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Terry Rankin #2
Hog Valley
Terry Rankin is the owner of Rankin Protective Services Inc, in Orlando, Florida. It’s a small company with a few very nice contracts. Terry has a meeting with Travis Warren, at his horse ranch just north of Ocala. He has invested a few months in negotiating for a very lucrative contract to provide bodyguard services to Mr. Warren and his family. This is the morning when all of that time and effort are going to pay off.
He does not expect to walk into a home invasion.
As the thieves wrap up their looting, Rankin and Mr. and Mrs. Warren are being held in Travis Warren’s office. Terry watches through the French doors along the rear wall as five well-dressed though disheveled Latino gentlemen cross the back lawn and step onto the flagstone patio. As the leader of the thieves raises his shotgun toward Rankin, Terry watches in relief as the Latinos fire into the backs of the invaders.
What Rankin doesn’t know is that the five Latinos have orders to shoot him on sight.
He does not expect to walk into a home invasion.
As the thieves wrap up their looting, Rankin and Mr. and Mrs. Warren are being held in Travis Warren’s office. Terry watches through the French doors along the rear wall as five well-dressed though disheveled Latino gentlemen cross the back lawn and step onto the flagstone patio. As the leader of the thieves raises his shotgun toward Rankin, Terry watches in relief as the Latinos fire into the backs of the invaders.
What Rankin doesn’t know is that the five Latinos have orders to shoot him on sight.
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2010
About the author
Gary Showalter
6 books5 followersGary Showalter was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He lived in Aruba, Florida and the Panama Canal Zone before joining the U.S. Army during the 1960s. Mr. Showalter has picked cotton in East Texas, baled hay in Ardmore Oklahoma, sold light bulbs in Los Angeles, California, and built cattle pens in Fallon, Nevada (during a blizzard, of course). After settling in Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Showalter worked as a professional gardener before turning his hand to furniture making.
In 1981, he moved to Israel, married, and raised four children while working as a furniture maker, silversmith, goldsmith, and ornamental wood turner. He served in the Israel Defense Forces Reserves for sixteen years, and when not on active duty he worked in government and private security. He has also served in senior management positions in two software development companies in Israel.
Mr. Showalter has published articles dealing with international terror and the Israel-Arab conflict in the Jerusalem Post, Israel national News and several political science web sites.
Mr. Showalter returned to the United States in the fall of 2003. He published his first novel, “The Big Bend”, in the fall of 2008, his second novel, “Hog Valley”, in 2009 and his third novel, “Twisted Key”, in 2011.
Mr. Showalter resides in Deland, Florida, where he has just completed his fourth novel, “Lonesome Cove”.
In 1981, he moved to Israel, married, and raised four children while working as a furniture maker, silversmith, goldsmith, and ornamental wood turner. He served in the Israel Defense Forces Reserves for sixteen years, and when not on active duty he worked in government and private security. He has also served in senior management positions in two software development companies in Israel.
Mr. Showalter has published articles dealing with international terror and the Israel-Arab conflict in the Jerusalem Post, Israel national News and several political science web sites.
Mr. Showalter returned to the United States in the fall of 2003. He published his first novel, “The Big Bend”, in the fall of 2008, his second novel, “Hog Valley”, in 2009 and his third novel, “Twisted Key”, in 2011.
Mr. Showalter resides in Deland, Florida, where he has just completed his fourth novel, “Lonesome Cove”.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2021
Liked the series…
November 27, 2014
If you like an easy-going, Florida mystery series, try Gary Showalter’s “Big Bend” books.
Think Carl Hiaasen, James W. Hall, or my personal favorite, John D. MacDonald, if you are old enough. Like them, the series is Florida-based and has a strong sense of place. However, unlike the glitter of Miami, the mangrove swamps of the Keys, or the glitz of the big boat marinas, Gary’s turf is grittier north-central Florida from Tampa to Orlando to Ocala, with a strong tie to water, boats, the more laid back coastal cities, the wildlife, and fishing.
Hog Valley is the fourth book in the series.
The Big Bend was the first book in the series, and I previously reviewed Twisted Key and Lonesome Cove. Like my favorite Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books or Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole series, Showalter tells his stories in the first person, which can be a difficult style to write, but gives some nice immediacy to the reader. The central character in the series is Terry Rankin, an ex-MP and ex-cop who runs a private security and high-end bodyguard service. His girlfriend, Cathy Diamond, is a Detective Sergeant in the Orlando Police Department, and many of his friends are State and local cops. As would be expected, most of Rankin’s problems (and the stories) come via clients who lie, misbehave, and almost get Rankin killed. In Lonesome Key, that is an old, retired Mafia hit-man whose daughter is missing, involving Mexican drug cartels and corrupt Miami cops.
In Twisted Key, that is an Arab matriarch whose daughter is kidnapped from under Rankin’s nose, involving Hezbollah gunmen, missing Spanish treasure, and Sal-a-din’s legendary sword.
In Hog Valley, Rankin is meeting with Travis Warren, a prospective client, on his vast horse ranch north of Ocala when he finds himself in the middle of a bloody home invasion, kidnapping, and shootout between a gang of local rednecks and hit-men from the Mexican Zeta drug cartel. Battered and bloody, Rankin is the only one still alive or not missing. Released from the hospital, he soon finds himself the prime suspect of an ambitious county prosecutor and the FBI, both of which are more interested in a conviction than the truth. The answers appear to lie in the swamps and pine forests of Hog Valley, north and east of Ocala, where gritty locals dislike strangers, with or without a badge. Rather than wait for them to run him over, Rankin’s only choice is to find out who was behind the massacre and find out what happened to Warren. Stock up on the series if you are going to the beach or pool this summer!
