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Legitimate Targets
Village policeman, Jake Sullivan’s world is turned upside down following the theft of a deadly virus from a local research establishment and the discovery of the mutilated body of a Politician’s daughter, sealed in an oil drum on his quiet village beat in rural England.
The stolen virus is a lethal mutation of a childhood disease and when it is released around the globe, it creates a pandemic that threatens to wipe-out a third of the infant population.
Jake uncovers a web of lies,deceit and violence that extends all the way to Downing Street and into the heart of the European Union itself.
What started out as a routine shift, quickly becomes an adrenaline-fuelled roller-coaster ride as Jake finds himself suspended by his force, pursued by a psychopathic killer, befriended by the Secret Service and then thrown into an action-packed covert operation to recover the virus and track-down those responsible before millions of children die!
Legitimate Targets will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The stolen virus is a lethal mutation of a childhood disease and when it is released around the globe, it creates a pandemic that threatens to wipe-out a third of the infant population.
Jake uncovers a web of lies,deceit and violence that extends all the way to Downing Street and into the heart of the European Union itself.
What started out as a routine shift, quickly becomes an adrenaline-fuelled roller-coaster ride as Jake finds himself suspended by his force, pursued by a psychopathic killer, befriended by the Secret Service and then thrown into an action-packed covert operation to recover the virus and track-down those responsible before millions of children die!
Legitimate Targets will keep you on the edge of your seat.
459 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2013
1 person is currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Peter Facer
4 books8 followersBorn in 1950, Peter spent his early years in Upminster, Essex, before getting married and moving to live on the Essex/Suffolk border.
He then joined his local police force and served twenty-five years as a beat bobby, until he retired in 2005.
However, he continued to work for the police as a Crime Prevention Tactical Advisor until the end of 2014, when he retired (again) to concentrate on his writing
He spent about three years, researching and writing his debut novel "LEGITIMATE TARGETS." His extensive police experience has enabled him to bring a fresh perspective to how an ordinary vilage Bobby copes with an extraordinary situation.
LT is currently enjoying 5* reviews on Amazon.
Peter has now finished the second Jake Sullivan novel, "Ascension Day," which sees Jake pitted against a murderous monastic sect intent on fulfilling an ancient prophecy that could bring about the end of the world.
Both novels are available from Amazon worldwide.
He is currently working on the third book in the series, "The Trojan Code."
He then joined his local police force and served twenty-five years as a beat bobby, until he retired in 2005.
However, he continued to work for the police as a Crime Prevention Tactical Advisor until the end of 2014, when he retired (again) to concentrate on his writing
He spent about three years, researching and writing his debut novel "LEGITIMATE TARGETS." His extensive police experience has enabled him to bring a fresh perspective to how an ordinary vilage Bobby copes with an extraordinary situation.
LT is currently enjoying 5* reviews on Amazon.
Peter has now finished the second Jake Sullivan novel, "Ascension Day," which sees Jake pitted against a murderous monastic sect intent on fulfilling an ancient prophecy that could bring about the end of the world.
Both novels are available from Amazon worldwide.
He is currently working on the third book in the series, "The Trojan Code."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 30, 2013
I received through book from a goodreads giveaway.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Among the positives: a great premise, interesting characters, fast pace, plenty of action, and enough unexpected plot twists and mystery to keep me guessing. All of that combined made this a hard book to put down.
The main weakness of the book is the writing itself. This is the author's first novel, and it shows at times, as he has a couple of tendencies that take away from a great story. First, the dialog seems forced in some places, particularly when the author is trying to squeeze in some exposition. More importantly, though, the author does not always give the reader enough credit, explicitly stating things that most readers can deduce for themselves. At best, this can reduce the tension and take the reader out of the story momentarily; at worst, it can seem almost condescending. I found this to be particularly true at the ends of chapters. This is the kind of book that is hard to put down at the end of a chapter, because there is almost always some kind of cliffhanger to keep you interested. However, in an effort to heighten that tension, the author seemed to feel the need to call attention to it directly with unnecessary statements like "This was not going to be easy!" or "This was going to be a defining moment!"
This may seem like nit-picking (and it probably is), but that kind of stuff was particularly noticeable because just when I was getting caught up in the action, I was reminded of the author's presence.
With all of that said, I enjoyed the book and would not hesitate to read the author's next work, even more so because I expect that some of the issues that I mentioned will go away as he gains experience in writing novels.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Among the positives: a great premise, interesting characters, fast pace, plenty of action, and enough unexpected plot twists and mystery to keep me guessing. All of that combined made this a hard book to put down.
The main weakness of the book is the writing itself. This is the author's first novel, and it shows at times, as he has a couple of tendencies that take away from a great story. First, the dialog seems forced in some places, particularly when the author is trying to squeeze in some exposition. More importantly, though, the author does not always give the reader enough credit, explicitly stating things that most readers can deduce for themselves. At best, this can reduce the tension and take the reader out of the story momentarily; at worst, it can seem almost condescending. I found this to be particularly true at the ends of chapters. This is the kind of book that is hard to put down at the end of a chapter, because there is almost always some kind of cliffhanger to keep you interested. However, in an effort to heighten that tension, the author seemed to feel the need to call attention to it directly with unnecessary statements like "This was not going to be easy!" or "This was going to be a defining moment!"
