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James Bishop #2
Backtrack
Sometimes a man must take a step back to move forwards...
In a small, sleepy Pennsylvania town, the staff of a loan store find themselves at the mercy of a gunman who demands they hand over the store's entire cash reserves. But when the sound of police sirens shatters the silence sooner than expected, the robber is forced to take a young female customer hostage in order to make his escape.
Former Marine James Bishop is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. Finally a free man, with his name cleared, he has the chance to get his life back on track. But as he flees the scene of the hold-up with his terrified hostage, he once again finds himself a wanted man...
Prison can change some people. But has it changed James Bishop?
In a small, sleepy Pennsylvania town, the staff of a loan store find themselves at the mercy of a gunman who demands they hand over the store's entire cash reserves. But when the sound of police sirens shatters the silence sooner than expected, the robber is forced to take a young female customer hostage in order to make his escape.
Former Marine James Bishop is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. Finally a free man, with his name cleared, he has the chance to get his life back on track. But as he flees the scene of the hold-up with his terrified hostage, he once again finds himself a wanted man...
Prison can change some people. But has it changed James Bishop?
374 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Jason Dean
28 books34 followersJason Dean was born in South London. He spent many years as a graphic designer before turning his talent to writing the kind of pacy thrillers he's always loved reading. He has had four novels published, each featuring his series protagonist, James Bishop. He lives in Thailand with his wife and their dog, and is currently working on the first book in a new thriller series featuring an entirely different kind of hero.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 16, 2021
Backtrack starts with a surprising robbery turned kidnapping and leads to a new kind of trafficking. This second book about James Bishop by Jason Dean is as good as the first and I will continue reading this series. I know I'm late in finding these books but I did find them. If any one else out there have missed them I can recommend that you try them.
October 27, 2017
It's over 4 years since I read "The Wrong Man" & I'd forgotten how it ended (well, I have read one or two other books since then) so the opening chapters of this book took me a bit by surprise as it would appear Bishop is pulling off an armed robbery. Hostage in tow, Bishop takes to the road, fleeing from the scene until involved in a fatal accident. But things are not always as they seem....
...Bishop hasn't become one of the bad guys (as if) - never mind injured himself in the crash! - it's all merely an elaborate plot to rescue the "hostage" from her abusive husband & whisk her away to start a new life. A life from which she disappears a few weeks later. Bishop of course is soon is on the hunt for her, helped on his quest by new found buddy suspended cop Clarissa Vallejo who is also a good strong character.
The twist of the opening chapters delighted me & really whetted my appetite - I was hooked from the off. I won't go into all the ins & outs of the story, suffice to say that the pair track down the missing girl (& find more besides), plenty of limbs are broken & many shots are fired in the process, making for a fast-moving gripping story.
What I particularly liked was that much of the thought process seemed logical. Too often in these adventure style stories either the star of the show achieves his...or indeed her...goal by extremely lucky intuition, coincidence or a downright miracle! Most of Bishop's deductions seemed plausible (he used a phone book for gawds sake!) & I only question his ability to look at a map & instantly recall it - but then I am someone who has absolutely no sense of direction so what do I know....
What I do know however is that I thoroughly enjoyed this book & I'm sure it won't take me four years to get round to the next in the series :o)
...Bishop hasn't become one of the bad guys (as if) - never mind injured himself in the crash! - it's all merely an elaborate plot to rescue the "hostage" from her abusive husband & whisk her away to start a new life. A life from which she disappears a few weeks later. Bishop of course is soon is on the hunt for her, helped on his quest by new found buddy suspended cop Clarissa Vallejo who is also a good strong character.
The twist of the opening chapters delighted me & really whetted my appetite - I was hooked from the off. I won't go into all the ins & outs of the story, suffice to say that the pair track down the missing girl (& find more besides), plenty of limbs are broken & many shots are fired in the process, making for a fast-moving gripping story.
What I particularly liked was that much of the thought process seemed logical. Too often in these adventure style stories either the star of the show achieves his...or indeed her...goal by extremely lucky intuition, coincidence or a downright miracle! Most of Bishop's deductions seemed plausible (he used a phone book for gawds sake!) & I only question his ability to look at a map & instantly recall it - but then I am someone who has absolutely no sense of direction so what do I know....
What I do know however is that I thoroughly enjoyed this book & I'm sure it won't take me four years to get round to the next in the series :o)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2013
Loved it, but had no doubt I would, being a huge fan of Jason Dean's first book & his awesome character James Bishop. The first six chapters especially floored me. Worried about Bishop & why he seemed to be up to no good and then discovering the reason behind it. I thought this was brilliant writing & plotting from Dean. Normally would have given this book my full attention and finished in a day, but unfortunately been rather distracted with other things. Will most certainly be looking forward to the next book. I CANNOT RECOMMEND JASON DEAN'S BOOKS HIGHLY ENOUGH!
October 21, 2018
I picked up this book at random from a shelf at the library where I work, and not only found out that I like thrillers but also discovered a new literary character to add to by list of favourites - James Bishop.
