Book Review-Older Books 24

Review—Hot Target

Hot Target, by Suzanne Brockman.  Published by Ballantine Books, January 2005, 383 pgs.

A day in the life of a Navy Seal sometimes may begin in a sewer, in a land far away; rescuing captives who have been kidnapped and whose lives are in danger.  Sometimes, their rescue may result in a loss of the life or lives of their captors.  These are decisions Seals may deal with on a regular basis.  Cosmo Richter, Navy Seal, is known as the man to make these decisions.  To some who have seen him in action, he is a robot and dispatches known threats systematically and with extreme efficiency.  Cosmo now with some free time on his hands, due to a recent accident involving his mother, joins an old friend in his security firm.

Mercedes Chadwick, is a film producer making a comeback.  Her current project has placed her in the sights of radical group, who oppose the fact that she intends to show a known World War II hero, as a man who was gay and never truly came out of the closet.  She has received multiple death threats and the company backing her project has hired Trouble Shooters, Inc. to protect her.  Mercedes is never one to back down, and hardly considers the threats real; she also never misses a photo-op and uses this for any publicity she can obtain.  She soon has to face reality when one of the people protecting her is gunned down. Cosmo is only one of the many set in place to keep her safe.  The FBI is involved and one of their top investigators is gay and out of the closet, and his personal relationships are intertwined in this story.  Her brother is also going through his own sexual identity crisis, to top off an already tense situation. 

This book has plenty of fast-paced action, and emotional scenes.  Suzanne Brockman dedicates this book to her homosexual son, and this book seems dedicated to showing her acceptance of his choices.  Ignoring all of that, as that will always be up to personal beliefs, the book showed the emotions and turmoil involved in making choices as diverse as life or death to sexual identity.  And the struggles it takes to make them.