Alyssa and Sam are on their way to New York City to teach a few self-defense techniques to a newly-elected New York State Assemblywoman and her chief of staff, after a political controversy generates hate mail.  While this is supposed to be an easy assignment they take their son Ash with them and some of the Team Sixteen SEALs (to stand around and look large and menacing) with them.

What none of them expect is that Alyssa might be the real target, of a serial killer who has his sights on her, and has for years.  Now the killer, known only as “The Dentist” is determined to obtain his prize no matter who is in his way.  Now the easy assignment for Alyssa and the guys is turning up dead bodies left and right, bringing Jules (FBI) and his husband to New York to help out.

SEALs of Team Sixteen are some of the strongest secondary characters in Hot Pursuit.  You will see Gilligan finally find the woman who might be his match, if he doesn’t mess things up too badly, that is.  Izzy will be given a few choices, and you will learn a little more about one of the teams’ members who is involved with another man.  But, don’t be distracted as all this is happening while the team works hard with Sam and Alyssa to determine what is going on, hopefully before someone else is killed.

When Alyssa and Jen are captured by “the Dentist” can they escape on their own, be rescued by Team Sixteen and Sam, or will one of them be lost before the story wraps up?

Ms. Brockmann is one of the ‘grand dames’ of romantic suspense and in past years has had a number of stories that while have romance in them it is almost secondary to the intrigue and action.  Hot Pursuit is definitely one of those stories; in a way it felt like it was a story arc between books, sort of Troubleshooters 14.5.  You have a couple of solid relationships that stay solid in the story and you have the potential of two new ones but the new ones are not resolved by the end of the story.  All that being said this is still one super suspenseful story.  Hot Pursuit has more than one potential villain and you will be given just enough clues to make all the suspects interesting.  I do have to say there are a couple of characters, while I can see them being real people, annoyed me as a reader.  I hated Mick and Dan for more than 75% of the book but in the end I at least really liked Dan.

Hot Pursuit is a strong offering in the Troubleshooters series.  I can’t wait for Izzy’s story to come out next year.  I listened to Hot Pursuit as an unabridged audio and as usual the team reading this story does a phenomenal job keeping the story moving and interesting.