Another very enjoyable read in this series. It was heading to be a five star review but I thought it went a little off the rails in the grand finale, as books like this often do, but I really enjoyed the unraveling of the story. ( )

Sully the character continues to develop. The novel, definitely a thriller with well managed excitement and suspense is also an examination of how society deals with mental illness. Not offering a solution but questioning past attempts.
I need to leave the details to be discovered by the reader. It is a good read and thought provoking. ( )

This story, set in 2002, takes place in Washington, D.C., where Sullivan “Sully” Carter, a former foreign war correspondent for "The Paper" (presumably "The Washington Post”), now works on the metro beat. His traumatic wartime experiences left him with serious PTSD and a bad drinking problem. Still, he manages to solve crimes that elude the police.

As the book begins, Sully is at the U.S. Capitol chasing a story about environmental regulations when he hears the burst of an automatic weapon and runs over to find a number of dead and wounded. It is, he muses, the new American nightmare:

“The national anxiety during the Cold War had been a Russian nuclear strike, millions of god-fearing Americans vaporized in an instant. By the turn of the century, the national anxiety had devolved into a crazy man with a gun, god-fearing Americans picked off half a dozen at a time. Slow motion suicide instead of instant annihilation.”

Instead of hiding, Sully, a self-admitted chaos junkie, looks for the shooter, eventually finding the mutilated body of a congressman from Oklahoma who was apparently the main intended victim. He also overhears the killer calling 911 and identifying himself as Terry Waters of Oklahoma.

Sully, first on the scene, gets the exclusive and continues to follow the story after the shooter, on the run, calls Sully and wants to talk. When Waters follows Sully and shoots at him and his date - fellow reporter Alexis di Rossi - Waters is taken into custody and put in St. Elizabeths, the famous mental hospital in Southeast D.C. Sully then heads out to Oklahoma to see what he can find out about this man and why he went ballistic. As Sully tells the FBI:

“That’s the problem with victims and perps . . . . ‘Line’s so thin. Stop the clock yesterday morning, he’s a sad story. By nightfall, he’s a monster. I don’t buy he made the transition in the afternoon. Grief is a patient bastard. It’ll take it’s time, twist you into something you never were.”

What Sully finds is shocking (and based on real historical facts), and leads to a crazily tense and exciting denouement.

Discussion: I love this series, for several reasons. One is that Sully is a great character - damaged, with a mix of ruthlessness and compassion, and an ability to cross back and forth over the borders in D.C. in a way most inhabitants there don’t. That there are two worlds within D.C. is not commonly known by tourists:

“It never failed to astonish him how vast the seat of power on the Hill was, a center of clout, senators and representatives who could change the lives of the entire nation, if not the world . . . and, one lousy block east, you crossed a two-lane and you were in a Washington neighborhood of row houses and corner markets and alleyways, where streetlights didn’t work, air-conditioning units hung out of most of the windows, you could buy dope in the parks, and nobody gave a rat’s ass about who you knew.”

In each book in the series so far, Tucker takes pains to expose the very interesting and stark contrast between the class and race divides in D.C. (As Atlantic Magazine reported in 2012: "The top 5 percent of households in Washington, D.C., made more than $500,000 on average last year, while the bottom 20 percent earned less than $9,500 - a ratio of 54 to 1.")

I also like that Tucker’s writing is so adept and evocative, as indeed you might expect from an actual staff writer at “The Washington Post,” as with this passage:

“The deputy clerk, seated just in front of the judge, scarcely looked up. Her monotone, born of a thousand days and a million defendants, had all the spontaneity and excitement of a washing machine clicking over to the rinse cycle.”

Evaluation: This third book in the series featuring reporter Sully Carter keeps you turning the pages. I especially like the way in which the author integrates local history and color into the plot. The dialogue is a good mix of insider jargon, cynical shorthand, and gritty realism. Fans of hard-boiled crime fiction, especially those who like D.C. settings, will welcome this latest installment. ( )

This book is my first introduction to this series. What a way to start a book. With a mass shooting. Sully won me over right away. Not sure if it was due to his stupidity or his dedication to his job...maybe it was a little of both. I mean you would have to be both if not a somewhat crazy to survive a shooting and then go chasing after the shooter to get the first exclusive scoop on the story with real first hand experience. From this moment on I was hooked to this story and Sully as he was not afraid to get his hands dirty to find the truth.

Additionally, what made this book a winner for me as well is the fact that the other character whether they be main, secondary, or minor roles all played a part and were intriguing. Sometimes this can be missed or downplayed in a book and thus I become only half interested in the story. The only place I will be running is to check out the prior novels in this series. ( )

Only the Hunted Run is the newest book in Neely Tucker's Sully Carter series.

I've read the first two books and really enjoyed them, so I happily picked up this newly released third entry.

Sully is a newspaper reporter in Washington, DC. I'm going to borrow from one of my previous descriptions of Sully:

"The best protagonists for crime books are the walking wounded, the ones who buck authority, the ones who just can't let things be or let justice go unserved. Sully Carter fills the bill on every count. He's battling PTSD, alcohol and anger issues, his bosses and manages to step on toes everywhere he goes. He's also a confidant of the one of DC's crime lords. Flawed but driven."

Sully is in the Capitol building on an assignment when a shooter goes on a rampage. Sully, instead of running, moves further into the building, chasing the story. He gets close, manages to hide, and is a first hand witness to the carnage. The shooter himself makes the 911 call, but manages to walk out without being apprehended. After reading Sully's story, he calls him, insisting they have similarities in their lives. And that they should talk.....

I always love keeping an eye out for the title cue as I read. In this case, it comes from Terry Waters, the shooter:

"Sully, okay. You've got to understand this. It's key. Only the hunted run. I, me, I'm not the hunted. I'm not running. I hunt. I am the hunter."

But Sully too is hunting - hunting for who Terry Waters is and the whys and wherefores of his killing spree.

The journey for those answers makes for addictive reading. It was only when I finished the book that I discovered that Neely had (again) woven in fact with fiction. It was hard to believe that these horrific historical details were sickeningly real.

What makes this such a great series? Well, I love the main character, flaws and all. Sully is making progress on the anger, drinking and PTSD, but it's two steps forward, one step back. Tucker has given Sully an expanded personal life with Alexis that I hope lasts - I quite like her. There seems to be an exit for one supporting character that I will be sad to see leave. But I am looking forward to seeing what his replacement will bring to the series.

The writing is fantastic - great pacing, dialogue, setting and plotting. And no wonder - Tucker himself is a writer at The Washington Post. He's also been a war correspondent in over sixty countries. Tucker brings that experience and knowledge to his writing. And to Sully as well - I do wonder how much of Tucker himself is woven into the character?

Only the Hunted Run was another great read for me. I look forward to number four. ( )