Jeff Abbott

This book was really fun!  It is told in the first person, in a chatty, cheerfully sarcastic manner that made me laugh.  The author does a really clever job of disguising the villain with misdirection right until the reveal at the end.  

Jeff Abbott catches the atmosphere of small-town Texas to perfection in this, his first novel. His hero is Jordy Poteet, just returned from Boston to care for his mother who has Alzheimer's. In contrast to his job as editor in Boston, Jordy becomes the head librarian in his old hometown. His nemesis is Beta Harcher, a religious zealot who is singlehandedly attempting to censor many of the best books in the library. Jordy and Beta have a loud disagreement, and the next day Beta is found show more murdered. Jordy's old schoolmate Junebug, now the town sheriff, fingers Jordy as the chief suspect. Jordy sets out on his own investigation as an act of self-defense. He discovers a list of townspeople which Beta compiled and beside each name is a scripture reference. Jordy talks to each person on the list and looks up the Bible verses, in an attempt to solve the murder.

A lot of action is packed into these 248 pages. The cast of characters are a diverse lot. You will love some, hate some, and just feel sorry for the clueless ones. show less

Imagine, several years of your life just vanish as a result of an accident, but all you know is that the person you were with was killed and everyone blames you. This is situation Jeff Abbott tackles in Blame, an engaging thriller with an ending I didn't expect.

Jane Norton is hiding something, and although we vaguely know pretty early on what has happened to her, she is an amnesiac and not portrayed in the best light. Why was she in the car with David, the boy who died? Who wrote the note show more they found at the scene of the car crash, which appeared to be written in Jane's handwriting stating "I wish
we were dead together"?

The slow start of the story reflects her altered perception of things in a way which explores how she came to be in the state she is, piecing together what happened, in her own disorientated way. I felt sorry for her, yet slightly annoyed at her behaviour. Yes, she is flawed, but she is also scared and frustrated. Does she deserve the treatment some throw at her? Would you be able to forgive her if you knew the truth? As the story progressed I found I was beginning to revel in Jane's take no sh^t attitude and she grew on me even more.

I took a while to get into this, but glad I stuck it out. That's never a good expression to put into a review, but it is how I felt. Despite this, the plot did indeed gather speed and there were twists and turns galore, which raced to a final conclusion that made reading this book all worthwhile. show less

Inside Man is an extremely engaging thriller that grabs you from the first chapter and doesn't let up until the last chapter. Although I have read a couple of early novels by Jeff Abbott this is the first in the Sam Capra series. While a little of Capra's back story may have been helpful there is just enough of his history introduced as the action unfolds to make this a very enjoyable stand alone. Sam Capra is an engaging main character surrounded by a broad spectrum of secondary characters show more that range from those found at Stormy's, his bar in Miami, the Varela family to Mila and other assorted characters from his CIA background. The action is fast paced with no detours along the way. If you like sound story telling with plenty of action, strong characters and a bit of clandestine underpinnings this is a novel for you. show less