FBI agent Jules Cassidy and partner Robin Chatwick, who met in Force of Nature, are about to tie the knot, an adventure marred only marginally by the success of Robin's new television series (that heightens all of Jules' relationship paranoias), an overseas crisis, the uncompleted renovation of their home, a nosy reporter trying to find a non-existant story, an ex-lover with an agenda who's being stalked by an anonymous psycho, and family dramas.
The significant section of the Jules/Robin story was told in Force of Nature, and though All Through the Night continues their story it's really a romance with an agenda that is well integrated into the plot but strongly present - gay couples are just the same as straight ones. The romance genre is notably conservative, and I doubt that an author less well established than Brockmann would have been able to pull this off in a mainstream market. The physical aspect of their relationship is toned down, which I imagine makes it easier to allow this fact to shine through to what may be a gay-squeamish audience, and when the families of the team come to support Robin when Jules (along with the rest of the team) is missing in Afghanistan, their places are reinforced as equal.
The chief secondary plot, of ex-Adam trying to split up man he was involved with first, while increasingly worried about a weirdo who keeps sending him letters about robot invaders, is interesting, and neatly rounds out what is more a novella than a complete novel.
The characters are, as always with Brockmann, strong and well-rounded, and for those familiar with the series it's a pleasure to catch up with all the partnerships created over the previous eleven Troublemaker/SEAL team 16 books. In fact, the only quibble I had was the book's brevity, but I'm going to console myself with the thought that this means the next novel will be out even sooner! - Alex
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