Vengeance Road

This is actually #1 in Rick Mofina's Jack Gannon series. I have already reviewed #2 THE PANIC ZONE.
Jack Gannon, a reporter on the Buffalo Sentinel feels he has reached a sort of impasse in his life, and is living in a rut that he must break free from.

Wheeling out, with Springsteen in his head, Gannon questioned where he was going with his life. He was thirty-four, single and had spent the last ten years at the Buffalo Sentinel. He looked out at the city, his city. And there was no escaping it. Ever since he was a kid, all he wanted to be was a reporter, a reporter in New York City. And it almost happened a while back after he broke a huge story behind a jetliner’s crash into Lake Erie. It earned him a Pulitzer nomination and job show more offers in Manhattan. But he didn’t win the prize and the offers evaporated.

There's something about Rick Mofina's style that draws the reader in. It is deceptively simple, and gives Mofina the ability to build tension. By the last 20% of the book (in Kindle terms) you are positively racing to get to the end.

I found my stance on the "guilty or not?" status of the decorated detective who is the focus of Gannon's investigation constantly shifting, as Gannon revealed more. As in THE PANIC ZONE there is the feeling of a race against time, that is, if Gannon doesn't get a move on, more lives will be lost. When Gannon refuses to reveal his sources for his initial disclosure for the Buffalo Sentinel he loses his job at the paper, and continues as an independent whom everybody treats as a pariah. But he doggedly continues his investigation, just ahead of the pack, and in the long run, putting his own life on the line.

At the very end the author comments in crafting this story, I have taken great fictional liberties with geography, police jurisdiction, procedure and other aspects. Earlier he talks about how parts of the story are loosely based on an old story that occurred nearly half a century before.

VENGEANCE ROAD is certainly worth a read, and I'm looking forward to reading #3, In Desperation sometime. show less

Wow. Spare, concise writing, and compelling story-telling. This is reading heaven, isn't it? At least that's how the book starts. Then, somewhere around chapter 40, things turn horribly, horribly bad. As in scary bad. What do I mean? Let me explain. It begins with Rick Mofina and his Goodreads blurb:

Rick Mofina is a former journalist and an award-winning author of several acclaimed thrillers. His reporting has put him face-to-face with murderers on death row in Montana and Texas. He has covered a horrific serial-killing case in California and an armored car-heist in Las Vegas ...

When Mofina starts to describe details of the horrible crimes of his characters, it feels like he is describing something he has actually seen or reported show more on. It's sort of like reading the newspaper account of a real murder involving real people. And to tell you honestly, this spooked me, well and truly spooked me. The book stopped being fiction but seemed all too real. And that's when it became really, really bad, scary bad. The serial killer is not just imaginary but a real person who actually existed, exists. This was just too much. I was ready for a nice, neat, spare thriller but this just became too real. Then I just couldn't read another page.The writing is unquestionably good and compelling and all that, but it can pull you too far in and you find that you're no longer in the fictional world but all the way through to a truly messed up real world. And, what is that guy with the boots in the next table at the diner up to?
You start wondering if the flakes you are reading about are the flakes you are seeing everyday. And then you can't leave the house. Spooked, totally spooked. show less

Vengeance Road is a thick book :)387 pages worth, and I only mention that because I'm not always in the mood for that kind of time investment. But Vengeance Road really is a page-turner. It hooks you and moves swiftly, without a lot of maundering about. Not a word, not a phrase is wasted. The characters seem real to you, like your neighbors and whether you like or dislike them, you can't help wanting to know what is going to happen with them.

The main character is Jack Gannon, a Buffalo NY reporter, just hoping he can keep his job, or even better, get the scoop on a really big story and move to NY City. When a young woman, Bernice Hogan is murdered, he falls all over the story, thinking this will be his big chance.

Then the story takes a show more turn. Gannon discovers that the main suspect is a policeman, Karl Styebeck.

I won't reveal more of the plot, but it's a fascinating story. I appreciated Mofina's style of writing, which could often be terse (perhaps masculine is the word I'm looking for) but fit the suspense very well. I know others have complained about places where Gannon took too many chances (strained their suspension of disbelief) but I had no such difficulties. People in real life do a lot of crazy things and following a suspect for a story is something that I can totally see happening. Particularly for Gannon who so desperately wants to discover the truth. None of us ever think anything bad will happen to us. We all believe "we can handle it." So I had no problems at all believing Gannon would do precisely what he did.

And that's why the characters worked for me. They acted in ways I could understand and that were right for that character (even if I, in a million years, would never follow a murder suspect alone. LOL).

It's a great read and will keep you engrossed until the end. show less

Vengeance Road was a fairly good mystery novel. The main character, an underappreciated but brilliant newspaper reporter, was likeable but not really distinctive. The descriptions of the killings themselves was a bit annoying, with the aspects of how the victims were murdered more inferred than described. Although I don’t enjoy reading gruesome details, neither do I like being kept in the dark. Our hero also has an older sister that is mentioned, and I hope this plot line is resolved in future books, because there was not even a hint of resolution in this book. (And if not a set up for a future storyline, why include it at all?)

Vengeance Road is a suspenseful ‘hold-your-breath’ ride, with twists and turns at breakneck speed!

Jack Gannon, a reporter for The Buffalo Sentinel, investigates the brutal murder of one prostitute and the disappearance of another, a woman who had picked herself off the street and cleaned up her life. The investigation points to one suspect—hero cop Karl Styebeck, a man with a secret past brimming with violence. Then there’s the mysterious blue rig that haunts the highways. How is it connected to Styebeck and the victims?

As Gannon digs deeper, he risks losing everything—his career, his reputation and his future. With help from Adell Clark, a former FBI agent turned PI, Gannon gets the inside scoop on the murder investigation. show more But this puts Gannon and Adell in jeopardy of losing more than their jobs.

Author Rick Mofina has crafted the kind of protagonist that readers will yearn to read more about. Jack Gannon is tough but flawed, and he’s like a pit-bull who won’t let go. In some ways, he’s emotionally disconnected, but the disappearance of his own sister years ago, pushes him onward. I hope the author continues with this character and his back-story. I’d love to see a series!

I think this is my favorite Rick Mofina novel yet! Vengeance Road is a gritty, top-notch thriller, with glimpses of evil thrown in to keep you turning those pages. Mofina’s former career as a crime reporter keeps the writing concise and descriptive, the characters well developed and defined, and the dialogue true and believable.

Vengeance Road is a suspenseful ‘hold-your-breath’ ride, with twists and turns at breakneck speed. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys a heart-pounding race against time.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author of Divine Intervention
http://www.cherylktardif.com show less

Anyone who likes a book with pace, action and suspense will enjoy Vengeance Road; the first in a new series. It’s a well-written, straightforward murder mystery with an affable protagonist. Jack Gannon is a reporter for the Buffalo Sentinel, looking for a good story and his big break, which is how he ends up involved trying to solve the gruesome murder of one woman and the disappearance of another. The stakes are raised when his investigation reveals a highly respected decorated cop may be the prime suspect. Rick Mofina’s background as a former crime journalist adds dimension to his writing and reality to his characters. In summary, a multi-layered mystery/thriller with plenty of twists to keep you turning the pages. This book will show more appeal to those who enjoy plot driven fast paced stories of this genre.

Review previously posted at: www.princetonbookreview.com
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