This may seem like nit-picking (and it probably is), but that kind of stuff was particularly noticeable because just when I was getting caught up in the action, I was reminded of the author's presence.
With all of that said, I enjoyed the book and would not hesitate to read the author's next work, even more so because I expect that some of the issues that I mentioned will go away as he gains experience in writing novels.
June 17, 2015
After winning a copy of Ascension Day in a mass give away by The Book Club and the author members I thought I would buy the first book in the series which is Legitimate Targets as I like to read books in order where I can.
Have got to admit after reading the book description I was not prepared for how much of an action packed ride this book would take me on.
I had visions of Jake Sullivan, who is described as the village policeman in the description, as being some stereotypical bobby. I couldn't have been any further from the truth! He reminded me very much of Bruce Willis in the Die Hard films but with more hair!
There are a mixture of characters some likeable like Jake, Rachel and 'Mem' (who doesn't appear much in it but stood out to me) and some very unsavoury characters like Yanoush Vazlov.
From the very first page the author had me gripped to the story, it is very fast paced but as I was so gripped to the story I found it very easy to follow. Due to some of the action in the story, this book would be great made into a film for the big screen.
Legitimate Targets literally had me on the edge of my seat and is sure to be a big hit with any crime lovers.
Have got to admit after reading the book description I was not prepared for how much of an action packed ride this book would take me on.
I had visions of Jake Sullivan, who is described as the village policeman in the description, as being some stereotypical bobby. I couldn't have been any further from the truth! He reminded me very much of Bruce Willis in the Die Hard films but with more hair!
There are a mixture of characters some likeable like Jake, Rachel and 'Mem' (who doesn't appear much in it but stood out to me) and some very unsavoury characters like Yanoush Vazlov.
From the very first page the author had me gripped to the story, it is very fast paced but as I was so gripped to the story I found it very easy to follow. Due to some of the action in the story, this book would be great made into a film for the big screen.
Legitimate Targets literally had me on the edge of my seat and is sure to be a big hit with any crime lovers.
September 30, 2016
New author for me but what a cracking book, thought it would be normal detective novel but lots more than that. Action packed from beginning to end.
September 24, 2013
so intense and a great thriller and lots of twists and turns and a very good read
February 13, 2021
This book is very well written giving plenty of detail about all the main characters. The storyline has a number of twists that kept my attention and certainly a decent read for the opening novel of the trilogy.
August 10, 2014
An excellent story hampered by amateurish writing.
I want to like this book, I really do. The story, a thriller involving international intrigue with a deadly virus on the loose, is a good one (though perhaps not quite original). The plot development is relentless, I slow at times. The characterizations are well done (though I would say not everyone needs a backstory--as a reader I'm much more interested in what's coming rather than what's already happened).
Unfortunately, the writer seems to have gone out of his way to make every mistake an author can make. The opening line--The baby screamed!--is telling. It's the first of way too many exclamation points, like hundreds (I'm just guessing here, I didn't count; but they are frequent). They become very tiresome.
The prologue is wordy, confusing, and full of unnatural dialogue. An example: "...We administered intravenous antimicrobial drugs..." Medical folks, and I'm one of them, just don't talk like that. Another: "leukocyte count." I've been an MD for over thirty years and haven't used 'leukocyte' since med school. The author also gives the characters so many unnecessary mannerisms in the course of dialogue that one almost feels assaulted. On the subject of dialogue, attributions such as hissed make no sense. There's lots of that here.
The novel runs to 460 pages, which is over long and it feels like it because of passages like this one: Rachel Hammond rolled over in bed and reached out with her right hand. Empty space; Jake wasn't there. Theres was a relentless sound echoing through her head as she tried to sleep. It wouldn't stop. Suddenly she realised the sound was not in her mind - it was not part of her dreams - it was real - it was her phone!
All of that to say her phone was ringing? Whew.
Another: For Jake's benefit, she always wore the shirts unbuttoned just enough to emphasise [sic] the curve of her breasts. She loved to show enough flesh to tantalise him. Rachel knew he couldn't resist her and she knew how to tease...
Yeah, ok. We get the idea already.
Some of the writing is quite good, visceral even. Chapter one is orders of magnitude better than the prologue and most of the novel is much closer in quality to chapter one than the prologue. In fact, I did have the impression the writing improved as the story went forward. But the writer's constant over use of the word 'that' (which is often superflous and is literally used hundreds of times unnecessarily), bad dialogue attributes, and wordy passages make this a tiresome read in places.
Yet, I liked the story. There was a certain compelling tension present. There's talent here. The writing is amateurish, not bad. There's a difference. You can make a good writer better, but making a bad writer good is tough indeed, might even be impossible. There's nothing here that can't be fixed without a good editor and experience (both reading and writing) on the part of the author.
