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The Biker
San Francisco is a small city with big problems. When Matt Stark witnesses his father's murder, he decides to rid the city of one of its problems - the man with the scars. Matt is dangerous with his fists. He is good on a motorcycle. Vengeance is new to him, but he is a quick study. With the help of his childhood friend, Striker, and the beautiful and mysterious Maria, Matt decides to find his father's killer and even the score. "The City" has many secrets, however, as Matt discovers as he embarks on a quest for justice that will make him question everything he thought he knew.
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 21, 2012
Title: The Biker
Author: JD Mader
Publisher: Lockjaw Publishing
Format: Kindle Edition
Interest: Action/Drama
Rating 0-100: 98 (5 Stars)
I first came across JD Mader from a guest post he made on the Indies Unlimited site. He has since become a contributing author on their staff, and also writes for some other blogs. His weekly articles are written with an honesty that is rare. I was a fan of JD Mader long before purchasing either of his books. With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s what I thought about The Biker.
Matt Stark is a simple, yet complicated character. He’s driven by revenge to seek out those responsible for the death of his father, and he does so with a determination that could only be described as reckless. Mader deals his protagonist a multitude of crappy hands throughout the adventure, but evens the odds with a cast of loyal friends that Stark can count on. These friends also help Stark to focus his efforts, and manage to keep him reigned in long enough to come up with a plan.
Luis, not a very nice guy, isn’t content with letting someone like Stark continue breathing, but he knows he has to be careful. He covers his bases, and he knows just enough about the biker to prepare for anything. Almost anything that is. He’s never met anyone like Matt Stark…or, has he?
This is the story of a virtual chess match fought between an unlikely hero and his villainous counterpart. Pawns will be sacrificed, and when fists are no longer an option, knives and guns will come into play.
Will Matt hold onto his hatred long enough to get the revenge he seeks, or will the love of friends stay his hand?
It’s on my recommended reading list, so you should find out for yourself. It was a great read and I highly recommend it. That’s the good news. The bad news for me was that the ending came too quick, and I found myself searching to see if there was a sequel on the way.
If enough of you buy the book, I think we could probably talk Mader into writing one. Trust me on this, it’s worth the price of enjoyment for an afternoon.
–Rush
Author: JD Mader
Publisher: Lockjaw Publishing
Format: Kindle Edition
Interest: Action/Drama
Rating 0-100: 98 (5 Stars)
I first came across JD Mader from a guest post he made on the Indies Unlimited site. He has since become a contributing author on their staff, and also writes for some other blogs. His weekly articles are written with an honesty that is rare. I was a fan of JD Mader long before purchasing either of his books. With that disclaimer out of the way, here’s what I thought about The Biker.
Matt Stark is a simple, yet complicated character. He’s driven by revenge to seek out those responsible for the death of his father, and he does so with a determination that could only be described as reckless. Mader deals his protagonist a multitude of crappy hands throughout the adventure, but evens the odds with a cast of loyal friends that Stark can count on. These friends also help Stark to focus his efforts, and manage to keep him reigned in long enough to come up with a plan.
Luis, not a very nice guy, isn’t content with letting someone like Stark continue breathing, but he knows he has to be careful. He covers his bases, and he knows just enough about the biker to prepare for anything. Almost anything that is. He’s never met anyone like Matt Stark…or, has he?
This is the story of a virtual chess match fought between an unlikely hero and his villainous counterpart. Pawns will be sacrificed, and when fists are no longer an option, knives and guns will come into play.
Will Matt hold onto his hatred long enough to get the revenge he seeks, or will the love of friends stay his hand?
It’s on my recommended reading list, so you should find out for yourself. It was a great read and I highly recommend it. That’s the good news. The bad news for me was that the ending came too quick, and I found myself searching to see if there was a sequel on the way.
If enough of you buy the book, I think we could probably talk Mader into writing one. Trust me on this, it’s worth the price of enjoyment for an afternoon.
–Rush
April 15, 2012
The Biker by JD Mader Book Review
The Biker is a classic good guy versus bad guy tale that I sum up as a pleasurable page turner. I’m not going to tell you anything else about the story because I truly think it would ruin it. JD Mader masterfully develops the plot slowly and smoothly leaving you wanting for more information. The story unfolds in San Francisco and I felt like I was there. It helps a bunch that I lived there some time ago so I was personally familiar with the locations described. But you don’t need to have been there to enjoy the story.
When I had to put the book down to attend to life I looked forward to when I could pick it up again. The characters personalities and interesting situations developed at an enjoyable pace. After a while I felt like I knew these people personally which made me more involved in what happened to them. Little tidbits of information were given here and there linking the people together weaving them through the story sometimes like a song, like when the Beatles sing harmony. JD Mader has a way of explaining feelings so that I can understand and sometimes feel them myself. Here is how he describes a brother after the other brother’s death. “His life now was like that apple after it had been put through one of those fucking things… one of those late night as seen on TV things that sucks all the juice out if it. That’s what the death had done. It had taken a vibrant, thriving thing… life… and turned it into a chore.”
