Brockmann's Dark of Night Mystery

Today’s topic is Suzanne Brockmann’s series of Troubleshooters books. The most recent installment, Into the Fire (book no. 13 in the series), was released on July 22, 2008. On her website, Brockmann announced that book no. 14 will be out in early 2009. Dark of Night has caused such a stir because no one has been officially informed who’s going to star in this story. What we do know is that the book begins on the same day ITF ends and Brockmann advises us we should be able to figure out who the main hero and heroine are going to be. But to be perfectly honest with you, I haven’t got a clue… okay, so I have plenty of clues, but they’re all so very debatable.

And debate is exactly what Brockmann fans are doing. After googling the story, I found numerous heated discussions. A few that caught my attention are the following sites:
Suzanne Brockmann’s Message Board
Adwoff’s Message Board
DON : Who Do You Think?
An Amazon Discussion
Another Amazon Discussion

Before I continue, I warn you this blog is crammed full of spoilers, so if you haven’t read any of Brockmann’s books or you’re not caught up with the series, BEWARE, I talk openly about what’s already happened. Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know about books one through thirteen… er, well, actually I’ll probably only mention books seven (Flashpoint), eight (Hot Target), ten (Into the Storm), and thirteen (Into the Fire). I’ve learned that HEA stands for Happily Ever After, so I’m going to condense the term to that acronym as well.

Okay, then. Most of the discussions I’ve read are certain Sophia stars in DON (Dark of Night), but the real question they debate is who’s going to co-star with her, Decker or Dave? I think it’d be funny if Brockmann tricked us all and published a story about, say, Jay Lopez. But she told us on her website, we’d be able to figure this out. So, let’s start figuring. Two, or maybe three, romances develop in book 13. There's Izzy, Sophia, and Decker. Izzy’s two possible choices are Eden and Tracy, though I have to say, neither affair seemed to end very well. So, I’m going to join the rest of the crowd and say, no, it’s not about him. I’m not even sure Iz has met his fair lady yet.

So that leaves us Sophia and Decker. But the big question is, will they end up together… or with other people. Since Flashpoint, I myself have supported a Sophia/Decker match. Their meet scene will go down in history as one of the most amazing romance scenes of all time. But, wow, I don’t think anyone would disagree with me that they shared an intense moment in Kazbekistan. I think it’s important that it was given from Decker’s point of view too. Since we were in his head, we saw all the heat and passion Sophia sparked in him. She also filled a loneliness he’d been feeling. If we had read this from her point of view, however, there would’ve been fear and desperation and the overall tone would’ve felt more like a perversion than a hot temptation. I don’t think we can ever forget this moment because neither Sophia nor Decker has forgotten it. In the stories Hot Target and Into the Storm, they’re very awkward around each other because of their first encounter and therefore have more sexual tension between them.

But many people are right... the after affects from that scene have dragged on. I sincerely hope Decker's talk with the psychiatrist helped him deal with all the issues he has about Sophia. Since Decker and Sophia have been so uncomfortable around each other, there are some very convincing opinions on the message boards swearing Dave will end up with Sophia. We can’t forget good ol’ Dave by any means. He’s been in every book right along with Sophia and Decker. And he’s gotten close to Sophia, becoming her best friend. They’ve opened up to each other and he’s really stepped it up in the hero department in Into the Storm and especially Into the Fire. I love Dave to pieces. He’s been there for Sophia and he’s the ultimate good guy.

I don’t want him with Sophia, however. This might sound awful because I love Sophia’s character too, but I don’t think she deserves him. Yikes, I do sound bad. As terrible as I sound though, Sophia has confided her feelings for Decker way too many times to Dave and he’ll always wonder if he’s playing second fiddle. I think his heroine should fall for him right away. He’s been so good and patient, he should get a HEA with a woman whose affections he has no doubts about, though that would be a good complication to overcome in DON if he was Sophia's leading man. Does she truly love him or not?

I still have a big thing for Decker though. Dave may be wonderful, but Decker has the alpha hero part down. Even when we’re in his point of view, he seems to hide a part of himself. He’s mysterious and masculine and he really does want to do the right thing, so I feel obligated to cheer for him. When he’s in the same room with Sophia, all the attention seems to suck into around them and focus on their interaction, suggesting they're fated to end up together.

Also, when he talked with the doctor lady, he kept waiting for the moment she’d mention Sophia. He may have dreaded it, but he was also anxious for it. He became tense, thinking she'd want to know how his heart stopped when he thought maybe Sophia had been shot way back in Hot Target. I think that was a very revealing moment. It shows he does have feelings for Sophia. It shows he's working through his messy emotions too and he'll soon be able to star in his own book.

But then he goes and kisses the doctor later and that throws things off because suddenly there’s that attraction to wonder about. And Sophia kissing Dave tosses another wrench in the situation. I mean, what's a reader supposed to think? I have a feeling Brockmann has purposely give us these distractions though, to make us wonder… which she’s successfully done. Oh, yeah. The woman knows what she's doing. If only I could accomplish 5% of her talent. Yes, insert dreamy sigh here.

That’s why I’d like to see Sophia, Dave, and Decker get all their HEAs in one book because whoever Sophia ends up with, someone’s going to get hurt and a small part of me will be disappointed. But if they paired off with their respective loves in one, tidy story, then I could deal. It’d be nice if that all happened in DON, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

So, okay. Let's get back on track. DON will most likely star Sophia or Decker. Sophia's possible matches are Decker, Dave, or Danny Gillman. But I think we'll all agree Danny doesn't have a shot. Then there's Decker. His possible loves are Sophia, the doctor lady (Yeah, I can't remember her name. Sorry), or Tracy.

I know, I know. Tracy? Yeah, that's probably not likely. But they shared a phone conversation where she invited him to open up to her if he needed someone to talk to. They also shared a moment in Into the Storm when he stopped by her room to get warm clothes for Sophia after she fell into the water. But those were just moments. Probably no big deal. Then, there was that attraction Decker felt for Hannah when she stared at his mouth to read his lips. Since she's so much like Tess, maybe he'll wait around for another Tess-like character. But I don't really believe that myself.

There's also the possibility that Tracy could end up with Dave. She was talking about him looking good in jeans. And she cuts his hair. That could get some serious sensual action going on. So, we can't forget about that... though it's also unlikely.

Ergo, the story could, maybe, possibly but unlikely star Tracy with Decker, Dave, or--yep--Izzy. I'm feeling some very odd triangles going on here. Or the story could be about Dave with... Sophia, Tracy, or some unnamed heroine to be. I'm kinda rooting for a newbie to catch Dave. I'd like his woman to feel an instant attraction to him.

So... Those are all my strange ideas. Why don't you leave a comment and let me know who YOU think will star in the upcoming Troubleshooters book, Dark of Night.