Can I recommend this? That's a tough one. I think so. For many the story will stand out above the writing. And it is entertaining. I'll give it a middle of the road three out of five stars.
Some folks will find it a slog though.
I want to like this book, I really do. The story, a thriller involving international intrigue with a deadly virus on the loose, is a good one (though perhaps not quite original). The plot development is relentless, I slow at times. The characterizations are well done (though I would say not everyone needs a backstory--as a reader I'm much more interested in what's coming rather than what's already happened).
Unfortunately, the writer seems to have gone out of his way to make every mistake an author can make. The opening line--The baby screamed!--is telling. It's the first of way too many exclamation points, like hundreds (I'm just guessing here, I didn't count; but they are frequent). They become very tiresome.
The prologue is wordy, confusing, and full of unnatural dialogue. An example: "...We administered intravenous antimicrobial drugs..." Medical folks, and I'm one of them, just don't talk like that. Another: "leukocyte count." I've been an MD for over thirty years and haven't used 'leukocyte' since med school. The author also gives the characters so many unnecessary mannerisms in the course of dialogue that one almost feels assaulted. On the subject of dialogue, attributions such as hissed make no sense. There's lots of that here.
The novel runs to 460 pages, which is over long and it feels like it because of passages like this one: Rachel Hammond rolled over in bed and reached out with her right hand. Empty space; Jake wasn't there. Theres was a relentless sound echoing through her head as she tried to sleep. It wouldn't stop. Suddenly she realised the sound was not in her mind - it was not part of her dreams - it was real - it was her phone!
All of that to say her phone was ringing? Whew.
Another: For Jake's benefit, she always wore the shirts unbuttoned just enough to emphasise [sic] the curve of her breasts. She loved to show enough flesh to tantalise him. Rachel knew he couldn't resist her and she knew how to tease...
Yeah, ok. We get the idea already.
Some of the writing is quite good, visceral even. Chapter one is orders of magnitude better than the prologue and most of the novel is much closer in quality to chapter one than the prologue. In fact, I did have the impression the writing improved as the story went forward. But the writer's constant over use of the word 'that' (which is often superflous and is literally used hundreds of times unnecessarily), bad dialogue attributes, and wordy passages make this a tiresome read in places.
Yet, I liked the story. There was a certain compelling tension present. There's talent here. The writing is amateurish, not bad. There's a difference. You can make a good writer better, but making a bad writer good is tough indeed, might even be impossible. There's nothing here that can't be fixed without a good editor and experience (both reading and writing) on the part of the author.
Can I recommend this? That's a tough one. I think so. For many the story will stand out above the writing. And it is entertaining. I'll give it a middle of the road three out of five stars.
Some folks will find it a slog though.
April 24, 2014
This book is a fast-moving and tightly plotted adventure novel that looks at moral decay and the loss of judgment which occurs when goals become more important than means. Although this is a very readable book, you must first suspend your disbelief that such an ordinary copper as Jake Sullivan could not only keep from getting sacked, but that he could accomplish all he does without the help of a gracious author. While such thrillers as this are propelled by the involvement of an ordinary man, Jake is often portrayed as too ordinary, bordering on feckless. But the proof is in the doing, so the reader will eventually accept Jake for what the author wants him to be. The second thing the reader must do is put aside his Grammar Police badge, for the errors in grammar are many, but none so annoying and confusing as constantly omitting the comma that indicates direct object addressing, as when a character says, "I am Michael." Far from claiming that he is Michael, he is actually addressing Michael. Once you set aside those concerns, you have an exciting action adventure novel with interesting characters and really bad evildoers. A last note to the author--Alaska is not a country.
December 15, 2014
Legitimate Targets is a very good first book by author Peter Facer. Not only does it have exciting, edge of your seat drama but keeps you guessing at every turn and surprises you when you least expect it (one surprise caught me off guard and I vented my shock out loud... I love it when a book can do that).
The plot is well weaved and thought out, pacing each revelation strategically and the action never stops... right to the very end. While there was a lot going on to poor Sullivan and Rachel, Facer writes in a manner that is quite believable.
My only criticism would be that of his use of exclamation marks to mark exciting moments, so the book perhaps needs a bit more editing, but as far as storyline and delivery are concerned this book is well worth the reading and for that reason I give it 5 stars. I look forward to reading more from this author.
The plot is well weaved and thought out, pacing each revelation strategically and the action never stops... right to the very end. While there was a lot going on to poor Sullivan and Rachel, Facer writes in a manner that is quite believable.
My only criticism would be that of his use of exclamation marks to mark exciting moments, so the book perhaps needs a bit more editing, but as far as storyline and delivery are concerned this book is well worth the reading and for that reason I give it 5 stars. I look forward to reading more from this author.
May 18, 2013
I got this book on tuesday 14th and read t already and was suprisingly good i couldnt put it down once i got into it would love to read more from this author if they are as good as this one a very unputtabled downable for me
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews