Book: Some Kind of Hero (Troubleshooters #17) by Suzanne Brockmann
Genre: Romance, adventure
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: 2017
Pages: 448

Source: e-book from the library

A Navy SEAL and an author team up for an adventure and a bit of romance

Summary: Navy SEAL Lieutenant Peter Greene recently found himself in charge of his teenage daughter who wants very little to do with him. When she goes missing under mysterious circumstances it takes all of his skills, most of his team, and the help of his resourceful neighbor, Shayla Whitman, to track her down.

Thoughts: I’ve enjoyed most, maybe all, of Suzanne Brockmann’s long-running Troubleshooters series. I think I started reading them after September 11, 2001 when my pacifist self gained a new appreciation for war heroes. Although I only kept reading them because the characters, both male and female, are complex and engaging. As with much fiction, I don’t find enough that I want to say to write a book review, so none show up on my blog. Some Kind of Hero (Troubleshooters #17) has a fun element, though, that inspired me to write a post.

In Some Kind of Hero, Shayla Whitman is an author with writer’s block. She writes a series featuring a fictional FBI agent named Harry. Now that Shayla isn’t writing about Harry, he’s become a voice in her head, so loud and persistent that she sometimes has to audibly shush him to get him to shut up.

I loved reading about a character with an imaginary friend. Harry is as well-drawn as any other minor character in this story and very much alive to Shayla and the reader. He offers judgement with humor and advice that is occasionally good.

I’ve said for years that imaginary friends are wasted on the young. Fortunately, my imaginary friends are quieter than Harry. Since I read A Blueprint for Your Castle in the Clouds, they’ve had a home of their own which probably reduces the opportunity for them to pop out into my real world at embarrassing moments. My struggle is usually more about keeping the real world out of my castle. One of my best cures for insomnia is to retreat into the castle, banish the outside world, and build new rooms with my imaginary friends.

Appeal: Some Kind of Hero is the 17th book in the Troubleshooters series. I usually recommend reading series in order, but this one is so long that I’m not sure that would make it seem very appealing. Some of the books cluster together, but this one is a more standalone title. A few characters from previous books show up but in fairly small roles. If you like the idea of an adventurous romance featuring an author, this book will appeal whether or not you’ve read previous books in the series.

Breaking News: Suzanne Brockmann won the Lifetime Achievement Award from Romance Writers of America this week. While researching that, I found out that Kecia Ali, Professor of Religion at Boston University, wrote an academic paper on a couple of Brockmann’s Troubleshooter books. Here’s the abstract that Ali (@kecia_ali) posted on Twitter. Click on it to make it large enough to read:

What do you think about imaginary friends?