Monday, March 9, 2009

Frisco's Kid by Suzanne Brockmann *****

These Tall, Dark & Dangerous books are like 2-bite brownies - short and sweet and all things yummy, but leaving you wanting more, more more! I have given each of them 5 star ratings because I've really enjoyed them, but honestly they don't compare to longer, more complex books with 5 star ratings that I consider keepers.

Frisco is disabled. Five years ago, the SEAL Team Ten Alpha Squad member took a hit to the knee during an op that damn near cost him his life, and did cost him the ability to walk. And he's mad. Frustrated. Angry. Determined to make it better so he can re-join the squad.

But he's already been replaced, because nothing will ever repair his leg enough for him to be an active duty SEAL again. And he's the only one who can't admit it. When he's finally released from the VA Hospital, against his wishes to keep working on his physical therapy, he moves back into his old condo, next door to Mia.

Mia bought the condo a while back, and has never met the neighbor. She knows he's retired military, and figures he's an older fellow, maybe with experience in Vietnam, or even Korea. She's hoping to meet him, because she teaches high school history and he might have some interesting first-person insights about those wars to tell the kids. She's totally not expecting Frisco - just a couple of years older than she is, and ruggedly handsome, and oh-so-built. And the biggest chip on his shoulder of anyone she's ever met!

When Frisco's good-for-nothing alcoholic sister dumps her five-year-old daughter Tasha in his lap while she is checked into detox, he's really got more than his hands full. For one thing, his condo is on the 2nd floor, and he can barely take care of himself, much less a kid. How's he supposed to get her and him and groceries and.... all that up and down stairs??

Frisco's biggest problem is that he can't accept the truth: we all need help from time to time, and if he would only open his eyes he would see that there is plenty of help available to those who help themselves. Instead, he focuses on goals that are out of his reach - re-joining active SEAL duty, mainly. And Mia and Tasha are just the medicine Frisco needs to realize the truth.

There's a suspense plot, based around a former boyfriend of the bad sister trying to recover some money she stole from him, and it's well done. But the bottom line is, Frisco has to find his way to re-visualizing his future.

So, there's a cute kid, and a sweet girl-next-door heroine, who is strong but not combatively so, and a hunky, flawed and slightly tortured hero; one bad guy; and the rest of Team Ten's Alpha Squad on call to help save the day! Whoo hoo! I loved all 3 hours it took to have this tasty snack, and now I need to go look for a full meal book. 5 stars, and in the Serial Readers Challenge

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