Matthew FitzSimmons

Lord, I love the way Matthew Fitzsimmons can weave a story. He walks a tight line between thriller, tech, humanity, quasi legal enterprises, murder, mayhem, car chases, and truly psychotic personalities.

This installment focuses less on Gibson Vaughn than the team. The attributes and dialog given to each member gave them an added dimension in this go-round. Their interactions were perfect and drew responses from shaking my head to chuckling to wondering “what the ...?”

Fitzsimmons has show more given the reader an action filled plot which never stops moving and morphing. There are truly despicable nemeses as well as very human characters who get sucked into the vortex and struggle to climb out and enter the fight for survival. A fifteen year old Irish hacker with the most extraordinary one liners could be my new favorite sub character.

Now about the ending - I felt as if I was sitting in a theater and the playwright decided to have the lights go out as an ending and I am left sitting in the darkest dark. Mr. Fitzsimmons when are you going to turn the lights back on? Next installment when?

Love this series, love the writing, love that amidst all the insanity there is a call to humanity. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy. show less

What do you do when your Country decides you are collateral damage and disposable? How do you cope with 18 months alone, in the dark, with no human contact? What happens when you are pushed you to the edge of sanity but you have the ability to realize that insanity is one short step away? Can you walk that thin line, find the answers, and make yourself whole? These are the questions that confront Gibson Vaughn in the third book of the Gibson Vaughn series.

This book punches so many hot show more buttons; right vs wrong, justification vs morality, acceptance vs revenge. Fitzsimmons holds a mirror up to his character and doesn’t deflect the image that he is broken, damaged and perhaps beyond redemption. I was on an emotional roller coaster while I was reading this book. Could I survive what Gibson Vaughn experienced? Would I even want to? Would I act or react any differently?

I think a reader comes up short if they have not read the two previous books in the series. Each book leads into the next and the story and character development becomes clearer. I look forward to anything that Matthew Fitzsimmons publishes in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy show less

Gibson Vaughn is back & he’s not doing well. Eighteen months in complete isolation has left him clinging to his last shred of sanity. When abruptly freed, he has nothing but 2 travelling companions…the ghosts of his father & childhood fiend Bear. Gib knows it’s not normal to talk to the dead but after losing everything, he takes comfort in their familiar faces.

Once he makes it home, Gib tries to pick up the pieces but never loses sight of his goal. The man responsible for his show more incarceration will pay. But while he’s putting the plan together, there are a few complications.

Turns out his ex-wife & daughter have disappeared & a very persistent detective would really like to know where he’s been. He also gets some startling news regarding Poisonfeather (last book) that seems to be connected to his abduction. Then Bear’s grandmother summons him for an audience. She’s an aristocratic old bat he loathes but she has a plan of her own & if he can pull it off, it just might save his life.

This is book #3 in the series & I’d really recommend reading the others first. The plot is intricate & draws heavily on events from previous story lines. There are many returning characters & as all the little bits & pieces slide into place, it feels like everything that came before will finally become clear & help Gib make sense of what happened to his life.

It’s definitely an action thriller but Gib’s battle with PTSD is a poignant thread that runs through the story. His fragile mental state, conversations with the dead & desperate attempts to reconnect with the living make this character much more complex than your stock action hero.

Questions are answered & true villains revealed. And as tension amps up for the last quarter, a wee beverage might come in handy to help you get through an explosive finale. It’s an ending that will have you wishing you could jump right into book #4. show less

Charles Merrick is an arrogant ass. He’s also a resident of Niobe prison. Once upon a time he was a big time hedge fund manager with millions at his disposal. When Wall Street crashed, he was one of the few convicted of fraud but the end is in sight.
Thanks to a deal he cut with the feds, he’ll be a free man in a few months. They had no choice as he had knowledge of a covert government operation in China. To hold up his end of the bargain, he’ll have to leave the country but they show more don’t know where he’s going. Or about the money waiting for him on the outside.
So when a reporter approaches him for an interview before his release, he eagerly agrees. What could go wrong?
Actually…a lot. Merrick’s ponzi scheme (a la Bernie Madoff) ruined the retirement dreams of everyone who invested. The resulting article stirs up a hornet’s nest of publicity & some of his victims see their chance for revenge. The feds are not pleased.

Gibson Vaughn never heard of Merrick until the family of an old mentor gets in touch. Judge Hammond Birk saved Vaughn from going to jail when he was a teenage hacker. Unfortunately the judge invested with Merrick & lost everything. His nephew is convinced Merrick has some money stashed & wants Vaughn to find it. It’s a ridiculous proposition & Vaughn visits the judge to tell him so. But retirement has not been kind to Birk & Vaughn is shaken to find him living on his nephew’s farm in a trailer, suffering from early dementia. He’s a shell of the man who rescued a stupid teenage kid & Vaughn knows it’s time to repay his debt.

To say much more about the plot would lead to spoilers. Just know there are many people watching Merrick to see what he’ll do once he’s free. One by one they descend on the small town of Niobe, West Virginia to await his release. The author does a great job of depicting the effect of an influx of strangers on residents of a dying, rural community with an inbred suspicion of outsiders. The bulk of the book takes place prior to Merrick getting out so we get the back story on all the characters. Each has their own agenda & in a town with one bar & one hotel, it’s inevitable tempers will flare.

As for Vaughn, he’s got his hands full. His military background & computer skills are assets but he’s shackled with a couple of partners that take turns driving him crazy. Tracing the money requires them to form uneasy alliances with some of the other characters. Tensions slowly rise & you know it’s just a matter of time ’til something goes horribly wrong.

It’s a fast paced thriller full of red herrings & misdirection that will keep you guessing as to how it will all shake out. Vaughn was introduced in last year’s excellent “The Short Drop” & he’s still living with the fallout from events in that book. It was a character driven suspense story while this one is more of an action thriller. But he continues to be a compelling guy. He’s a decent, hard working man who can’t seem to catch a break & you desperately want to see something go right in his world.

I’d recommend reading “The Short Drop” first & as this one ends on a cliffhanger, it’s clear there’s more to come. A great cast of characters, plenty of action & intricate plotting make this a book you’ll want to carry with you so you can sneak in some reading time when you get the chance. show less