~REVIEW of Nina Bruhns' SHOOT TO THRILL~

Shoot to Thrill (Passion For Danger, #1)

Opening Line: “It was their shoes that gave them away”

I liked this, I really did but...

SHOOT TO THRILL is a roller coaster ride in more ways then one. This 1st in a trilogy takes us from Manhattan to the Sahara and starts out with huge potential. A sexy tortured hero on the run, action filled storyline, smoking hot love scenes and some seriously funny dialogue. And except for the H/h’s names (Kick and Raine really!?) I wondered how I’d managed to miss author Nina Bruhns until now? Unfortunately though as the book progressed things kinda fell apart. Granted the whole story requires a huge suspension of reality (in a Romancing the Stone sort of way) but still, there’s a fine line between going along for the ride and the ridiculous.

Kick Jackson is a junkie on the run. This former CIA spec-ops sniper has had enough of being owned by “Zero Unit” and all the bloodshed. In fact if it hadn’t been for his little addiction to painkillers (developed after the last mission went bad) chances are the Unit wouldn’t have been able to find him at all. As it stands though they’ve offered him a deal he can’t refuse; identify and take down a known terrorist and they’ll tear up his contract… one last mission. Yeah right. The problem is he’s going to be going through withdrawal pretty soon and that’s where the kidnapping comes in. Nurse Raine Martin will do nicely, one last affair before he ships out (and more then likely gets killed) and a safe place to detox. The thing Kick hadn’t counted on was Raine getting thrown into the deadly international spy game or that he’d end up caring.

One of my biggest problems here was with the heroine who while remaining TSTL throughout also manages to transform from wimpy, useless and agoraphobic to (in the author’s words) a warrior; able to wield a knife, carry a gun, detonate bombs, kill and generally save the day while still having childish arguments. It was too much -I kinda hated her. Then there was also the issue of our couple having sex at the most inappropriate times, like outside of a terrorist compound in the Sahara sand dunes while trying to rescue a POW.

Anyways I won’t be too harsh because there’s a lot to like and with several of the storylines continuing throughout the trilogy I know I'll be continuing on. I really enjoyed Bruhns’ style of writing, filled with witty dialogue and fantastic sub plots and secondary characters. “Pig’s” sporadic POV was heart wrenching and intriguing as I tried to figure out how he fit into everything. And I absolutely adored Gina and Van Halen. However in saying that, because their storyline was so combustible (jeez the sex on the table scene!) I also found myself disappointed when we returned to the main storyline. Kick and Raine paled in comparison to those two, and when your secondary couple outshines your main it isn’t a good thing. Cheers people!