William F. Brown is the author of six suspense novels, including ‘The Undertaker’, ‘Amongst My Enemies’, ‘Thursday at Noon’, and the recently released ‘Winner Lose All’, now available on Kindle Select and Kindle Prime.
Think Carl Hiaasen, James W. Hall, or my personal favorite, John D. MacDonald, if you are old enough. Like them, the series is Florida-based and has a strong sense of place. However, unlike the glitter of Miami, the mangrove swamps of the Keys, or the glitz of the big boat marinas, Gary’s turf is grittier north-central Florida from Tampa to Orlando to Ocala, with a strong tie to water, boats, the more laid back coastal cities, the wildlife, and fishing.
Hog Valley is the fourth book in the series.
The Big Bend was the first book in the series, and I previously reviewed Twisted Key and Lonesome Cove. Like my favorite Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books or Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole series, Showalter tells his stories in the first person, which can be a difficult style to write, but gives some nice immediacy to the reader. The central character in the series is Terry Rankin, an ex-MP and ex-cop who runs a private security and high-end bodyguard service. His girlfriend, Cathy Diamond, is a Detective Sergeant in the Orlando Police Department, and many of his friends are State and local cops. As would be expected, most of Rankin’s problems (and the stories) come via clients who lie, misbehave, and almost get Rankin killed. In Lonesome Key, that is an old, retired Mafia hit-man whose daughter is missing, involving Mexican drug cartels and corrupt Miami cops.
In Twisted Key, that is an Arab matriarch whose daughter is kidnapped from under Rankin’s nose, involving Hezbollah gunmen, missing Spanish treasure, and Sal-a-din’s legendary sword.
In Hog Valley, Rankin is meeting with Travis Warren, a prospective client, on his vast horse ranch north of Ocala when he finds himself in the middle of a bloody home invasion, kidnapping, and shootout between a gang of local rednecks and hit-men from the Mexican Zeta drug cartel. Battered and bloody, Rankin is the only one still alive or not missing. Released from the hospital, he soon finds himself the prime suspect of an ambitious county prosecutor and the FBI, both of which are more interested in a conviction than the truth. The answers appear to lie in the swamps and pine forests of Hog Valley, north and east of Ocala, where gritty locals dislike strangers, with or without a badge. Rather than wait for them to run him over, Rankin’s only choice is to find out who was behind the massacre and find out what happened to Warren. Stock up on the series if you are going to the beach or pool this summer!
William F. Brown is the author of six suspense novels, including ‘The Undertaker’, ‘Amongst My Enemies’, ‘Thursday at Noon’, and the recently released ‘Winner Lose All’, now available on Kindle Select and Kindle Prime.
April 26, 2013
I was interested in this because I live in Hog Valley, and the local references are about the only thing that kept me reading this Kindle freebie. The writing was bland, repetitive, and overly detailed. And the constant grammatical errors were incredibly annoying and distracting (you do not pluralize with an apostrophe, Mr. Showalter).
None of the action actually takes place in Hog Valley, although some of it takes place in the surrounding areas. I will give the author credit for describing the area pretty accurately, however, he does not paint Hog Valley residents in the best light. The main reference to Hog Valley in the whole book was speculation that some of the bad guys might have lived there. Well, I can tell you that some respectable people live here, too.
The book could have been improved if it was cut by at least 1/3--there was so much repetition and unnecessary, boring detail. And, just like in Showalter's first book, the big action scene takes place at sea on boats. I found the story very convoluted and hard to keep track of, but some of that might have been caused by my rush to get through it.
None of the action actually takes place in Hog Valley, although some of it takes place in the surrounding areas. I will give the author credit for describing the area pretty accurately, however, he does not paint Hog Valley residents in the best light. The main reference to Hog Valley in the whole book was speculation that some of the bad guys might have lived there. Well, I can tell you that some respectable people live here, too.
The book could have been improved if it was cut by at least 1/3--there was so much repetition and unnecessary, boring detail. And, just like in Showalter's first book, the big action scene takes place at sea on boats. I found the story very convoluted and hard to keep track of, but some of that might have been caused by my rush to get through it.
January 11, 2014
I like these action-adventure books written by Gary Showalter. It's a lot of fun to read a series of books that take place all around the area I grew up and where my family still lives (Central Florida.) The characters in this series are believable and the plot keeps moving at a nice pace - not so fast that you don't get a chance to stop and look around and not so slow that you are wondering when something will happen.
While this story line is complete by itself, the end of the book does give you the feeling of a cliffhanger. It kind of surprised me, but it's OK since I planned on reading the next book (Twisted Key) anyway.
While this story line is complete by itself, the end of the book does give you the feeling of a cliffhanger. It kind of surprised me, but it's OK since I planned on reading the next book (Twisted Key) anyway.
August 10, 2013
The fact that it ends unnecessarily on a cliff hanger brings my rating down to 3 stars. Otherwise I like thee, although they are a bit more violent than most of what I read. But the violence works--nothing that doesn't seem necessary.
August 31, 2015
5 stars
Another excellent book. The plot is intricate without being too confusing and is plenty fast paced. The ending has a bit of a cliff hanger in order to get you to read the next book, but that didn't bother me since all the plot points were tied up for this book.
Another excellent book. The plot is intricate without being too confusing and is plenty fast paced. The ending has a bit of a cliff hanger in order to get you to read the next book, but that didn't bother me since all the plot points were tied up for this book.
August 8, 2014
Hog Valley
This was an action packed book that was well written, as always Gary Showalter novels keep you very much interested from cover to cover.
This was an action packed book that was well written, as always Gary Showalter novels keep you very much interested from cover to cover.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews