader. Deck's the former partner of Jimmy Nash, a “dead” TS Inc. operative, who's actually in hiding with Tess Bailey, his girlfriend and colleague. Also in jeopardy are Dave Malkoff and his fellow op, Sophia Ghaffari, whose heart now belongs to Dave, who'll do anything to protect Sophia and their unborn child. When Dave's kidnapped to smoke out Jimmy, the TS Inc. team and the FBI unite in a rescue plan. While the pillow talk at times overshadows the action, Brockmann fans will cheer as her global problem solvers work out their latest sticky dilemmas, both personal and professional. (Feb.)