Packing Heat

FBI #4

by Penny McCall

When a cool computer whiz-turned-convict is paired with a sexy FBI agent, love on the run turns into something much more than just fun.

Cole Hackett's got a grudge.  Eight years ago, he trusted the FBI and created a masterwork of computer security programming.  In return he was thrown in jail for espionage.  He finally accepted his fate.  But now fate's rewriting his program.

FBI Agent Harmony Swift is smart, blond, beautiful -- and in over her head.  When she illegally springs Cole out of jail for a top-secret, life-or-death assignment, she knows she's taking a risk. This is Cole's chance to clear his name, and she didn't expect him to harbor such a bad attitude -- or to be so darned attractive.

Now, with two relentless Russian mafia thugs pursuing them, Cole is out for payback, and Harmony is trying to save a life.  They're either going down in flames or out in a blaze of glory -- anything is possible when the heat is on!

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Suspense

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 20, 2009

About the author

Okay, so I have to write a new bio because, well, life happens whether you want it to or not. And while I was at it, I decided to answer that question everyone asks me: How did you start writing? The only answer I have is To keep the voices in my head from driving me crazy. Now, you probably think those voices mean I am crazy, except for a couple things. When I write down what they're saying, they leave me alone. And they never tell me to kill or maim anyone. Both of those are definite pluses in my book. So, where do the voices come from? That's a toughie, so I'll start at the beginning. I'm the seventh of nine children, and we are not chips off the old block. We all possess distinct, unique personalities. In the summer my mom would send us outdoors until lunch time (for her own sanity, I'm sure) and we'd amuse ourselves in the woods behind our house, catching tadpoles, sneaking into the orchard next door, tormenting each other. We used to take picnic lunches and I remember this one time we put ants in my brother's mustard sandwich. Not those puny little sugar ants, either, big, fat black ones. Another time we buried his watch in the sand pile behind our house. He's still holding a grudge. Hey, we were kids before cable and video games, we had to find some way to amuse ourselves.

So, the voices? Well, I turned out to be that kid who was painfully shy. I was only happy with my nose in a book (okay, and tormenting my brother, but it was my sister's idea, and really, he deserved it), and when I wasn't reading I made up stories in my head. If I'd had the courage and discipline to write them down I'd be the most prolific author ever. So, why didn't I? Life, that's why. Marriage, crafts, kids, crafts, gainful employment, crafts, divorce. And did I mention crafts? I've done it all, ceramics, knitting, macramé, origami, crocheting—I even sold a couple of original patterns. Yeah, I know, the voices weren't impressed either. The crafts didn't shut them up for long, so one day I exorcised them onto paper, and after writing at least a half dozen historicals, the you-sound-too-contemporary comments in all those rejection letters finally sank in and I tried my hand at writing contemporary romance. My first story, Happily Ever After, sold in exactly four days, followed by four more to the now discontinued Precious Gems series at Kensington Publishing. I wrote another four for Harlequin's American series, all nine under the name, Penny McCusker. And then the voices got sassy and took me into the world of life-or-death, car chases, gunfire, and sarcasm, and I'm happily chugging along in that vein as Penny McCall.

I realize after all this rambling that I haven't exactly answered the question of where the voices come from, but hey, you'll just have to accept that they exist. I have.

Reviews

[Helen Smart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, the heroine didn't really seem to have a serious plan at any point and the identity of the 3rd villain was rather obvious I guessed a couple of chapters in but it was well paced and kept me moderately engaged

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to start but then it snowballs into a full on crime mystery you want to finish

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent plot plus some gratuitous sex - I guess that’s what you need in a “romantic suspense” novel. A fast read - good for sometime when you need an easy escape.

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

One long chase scene. Nothing special enough.

STORY BRIEF:
After Harmony’s parents died, Richard became a mentor/father figure to her. He worked for the FBI and helped her become an agent. Harmony wanted to be a field agent, but the FBI kept her doing desk work. She wasn’t strong with field agent skills. Richard was kidnapped by some Russians who wanted millions deposited in a bank account. The FBI refused to negotiate. Harmony took vacation time with a plan to pay the ransom and free him. She goes to a prison and gets Cole released using forged papers. He was convicted of hacking into the FBI’s computer system. Cole was innocent but was framed by a bad FBI agent (Treacher) who stole Cole’s software and sold it. Harmony wants Cole to hack into a system to transfer money to the kidnappers’ account. They are chased by three goups: the police, men working for Treacher (who wants Cole dead), and the kidnappers (who want to know Harmony’s plans).

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This felt like one long chase scene. I wasn’t drawn into the characters. There was nothing special about the dialogue. Nothing surprised or delighted me. At times I wanted it to be over. Sorry.

DATA:
Story length: 311 pages. Swearing language: moderate to strong. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 5. Total number of sex scene pages: 8. Setting: current day various locations across the U.S. Copyright: 2009. Genre: romantic suspense.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
Occasionally I’ve found authors using “too cutesy” names. To the best of my memory, the writing has not been good when I see this. In this story the names were Hackett (computer hacker), Treacher (treacherous bad guy), Swendahl (Svengali – a person with evil intent manipulating another), and to a lesser degree Harmony (whose nickname was Harm). I only mention Harmony because of the others. If she were the only one, I wouldn’t criticize it.

[Christi Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Review:
This was a fun, sexy book. Cole was set up by someone at the FBI 8 years ago and ended up with a 25 year prison sentence. He went into prison as a slightly out of shape geeky kid, but 8 years in the prison weight room have done really nice things for his physique which Harmony quickly discovers.

Harmony is an FBI agent in Barbie's body. She has been trying to become a field agent for years, but to no avail...everyone says that she is too emo to handle the job. But when the FBI agent that she looks upon as her father-figure is kidnapped, she takes it upon herself to rescue him because she knows that the FBI won't.

There were some real issues with the believability on several aspects of the story, but I chose to overlook them and simply enjoy the book. I love both Harmony and Cole. Harmony IS tough, but she doesn't have the experience in the field to back it up. She knows that getting mixed up with Cole will mess up her plan in so many ways, but she can't help herself or her growing attraction/attachment to him as they have to travel across the country while trying to escape/evade.

Cole has learned the hard way that the only person he can trust is himself. When Harmony breaks him out of jail, he can see that things are probably not going to go his way so he is trying to figure out a way to protect himself and quickly that evolves into protecting her too.

This is a tender, sweet romance that builds up slowly between the two of them as they are on this wild, crazy cross-country trip with people after them from all sides. Cole and Harmony are both genuinely nice people and I really enjoyed watching their feelings deepen and grow. Another great book from Penny McCall!

[Erinaceina]

I realised I just didn't care about anything in this book, least of all the romantic resolution. Harmony made me want to scream, and Cole seemed more whiny than anything else. I was hoping for something along the lines of Pamela Clare's Unlawful Contact, but the characters here lacked strength and substance. I suppose I could have finished the book, but I'd just have been reading for the sake of saying I'd not given up.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

No heat and no chemistry between the two main characters. The whole romantic aspect of this book felt forced. I was just glad to be done with it. I love this authors previous work but this was definitely a bust.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story didn't pack as much heat as the review led me to believe. I was about halfway through before things began to pick up.

[Kim Johnson]

Harmony Swift and Cole Hackett
on the run mystery-USA

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent romance with a side of extra lame villians.

[Sheryl C. Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think i LOVE romance stories about computer geeks and FBI agents...well written, great sexual tension...you can bet your bottom dollar i won't look at a computer geek the same way again! LOL!