"Beautifully written and suspenseful."

Once in a while you run across a book that is so good you don't want to put it down. The dishes don't get done, the floors don't get swept and you seriously consider calling in sick to work because you have to read 'just one more chapter'. OVER THE EDGE is this kind of a book.

OVER THE EDGE contains several stories of love and friendship all interwoven around the scene of a hijacked airliner full of Americans that has been diverted to a hostile country. The hijackers are terrorists demanding the release of certain of their members from prison. Top negotiators have been called in to handle the situation, including members of the FBI. Also called in to help are the members of SEAL Team Sixteen, a highly trained group of men who are ready to storm the plane and rescue the hostages.

The main love story involves Senior Chief Stan Wolchonok who has been sent with the Seal team to help rescue the hostages. With him is helicopter pilot and naval reservist Lieutenant Terri Howe. Stan and Terri are friends and he has been helping her with a personal problem back home. Their feelings for each other are changing into something more than friendship, but they each are fighting these feelings for their own reasons.

Another love story is told via the reminiscences and flashbacks experienced by Holocaust survivor Helga Rosen. She is the official envoy sent by Israel to help with negotiations. She is also trying to hide the fact that her mind is going, that she keeps losing touch with reality and traveling back in time to the War, when her brother fell in love with her best friend's sister.

Then there is the ongoing love/hate relationship between FBI sharpshooter Alyssa Locke and Navy Seal Lt. Sam Starrett that we were first introduced to in Ms. Brockmann's THE UNSUNG HERO, and was continued in her next book of this series, The DEFIANT HERO. Alyssa and Sam have a lot of baggage, and they just can't seem to get it right, but we keep rooting for them and hoping for the best. Maybe soon they will get their own story and they can have their happy ending, but judging from the heart rending turn of events their relationship suffers in this book, the road will be very rocky indeed.

Ms. Brockmann has really fine tuned her craft in OVER THE EDGE. The stories are more poignant, the suspense more suspenseful and the transitions between past and present are seamless and well executed. I found all the interwoven relationships to be interesting and satisfying. There is plenty of emotion and lots of tension both sexual and otherwise. How will these men and women possibly work out their problems and successfully save the lives of the hostages on this plane? You will just have to get yourself a copy and find out!

Reviewed by Janice Bennett
Posted July 30, 2001

Summary

Her passion is flying. As one of the best helicopter pilots in the naval reserves, Lieutenant Teri Howe is strong, dedicated, and highly skilled--until a past mistake surfaces, jeopardizing everything she's worked for.

Rock steady Senior Chief Stan Wolchonok has made a career of tackling difficult challenges. So it's no surprise when he comes to Teri's aid, knowing that his personal code of honor--and perhaps his heart--will be at risk. But when a jet carrying an American senator's daughter is hijacked, Stan's unflinching determination and Teri's steadfast courage are put to the ultimate test. The rescue mission will be daring and dangerous. But somewhere between peril and resolution, the line between friends and lovers begins to blur, pushing both their lives over the edge. . . .