False Allegiance
by Nick Thacker
Books On Tour
Review

My thanks go out to Noelle, representing publisher Bookouture, for saving me a place on this lovely ‘Books On Tour’ schedule.

I also need to thank the great NetGalley team, for always making life so easy when downloading review copies.

FALSE ALLEGIANCE – (Jake Parker #3)

Someone wants Jake Parker dead. He’ll find out why, or die trying…

Ex-army, ex-police, widowed husband, estranged son. Jake Parker has no family, no one to care if one of the government-contract jobs he takes goes wrong. So he’s shocked to get a phone call from his father as he’s pursuing an anomaly from his latest mission. But his dad isn’t calling for a chat, he’s issuing a warning: stop digging around, let this job go.

Jake barely has time to register the news that his father has been keeping tabs on him before a bomb tears apart his apartment, and he barely escapes with his life. Now he’s injured, on the run, and determined to find out who wants to silence him, and why.

The more he digs, the more drastic the attempts on his life become, but Jake won’t be beaten at this game. When he gets hold of one of the thugs trying to take him out, Jake learns that he’s treading on the toes of an illicit arms deal and now he may be the only person who can stop a cargo of weapons getting into the hands of international terrorists. Terrorists with their eyes on the US and who seem to have a hold on his father. Now Jake has to make the ultimate choice: allegiance to his family, or to his country…? He can only save one.

NICK THACKER

Nick Thacker is the USA Today Bestselling Author of action-adventure thrillers and mysteries.

Often mentioned as a cross between Clive Cussler and James Rollins, his stories are written in a fast-paced, punchy style.

Keep up with all Nick’s latest news at his website

Follow Nick on Twitter

Connect with Nick on Facebook

FIRST LINES

CHAPTER ONE

SATURDAY 9pm – THE BAR

“Do me a favor, son,” the gruff voice on the other end of the line said.

“What’s that?”

“Don’t ever call me again.”

The conversation had already been nearing completion, but Jake Parker made things official by smashing the end button to disconnect the call. He then slammed the phone facedown into the top of the epoxy-covered wooden bar top.

MEMORABLE LINES

“Their friendship was one that had originally been born out of necessity – the common bond of high stress and a shared adventure – but it had been proven in the mundane and lazy rhythms of normal life”

.

“He had somehow, inadvertently, trained himself to feel like “home” was wherever he hung his uniform at the end of the day, but that home could easily change to a hotel room, a vacation rental, or the backseat of his car, depending on the mission. It was a survival mechanism, likely one he had picked up in the Army. It kept emotion from creeping too far into his day-to-day life. Kept him focused. Now, without a house to call his home, he could be extremely focused”

.

“For whatever reason, Jake Parker had a knack for getting people close to him hurt or killed”

.

“Not only does there not have to be a loser, more often than not even winning feels a lot like losing. There are just several gradations of loser and winner. The winner is the guy who’s lost the least by the end of it”

.

“In Jake’s mind, he had no father. The memory of his mother would always live on inside of him, but in his father’s case – well, he would work hard to forget him”

REVIEW

“Someone wants Jake Parker dead. He’ll find out why, or die trying…”

Oh my goodness! This series just gets better and better!

Author Nick Thacker really does know how to push all the buttons on those four things I always look for to make an amazing thriller. An opening that hits the ground running and sets the pulse racing, a storyline which never lets up and keeps the adrenaline flowing, towards an ending which is satisfyingly final and ties up all the loose ends of the assignment, even though I know that the next case is probably only just around the corner for this intrepid investigator. Oh! and that all important fourth element – the good guy can’t be dead, which Jake Parker only just manages by the skin of his teeth in all his adventures, but this time especially, was much too close for comfort!

Short, punchy chapters and some excellent crisp dialogue, kept the action moving along seamlessly at breakneck speed and although there was nary a wasted word or full stop, I felt that somehow I found out more about what makes Jake Parker tick, than I had in any of the previous stories, with many more moments of quiet introspection, making it much easier to relate to him, as much as he allows anyone to that is. He seems to have grown in stature as he has taken on the role, moulded and shaped it, to make it very much his own. His personality, emotions and vulnerabilities were more visible and laid bare for those who knew him best to see, in a very real and honest way. This multi-layered, intense and textured storyline, really tested Jake’s stoicism and loyalties, as he is put in the very unenviable position of having to choose between head and heart, country and family. But when neither are particularly palatable options, one side is as corrupt as the other, oh! and just about everyone wants you dead, what’s a man to do? Perhaps my only smidgen of concern for Jake, is that his love life seems to have stalled spectacularly, which is a real shame, although in Holland, he has now found a new working partner who he is able to trust implicitly, each of them complementing the other, without the need for any firm or binding commitment, as total honesty with each other is their unspoken bond.

The author has really found the perfect way to collaborate with Jake, affording him a strong voice and personal input into his own storylines, whilst still keeping a firm guiding hand on both characters and readers, leading them with total confidence and authority, in the direction he wants them to go, to a conclusion of his choosing. Jake definitely has a penchant for surrounding himself with water as the main arenas for his final showdowns, and as the action moves from the car chases of mainland USA, through the portside of Cape Verde and on to the inhospitable jungle rivers of the Gambian/Senegalese border region, nothing much has changed this time. The crisp and assured, observational and descriptive narrative, brings depth and range to the writing, affording a real sense of time and place, helping to put me right at the heart of things, although I’m not too sure that I would have been a willing observer to much of the action, between trying to fend off all those pesky night time jungle insects, dealing with the tropical heat and humidity, and trying my hardest to deal with the motion sickness of a none to stable boat on all that water – all whilst being shot at!

The author has, as always, done a great job at creating a well defined and developed cast of multi-faceted characters and whilst I might have been able to get under the skin of Jake Parker a little better this time around, connecting with him in any meaningful way is a whole different matter, as he definitely isn’t going to open up and let anyone into his innermost thoughts and feelings anytime soon. In fact that goes for just about all of the main cast of characters, who keep their vulnerabilities in strict check, as they are all busy ‘playing both ends against the middle’, with their double dealings, secret meetings, duplicitous behaviour and bare-faced lies. All traits I have to say, which make them authentically drawn and genuinely believable in the roles they have to play. Nick pays as much attention to detail with his transient cast of ‘visiting’ characters and when I had trouble spotting the bad guys from the good, I guess that’s a job well done by him!

This series as a whole, continues to be well considered and structured, so that each episode slots in as a stand alone story in its own right, whilst at the same time leading to a potential series finale which I just know is going to be explosive and all-consuming. I just need to know if Jake is going to survive and I can’t wait!

A complimentary download of this book for review purposes, was made available by Bookouture and supplied by NetGalley

Any thoughts or comments are my own personal opinion and I am in no way being monetarily compensated for this, or any other article which promotes this book or its author.

I personally do not agree with ‘rating’ a book, as the overall experience is all a matter of personal taste, which varies from reader to reader. However some review sites do demand a rating value, so when this review is posted to such a site, it will attract a well deserved 5 out of 5 stars!

…