Saturday, February 05, 2011

Book Review: No Way Out

No Way Out by Joel Goldman is a cross between a thriller and a crime novel. It’s the third in the series starring ex-FBI agent Jack Davis.

Here is the back flap tease:
Meeting ex-FBI agent Jack Davis in the middle of a shootout is the best thing that could have happened to Veronica “Roni” Chase. But Jack has no idea how deep--and how deadly--his involvement with the mysterious young bookkeeper will get. The pretty accountant may be able to pull a trigger as well as she manipulates a spreadsheet, but her talents may add up to zero if a killer gets their way. As Jack follows Roni into a lethal web of deceit, years in the making, the only thing that might save them--time--is running out.
Like all protagonists, Jack Davis has his flaw or Achilles Heel. Unlike a lot of lead characters, though, his is a doozie. With the FBI for 25 years, he didn’t retire or quit under a cloud. He quit because he developed what he calls “the shakes.” Often without warning and often when things get “hairy,” he begins to shake. He can’t control it and it often drops him to his knees. That doesn’t stop him, though. It does, however, put him in some precarious situations.

This case involves gun dealers being robbed and, in the latest incident, killed. He ends up investigating it. Jack has more than just his shakes to deal with. His ex-wife lives with him while she deals with terminal cancer. The woman who often drives him is his past lover. When he doesn’t have someone to drive him, he rides the city bus. And when someone else might give up, he keeps going.

By the end, he solves the case. What he loses, though, is both painful and life-changing. And the chances are you won’t see the killer coming.

No Way Out
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IndieBound

I give No Way Out by Joel Goldman a rating of Hel-of-a-Writer.
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FTC Disclaimer: I received No Way Out from Kaye Publicity. Getting a free copy of this book in no way influenced my review. No Way Out has a lot of characters. So many that I got a bit lost at times, but that was the fault of my lack of big chunks of time to read. It also had a most compelling main character. He’s driven by his own demons and past mistakes. He has what would seem to be an insurmountable flaw. When he develops the shakes and crashes to one knee, he pulls himself up, and you the reader, with him. His dying wife does not have a huge role in the book, but she is never far from your mind. Eldon, the gun dealer who is killed coming home from a gun show, stays in your head. It is the characters who inhabit Jack Davis’ world that stick in your memory.

21 comments:

  1. Hmm, sounds like a great read! I really love thrillers/mysteries, partly because they give me a break from the genre I write.

    I'll definitely check it out and see if I can download a sample chapter to my Kindle.

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  2. NO WAY OUT was also the name of an old movie with Dennis Quaid, the double agent man, with the hottest sex scene ever in the back of the taxi. Remember that? This book, however sounds good too. Thanks for the shout out.

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  3. Sounds great, even though it's not a genre I normally read. Thanks for the review!

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  4. Yup...I went right to the old movie in my head too. I thought it was Kevin Cosner, not Dennis Quade, but either way, it's a shocker movie...and I kept reading your review thinking the book was where the movie cam from. The book sounds almost as intriguing.

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  5. I don't remember that movie. It makes me wonder, though, if it's good or bad to give your book the same name as a popular old movie.

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  6. I love characters that stay with you. Sounds like a keeper for me.
    Thanks, Helen.

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  7. This one sounds good! I like quirky lead characters.

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  8. Oh this definitely sounds intriguing and one I'll have to add to my TBR list. Great review, makes me want to get to know Jack and his fellow characters.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  9. Sounds well worth a read! Thanks :)

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  10. I agree. I like book where a month later I still think about the characters.

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  11. This series sounds a lot like what I currently am reading but I'd have to start with the first one.

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  12. It may be. Susan. This wasn't the first in this series, but it was the first I'd read in the series.

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  13. I've been reading quite a lot of crime mysteries lately (most of them paranormal, but I'm happy to read the non-ghostly kinds, too!), and I'm always on the look out for the ones that are harder to predict.

    Thanks for this - I will add it to my To Read List. :)

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  14. If you're like me, Jennifer, your TBR list is long.

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  15. Thanks for the review - this one sounds like a read I would very much enjoy.

    Marvin D Wilson

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  16. I like the interesting quirk that author has given the main FBI character, which must add some twists to the plot. Sounds like another good book to add to my want-to-read list.

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  17. I loveJoel Goldman. His stories always entertain me and hold my interest. You're right though, you do need chunks of time to absorb his characters and clues given. I'm glad you enjoyed him, Helen. He is a hell of a writer. I'll be scheduling him for Over Coffee again.

    I'm jealous, I didn't get to read his ARC. But I am glad you did. :-)

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  18. Looks good. It's always cool to read crime where the killer comes as a real surprise >:)

    Cold As Heaven

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  19. I read plenty of YA these days, so it's good to hear about a book in a different genre than I normally read. Thanks for the review!

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  20. That does sound like a good read. I have to say, I have few alliances when it comes to picking books. I have found some of my favorite books through recommendations, books that I might not have picked for myself. Definitely have to check this out.

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  21. Sounds like a great book. I really do like a character with a unique character flaw. I am getting tired of the typical flaws we tend to see in characters who were ousted from the job due to crossing the line or drinking.

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