WOW! Jack Daniels, Herb, Phin, McGlade, Luther, Donaldson, Lucy. Damn this was an edge of your seat thriller with serial killer Luther staging an elaborate plan for Jack. Jack is 8 1/2 months pregnant, retired, & happy with Phin. Luther Kite, serial killer extraordinaire that got away, is back & pulling Jack back into his game. Elaborate setups from a demented mind & senseless murders for showing off starts the chase. Jack & Co use every ounce of strength to fight back & catch Luther or be killed. Edge of your seat with loads of twists and turns. #8 in Jack Daniels series & #4 in Thomas/Kite series ( )

Action Galore!

Backstory:

Jack Daniels is back in this installment but not as a lieutenant as she retired, but she is still very much in the thick of things as though she is retired the bad guys didn't get that memo! One of the most evil villains that Jack has ever come across (Luther Kite) is back to try and make Jack pay for everything that she had done to him in the past. He is willing to go to "extreme" lengths to make sure that Jack and her friends suffer tremendously with pain and torture.

Though within this installment, Jack is pregnant - Phineas is the father - Phineas is wanting to marry Jack but she is hesitant as it seems that everyone she loves somehow gets a bullseye on their back from the villains that are chasing her so she is up and down on a decision, but when Luther goes through with an elaborate plan to end all their lives, Jack wishes that maybe she should have agreed to marry Phineas!

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers, so if you want to know more then you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This installment I think was one of the best in the series as there was continuous action throughout the story - lots of tension and nail-biting suspense. I kid you not - I read the last 60% in just a few hours as I could not lay the book down. I even was reading the book till around 3 in the morning - I would sleep a few hours then I would just pick it right back up to continue the story.

Major twists and turns in this story kept me glued to the pages along with more quips and humor by Harry McGlade that kept me laughing. The stuff that comes rolling out of McGlade's mouth keeps me in stitches and it is the only thing in the book that breaks up the tension. I love the humor that is weaved into the storyline as it is definitely an ice breaker.

This installment was also collaborated with author Blake Crouch as Luther Kite is his character in the Andrew Z. Thomas books, so this installment was extra special as I was able to have the best of both worlds in this book. The ending in this book had a major twisted revelation that sent me careening at a high rate of speed toward the end of the book.

Now I am going to have to read Rum Runner next which is book #9 in the series and hopefully will be jumping into that book this coming month sometime as this book sort of ended on a cliff hanger and I need to see what happens next. I don't want no grass to grow under my feet for the next installment so I better get to it as soon as I can! lol Giving this book five Fight to Survive stars!

Highly recommend this series and if you have not read this series then you are missing out! ( )

Luther Kite, serial killer, pits his wits against a heavily pregnant ex-Lt. Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels. Lots of violence in this story, read to see who survives.
An interesting thriller ( )

Angela Dawe and Phil Gigante narrated this audiobook. ( )

Well, it looks like Luther Kite is up to no good again. And, here's superhero cop Jack Daniels to save the day once again. Whooptie-freakin-doo. I've read this same goddamn story in all of these Konrath and Crouch novels. It's just the same shit over and over. Bad guy kills some people. Jack tries her best to solve the crime.

Then, the bad guy kills more people. He taunts Jack, so she knows who's doing the dirty deeds. He want's her hot on his heels. The game is so much more exciting that way.

For the most part, this book is about revenge. Everyone wants revenge against Jack. Because she's just so good at her job, that she keeps putting bad guys in prison. And bad guys fucking hate prison. So they break out, and go after her. Again, nothing new.

Bad guys being after jack is pretty much standard operating procedure in these books. It's to be expected. It's also pretty obvious that the same plot tricks will happen in this book that have happened in all the other books. One bad guy isn't who he seems. No surprise. The bad guys will get within inches of executing their brilliant plan, only for Jack to save the day. It's the same shit every time.

So yes, the first 2/3 of this rather hefty 500 page book is boring and predictable. The last 1/3 however, was actually quite fun. Because it turned into a fucking SAW movie. Luther Kite had set up nifty little scheme, where he hijacked a buss, and took the poor passengers to this abandoned warehouse, where he had all kinds of gore and fun planned.

Just like the SAW movies, he set these poor saps up in horrifying contraptions, where Jack Daniels would have to come and save them. Or, more likely, Jack would just get to see them all die, one by one, in more and more sick and twisted ways.

If it weren't for that last third of the book, I'd give this book only 2 stars. But that last bit redeemed it, and made it quite a good read. ( )