Nice short thriller read. I like the main character, though at times it seems he has always the best way of doing things versus anyone else's opinion. Some of the story was pretty expected, though, still enjoyed reading through them. Will definitely start the next book int his series. ( )

DNF
Pedantic ( )

[Lockdown] by Sean Black
Ryan Lock series Book 1

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it's business as usual. His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists. When a failed assassination attempt leaves the streets of midtown littered with bodies, and hours later the son of the company's chief research scientist is abducted from his Upper West Side prep school, Lock's hunt for the boy turns into an explosive game of cat and mouse. Through the corporate corridors of power and dark alleys of Manhattan, Lock's search leads him towards a deadly confrontation with one of the world's most dangerous women, a deadly Chechen black widow seeking revenge against America. As the clock ticks towards midnight on New Year's Eve, and the crowds gather in Times Square, Lock realizes that not only is his own life in terrible danger but so are the lives of millions of others.

My Thoughts:
After giving it a great deal of thought I realized that there is no way that I can cover the ratings for this book in a single number of stars. This book was written in 2009 so there are already 7 books in the series but since they were only just released in the United States I’m treating this as a new series.

The characters: The chief characters of Ryan Lock and his friend and co-worker, Tyrone (Ty) I would have to give them a 5. Both are competent and likable characters with a lot of promise for future novels. I hope that Angel, the rescued dog, stays in the series also. She gets a 5 all by herself.

The series overall: This is the start of a new series...at least in the U.S. that fans of David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Lee Child and other great thriller writers will more than likely enjoy and find that the characters of John Puller, Mitch Rapp, and Jack Reacher have a lot in common with Ryan Lock without being carbon copies. Since this is only the first book I will cautiously give the series a 4 but have expectations of it being one that I will add to the mountain of series I already read.

The story line: Here is where I had the most problem with the book and I’m sure that it is going to present a problem for other readers. I wish that Sean Black had kept this subject in reserve and used it in book 3 or 4 instead of the first that many will judge the entire series by and be afraid to take a chance on another one. The story is about a bio-technology company that does research on animals and has graduated to living human beings. I found that the animal part was so much harder to take than the human…since they were hardened criminals and the animals had done nothing to find themselves in this situation. Having said that…I would have to give the story line a big red 1 with maybe even minus signs. Animal lovers and people with a soft heart will hate the subject.

Since I do have hope for this series I will await Book 2 in the series Deadlock. ( )

Decent read for a first-time author. Kept me fully engaged and was always full of action, mystery, and intrigue. It did seem the grammatical errors became more abundant towards the end of the book. Nevertheless, it's very readable and enjoyable. Reminiscent of a Brad Thor or Vince Flynn novel. I look forward to reading Black's sequel, "Dead Lock". ( )

This was my fourth and final choice from the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge. Whilst chick lit is a favourite genre of mine I also love bloke lit so I thought it'd be good to include a new bloke lit author in my selection. Within a few chapters of this book I was very glad I'd picked it.

Lockdown is the story of Ryan Lock, a security expert employed by a company that is involved in testing products on animals. Within the early chapters everything blows up, the pace picks up and I found myself swept away in the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be looking out for the next instalment in the series. I think I've found a new must read author! ( )