I sped along with this book, and it really was a delight to read! And afterwards of course I read the other Bishop novels. When is your next one due out, Mr Dean?
I sped along with this book, and it really was a delight to read! And afterwards of course I read the other Bishop novels. When is your next one due out, Mr Dean?
January 17, 2013
Sometimes a man must take a step back to move forwards... and sometimes he just has to get up close and into a lot of faces. Either way James Bishop is exactly the sort of bloke you want to see looming up behind the disaster that life can sometimes turn out to be.
BACKTRACK is the second James Bishop book from Jason Dean, in, so far, two rather good, solid thriller books with a flawed but resilient central hero. Bishop, former marine, wrongfully accused prisoner, close protection bodyguard now disappearance expert manages to extricate a young woman from a nasty husband with suspect involvements, into a new identity and life with considerable aplomb. So he's not best pleased when it turns out that she's subsequently vanished. Bishop has a bit of history with obligations he messed up, and he isn't going to let that happen again. So he is determined to find Sonja Addison and how come there are other blonde, young women disappearing as well?
One of the most common things about a lot of thrillers of this kind, is that the central threat's got to be big and bold and just that bit out there. In this case whilst it might be a bit difficult to swallow the ultimate reason, there's something very convincing about the idea that women could just drop out of sight from disparate locations and backgrounds and have nobody make a connection, until a suspended female cop and an ex-marine with a tricky past accidentally fall over each other in the middle of their individual searches.
Of course it doesn't hurt in the acceptance stakes that Bishop is quite an interesting central protagonist. Far from perfect he's got enough of energiser bunny syndrome to be exciting and enough aches and pains to be plausible. It helps also that his sidekick in this adventure, Clarissa Vallejo, suspended cop, secret lover and particularly talented car driver is also a strong character who contributes, rather than stands around or causes complications.
This really is a great thriller series, with a central character who is definitely somebody you'd want on your side. Not the least because he's somebody who is not so good, so perfect, so invincible that you don't end up with a sneaking desire to barrack for the baddies once in a while. With a strong, capable and well-developed female sidekick in BACKTRACK, any slight wobbliness in the plot believability was a mere hiccup in what was, overall, a most enjoyable and fast-paced adventure.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
BACKTRACK is the second James Bishop book from Jason Dean, in, so far, two rather good, solid thriller books with a flawed but resilient central hero. Bishop, former marine, wrongfully accused prisoner, close protection bodyguard now disappearance expert manages to extricate a young woman from a nasty husband with suspect involvements, into a new identity and life with considerable aplomb. So he's not best pleased when it turns out that she's subsequently vanished. Bishop has a bit of history with obligations he messed up, and he isn't going to let that happen again. So he is determined to find Sonja Addison and how come there are other blonde, young women disappearing as well?
One of the most common things about a lot of thrillers of this kind, is that the central threat's got to be big and bold and just that bit out there. In this case whilst it might be a bit difficult to swallow the ultimate reason, there's something very convincing about the idea that women could just drop out of sight from disparate locations and backgrounds and have nobody make a connection, until a suspended female cop and an ex-marine with a tricky past accidentally fall over each other in the middle of their individual searches.
Of course it doesn't hurt in the acceptance stakes that Bishop is quite an interesting central protagonist. Far from perfect he's got enough of energiser bunny syndrome to be exciting and enough aches and pains to be plausible. It helps also that his sidekick in this adventure, Clarissa Vallejo, suspended cop, secret lover and particularly talented car driver is also a strong character who contributes, rather than stands around or causes complications.
This really is a great thriller series, with a central character who is definitely somebody you'd want on your side. Not the least because he's somebody who is not so good, so perfect, so invincible that you don't end up with a sneaking desire to barrack for the baddies once in a while. With a strong, capable and well-developed female sidekick in BACKTRACK, any slight wobbliness in the plot believability was a mere hiccup in what was, overall, a most enjoyable and fast-paced adventure.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
February 21, 2014
James Bishop is indeed Jack Reacher by another name. Not that's a bad thing. I have read and enjoyed all the Reacher books and "Backtrack" was as good as the best of them. Bishop has a lot in common with Reacher and they could, indeed, be interchangeable.
The story starts with a nice twist ( Lee Child used this idea too in a Reacher book) and keeps going at a rat of knots until the end. As with all books of this genre, one has to accept it at face value, suspend reality and enjoy the roller coaster ride for what it is.
If you enjoy Reacher and are looking for something to fill the gap until "Personal" arrives later this year then you could do a lot worse then "Backtrack".
The story starts with a nice twist ( Lee Child used this idea too in a Reacher book) and keeps going at a rat of knots until the end. As with all books of this genre, one has to accept it at face value, suspend reality and enjoy the roller coaster ride for what it is.
If you enjoy Reacher and are looking for something to fill the gap until "Personal" arrives later this year then you could do a lot worse then "Backtrack".
January 22, 2016
Okay but lots of typos. James Bishop stages an accident so that Selina can get away from abusive husband and start over,. She is kidnapped by gang who sell women to rich old men. He breaks the ring and rescues her and others. A bit far-fetched.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews