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More Brockmann (slash) fic: When Tony Met Adam
The more I read of Suzanne Brockmann's works, the more I love her! I reviewed her m/m romance novel All Through the Night in my last post, and mentioned in passing that the story of Adam, the main characters' manipulative ex-lover, was continued in the ebook When Tony Met Adam. In that review I wrote, "I like Brockmann's writing and it's only $2, so I'll probably buy it, but she's really going to have to work hard at making me like Adam as a protagonist, because the guy is a real jerk in All Through the Night." I honestly thought that I'd read the story and enjoy it, but I wouldn't quite believe that Adam deserves the happy ending that the summary of the fic hints at.
Well guess what--I loved the story! Brockmann not only managed to make me sympathize with Adam, but had me actively rooting for him to get that happy ending.
This is no small feat, because to be quite frank, Adam is a real asshole in All Through the Night (and apparently in the previous Troubleshooters books as well). He cheated on Jules when they were together, and as mentioned in the previous review, tried to break up Jules and Robin when they were about to get married--even after Jules and his friends helped Adam deal with his crazy stalker.
It helps that the story is told partially from Adam's POV (alternating with the POV of Tony, Adam's new love interest), and that Adam is fully aware of how assholish he is, and he holds himself in contempt almost as much as his detractors do. It turns out that most of his bad behavior is a defense mechanism to keep people at bay because he's afraid of getting hurt. (A little like my fanon Onozuka, which gave me a bit more sympathy for Adam, although Adam's way more messed up than Onozuka is.) It also helps to know that his inability to trust or commit to anyone stems from being kicked out of his home as a teenager for being gay, forced to survive on the streets with no one to rely on but himself. He really did care about both Jules and Robin, but his personal demons caused him to sabotage the relationships. (And to be fair, Robin was struggling with his own demons at the time, including alcoholism and being in denial about his homosexuality.)
Tony, a young Navy SEAL, falls in love at first sight with Adam and is determined to win him over, despite Adam's bad reputation. Adam feels the connection as well, so of course he does his best to push Tony away, but unlike his previous lovers, Tony refuses to be pushed away. They share one night together (with a brief but very hot and explicit love scene), and Adam is actually beginning to let down his defenses, just a little--until Tony is abruptly called back to duty and sent to Afghanistan. He promises to come back to Adam when his mission is over, but Adam is afraid to believe in him, and as usual, does his best to sabotage this new relationship. That is, until he learns that Tony may have been hurt or even killed in Afghanistan, and can't hide from his feelings any longer.
Tony is a likeable, though less complex character than Adam. His conviction that he and Adam are meant to be when they barely know each other might seem overly idealistic and optimistic, but he isn't as naive as Adam thinks he is, since he's perceptive enough to see through the front that Adam has put up. I found myself moved by his willingness to believe in Adam when no one else does, and when his unconditional love begins to change Adam for the better (albeit kicking and screaming against his will at first), darn if I didn't find myself rooting for Adam to finally find the happiness that he's been denying himself!
I really enjoyed the love story, but I also enjoyed the interaction between Tony and his SEAL teammates. He essentially outs himself in front of them when he asks Adam out at the beginning of the story, and they react with a believable mix of shock, anger, and support. This story reminds of what a great job Brockmann does of writing three-dimensional characters, not just with protagonists like Adam, but even with minor supporting characters. One of the SEALs, Dan, initially has a somewhat homophobic reaction and it would have been easy to just write him off as a bigot. But although Dan is uncomfortable with Tony's coming out, when Tony really needs his help, Dan is there for him as both a team member and a friend. There's a lot of serious discussion about DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell), and how unfair it is for Tony to be forced to keep his private life a secret from his teammates, and although it's an issue that Brockmann obviously feels strongly about, it manages not to come across as preachy. (In fact, according to Brockmann's website, the story was written to celebrate the repeal of DADT.)
My only complaint is that the story is too short--it runs about 60 pages. (It also contains an excerpt from Hot Target, the book in which Jules and Robin first meet.) I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the characters were well-developed for such a short story, but I would have loved to have seen it expanded into a novella or even a full length novel. There's certainly plenty of material there, with Adam's troubled past and Tony's SEAL team, and it would probably have been more realistic if Adam's change of heart had taken place over a longer period of time. Maybe Brockmann will write more about them someday, although according to the afterword of her novel Hot Pursuit, she's planning to take a break from the Troubleshooters series for awhile. Which is a pity, but at least I can get caught up on the older books I haven't read yet, and there's a short story about Jules and Robin coming out next month as an e-book, and a Troubleshooters anthology due out next year.
(I just finished Hot Pursuit, and although they weren't the main characters, it was great to see Jules and Robin show up in supporting roles. Tony has a minor role, and Dan has a larger supporting role here as well, and continues to interest me as a character who can be both sympathetic and kind of a jerk at the same time.)
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And to be cryptic it was posted and well received. ;0) *kisses*
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I did comment on your last Kingsley poll not too long ago, though. (I chose Kingsley/Percy.) Have the LJ notifications gone wonky again?
I'm very happy that the cryptic thing was well received! ^_^