James Swain

Stop me if you've heard this one: An ex-military guy "who plays by his own rules" and works on the fringes of the private sector agrees to "put the fear of god" into a group of thugs who are menacing a rich man's teenage daughter. If you've been reading mystery/thriller novels for more than about 20 minutes, of *course* you've heard this one. Our Hero is Travis McGee . . . and Joe Pike . . . and Jack Reacher . . . and you can add your own examples until you run our or get bored.

There's show more nothing -- NOTHING -- wrong with an author boldly going where other authors have gone before. It's not like John D. MacDonald, Robert Crais, or Lee Child invented that particular character archetype, for heaven's sake. Nor is there anything wrong with enjoying the nth rendition of a familiar story. As I've written in a review of one of the later novels in Robert B. Parker's series about Spenser (a close relative of the three heroes above, though more "of" the society whose innocents he protects), we read long-running series because we want the familiar characters to do their familiar things.

But. I've been reading this stuff long enough that it takes either a high level of craft or a distinctive *something* that sets the character apart to hold my interest (for me, Crais and Parker do it with craft and a feel for locations; MacDonald with his penchant for "how you do X" scenes; Child by making his efficiently violent hero an ex-military *cop* who never stops thinking like a detective). After a chapter of plodding dialogue and over-familiar plot beats with nothing to distinguish it, I put this one in the "give to the library sale" box. Life is too short. show less

Pulse-pounding thriller

Swain has produced a cast of characters that you really care about with a plot as complex as real life. Time after time you think you know where this is going, then a new element emerges to throw you off balance.

The central character, Jon, ex-Navy SEAL, ex-cop, is a gem; a man whose appearance makes people underestimate him, but those he’s hunting quickly learn what they are up against - a supremely trained fighting man with the honed instincts of a seasoned cop.

I show more loved the way elements of his back story emerged naturally in the course of the book, showing why it is that he devotes his time to rescuing kids from predators, and why he wants paying in household goods.

An excellent and absorbing novel. I'm looking forward to the sequel. show less

A fast-paced thriller with a believable and likeable main character, Jon Lancaster, ex-Navy Seal. Lancaster lives in Florida and works as a private investigator specialising in kidnap cases. He takes on a slightly different case when a young girl suffers several attempted abductions by different people and finds a surprising reason for it. Keeps you reading to the last page.

Reality and illusion blur in this Washington Post bestseller that Michael Connelly calls “a hundred percent adrenaline rush disguised as a detective novel.”

Nicki Pearl is the perfect daughter—every parent’s dream. And that of strangers, too. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each stalker is different from the last, except for one thing—their alarming obsession with Nicki.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nicki’s father is turning to someone who can protect show more her: retired private detective and ex–Navy SEAL Jon Lancaster. Teaming up with FBI agent and former abduction victim Beth Daniels, Lancaster can help—his way. He’s spent most of his career dispatching creeps who get off on terrorizing the vulnerable. Unlicensed, and unrestricted, he plays dirty…But this case is unusual. Why so many men? Why this one girl? Does Nicki have something to hide? Or do her parents?

Trawling the darkest depths of southern Florida, Lancaster faces a growing tide of secrets and deception. And the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that finding the truth won’t be easy. Because there’s more to this case than meets the eye. show less