Hot Target

Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345467930
Hardcover release date: Dec. 28th, 2004
Paperback release date: Nov. 29th, 2005
About 400 Pages
Original Price:  $19.95
Paperback price:  $6.99
New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller
Cover Blurb:  "New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann knows exactly what makes hearts race and pulses pound: peril and passion.  No one succeeds more brilliantly at blending these exhilarating elements in breathtaking novels of men and women forced to grapple with the deepest emotions and the highest risks.  And there's no better proof than her new novel of suspense:  Hot Target aims to thrill on every level...

Like most men of action, Navy SEAL Chief Cosmo Richter never learned how to take a vacation.  So when he finds himself facing a month's leave with little to do, he offers his services to Troubleshooters Incorporated.  Founded by a former SEAL, the private-sector security firm is a major player in the ongoing war against terrorism, known for carrying out covert missions too volatile for official U.S. military action.  But the first case Richter takes on is anything but under the radar.

High-profile maverick movie producer Jane Mercedes Chadwick hasn't quite completed her newest film, but she's already courting controversy.  The World War II epic frankly portrays the homosexuality of a real-life hero -- and the storm of advance media buzz surrounding it has drawn the fury of extremist groups, including the neo-nazi Freedom Network.  But despite a relentless campaign of angry e-mails, phone calls, and smear tactics, Chadwick won't be pressured into abandoning the project.  Then the harassment turns to death threats.  The FBI gets involved, her nervous Hollywood associates call in Troubleshooters, and now Jan has an army of round-the-clock bodyguards, whether she likes it or not.  And she definitely doesn't.

Jane's stubbornness is yet another emotional obstacle that FBI agent Jules Cassidy doesn't need -- he's already in the midst of a personal tug-of-war with his ex-lover, while fighting a growing attraction to Jane's brother.

Determined to succeed -- and survive -- on her own terms, Jane doesn't expect the bond she forms with the quiet, capable Cosmo Richter.  Yet even as their feelings draw them closer, the noose of deadly terror all around them draws tighter.  And when all hell erupts desire and desperate choices will collide on a killing ground that may trap them both in the crossfire.

Click here to read the Sam & Alyssa short story that should have been included in the paperback reissue of HOT TARGET.  (It was left out due to printing error, believe it or not!)  

Click here for an excerpt from HOT TARGET