Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* James Beck is not a man to cross. After serving eight hard years for killing a cop in self-defense, he is released and, with a fat cash settlement engineered by his lawyer, buys himself privacy and a ramshackle building in Brooklyn, where he now lives with three trusted ex-cons. When one of the three, Manny Guzman, is asked for help by his cousin, Olivia Sanchez, the only relative to stick by him during his prison term, Beck gets involved. After being threatened and injured by a colleague at her brokerage firm, then fired and blackballed, Olivia needs redress and a job. As Beck goes to her aid, he's nearly killed by men employed by Leonid Markov, a Russian arms dealer whose large cash accounts keep Olivia's former firm afloat. Soon Beck is targeted by Markov, the CEO of the brokerage firm, with his ties to the U.S. military, a deadly Bosnian crew, and a gang of Russian mobsters. Beck, physically skilled and smart, commands loyalty from his immediate crew and some contract help, as events lead to a violent climax. With crisp prose, masterful plotting, and building suspense, this is a real treat for fans of gritty crime fiction, who will want more from Clarkson.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Tough guy James Beck, the star of this outstanding thriller from Clarkson (One Way Out), runs a barely above-the-boards operation in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to give employment and a second chance to his fellow ex-cons. Beck tries to protect prison acquaintance Manny Guzman from avenging Olivia Sanchez, Guzman's beautiful cousin, who was once a compliance officer at a high-powered Wall Street hedge fund. Sanchez claims to have been physically harmed, fired, and blackballed from the financial industry after attempting to rein in a rogue trader at her firm. Beck pulls together his quasi gang-which includes a bevy of appealing ruffians, mobsters, and burglars-to correct the wrong. But in doing so, he uncovers a plot to launder tens of millions from illegal arms sales, and he riles psychotic Russian arms dealer Leonid Markov, who now wants Beck dead. Clarkson's relentless storytelling drives Beck and his foes toward a satisfying apocalyptic climax. Fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher will find a lot to like. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, Janklow & Nesbit. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Olivia Sanchez is a compliance officer for Summit, a small investment company. When she spots irregular trading activity, Olivia confronts the broker, Alan Crane, who goes wild, threatening her and banging on her desk, breaking two of her fingers. Crane denies everything and even sues her for libel. Receiving no satisfaction from Summit's owner or the police, Olivia turns to Manny Guzman, a cousin with a criminal past, and his partner in crime James Beck, a man with unlimited resources. Beck learns that Crane is managing money for a Russian arms dealer, Markov, with nefarious connections. Unbelievably, Beck recruits, with a mere phone call, every kind of criminal, hackers, gunmen, thieves, in his fight against Markov. VERDICT Clarkson's (And Justice for One) disappointing new thriller lacks strong character development, offers the thinnest of plots, and ends in a predictable fashion. Although his Jack Reacher-style hero gets beaten up plenty, he never loses. Only fans of hard-boiled crime novels that feature bloody fights, guns, broken bones, drugs, and graphic sex will enjoy this book.-Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A bad guy-versus-bad guy thriller in which the best outcome might be for everyone to die. Olivia Sanchez is a hardworking, ambitious employee at a Manhattan brokerage firm. When she apparently uncovers financial malfeasance, an irate colleague pounds his fist on her desk and breaks her fingers. Much worse, she's fired. Ostensibly to get her job back, she enlists the aid of her cousin Manny Guzman, an angry ex-convict who thinks that respectable Wall Street types "look at us [ex-cons] like cockroaches." Guzman in turn lines up James Beck, a convicted cop killer who was later exonerated. The conflict quickly gets out of control as small armies of thugs line up for and against Sanchez. Beck really owns the story, as one character's stated goal is to "wipe this Beck and all around him off the map of life." Beck is believable when he threatens to starve one of his enemies to death and run the man's skinny remains piece by piece through a meat grinder and feed the mush to a pack of dogs. Fans of grit and action will appreciate all the bullets and f-bombs that pepper the story, though the latter get old after about the hundredth eff-splosion. And heroeswho needs stinkin' heroes? No one is sympathetic here, although one might find vicarious delight in Sanchez (no nun, that Olivia) and Beck as they spend one vivid scene in bed. The story rarely stalls in its battles, bloodletting and betrayals, yet it still feels too long. At some point the reader may think, yes, that twist was good, that fight was exciting. Now enough already: Let's wrap this adventure up. Readers who want a likable protagonist to root for won't find one here. Yet it's a well-told, over-the-top tale long enough to keep a passenger occupied on a coast-to-coast flight. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