Nothing was too mind blowing or complicated about the story and this is good. This is the kind of book you want to read on a lazy afternoon when you don’t want to think too hard just be pleasantly entertained by an interesting tale. Well done JD Mader.
The Biker is a classic good guy versus bad guy tale that I sum up as a pleasurable page turner. I’m not going to tell you anything else about the story because I truly think it would ruin it. JD Mader masterfully develops the plot slowly and smoothly leaving you wanting for more information. The story unfolds in San Francisco and I felt like I was there. It helps a bunch that I lived there some time ago so I was personally familiar with the locations described. But you don’t need to have been there to enjoy the story.
When I had to put the book down to attend to life I looked forward to when I could pick it up again. The characters personalities and interesting situations developed at an enjoyable pace. After a while I felt like I knew these people personally which made me more involved in what happened to them. Little tidbits of information were given here and there linking the people together weaving them through the story sometimes like a song, like when the Beatles sing harmony. JD Mader has a way of explaining feelings so that I can understand and sometimes feel them myself. Here is how he describes a brother after the other brother’s death. “His life now was like that apple after it had been put through one of those fucking things… one of those late night as seen on TV things that sucks all the juice out if it. That’s what the death had done. It had taken a vibrant, thriving thing… life… and turned it into a chore.”
Nothing was too mind blowing or complicated about the story and this is good. This is the kind of book you want to read on a lazy afternoon when you don’t want to think too hard just be pleasantly entertained by an interesting tale. Well done JD Mader.
July 30, 2012
Wow. Oh, this needs to be at least 20 words. Okay, here goes.
The Biker follows Matt Stark as he seeks revenge on the man who he witnessed murder his father. He has spent years not understanding just why his father was murdered. He's about to find answers that he never saw coming.
JD Mader, has further proven with his second novel that he is a master of characterization. Mader's characters are flawed, real. There is no black and white. There are no cookie cutter stereotypes. By the end of the book, you know these characters inside and out. Their motivations make sense. Yes, overall there is a "good" guy going after the "bad" guy, but they both live in a world of grays, both having a dark side-as well as a softer side-while still remaining distinctly human.
The story takes place in San Francisco's Mission district, and though I have never been there, you can feel the city come to life in The Biker. Most everything about this story feels real. The overall plot is not exactly trailblazing, but as with Mader's first novel, Joe Cafe, this is truly a character-driven story. You will feel compelled to keep the pages turning. With great characters, engaging prose, and a little suspense, this is not an easy book to put down. It is a quick read and well worth purchasing and losing yourself into its world for a few hours.
JD Mader has further cemented his talent as a writer with The Biker and I anxiously await his next release.
The Biker follows Matt Stark as he seeks revenge on the man who he witnessed murder his father. He has spent years not understanding just why his father was murdered. He's about to find answers that he never saw coming.
JD Mader, has further proven with his second novel that he is a master of characterization. Mader's characters are flawed, real. There is no black and white. There are no cookie cutter stereotypes. By the end of the book, you know these characters inside and out. Their motivations make sense. Yes, overall there is a "good" guy going after the "bad" guy, but they both live in a world of grays, both having a dark side-as well as a softer side-while still remaining distinctly human.
The story takes place in San Francisco's Mission district, and though I have never been there, you can feel the city come to life in The Biker. Most everything about this story feels real. The overall plot is not exactly trailblazing, but as with Mader's first novel, Joe Cafe, this is truly a character-driven story. You will feel compelled to keep the pages turning. With great characters, engaging prose, and a little suspense, this is not an easy book to put down. It is a quick read and well worth purchasing and losing yourself into its world for a few hours.
JD Mader has further cemented his talent as a writer with The Biker and I anxiously await his next release.
May 21, 2014
Raw, dark fiction with emotionally tormented characters is not my fare of choice. Yet, after reading Joe Café, I knew I had to read The Biker as well. Why? Because Mader is a genius with dialogue, tension, mood and, most important to me, character building. I know of no other writer today who can give every single actor in his books such depth, and such complexity. He turns writing into art of the highest caliber.
The Biker grabbed me from the first sentence. The empathy and insight Mader has for his characters and the skill with which he brings it makes me forget the tough language, forget that the story takes place in a part of the city I’d rather not know about, forget that there is constant and very real danger, forget that I am afraid of the world his characters survive in. This is the underbelly of civilized society, filled with drugs, death and violence – all things I fear and abhor. But Mader brought me there and made me share his compassion for the disenfranchised, showing that no one is totally despicable, everyone is, well … human, that there is good, and often nobility, in all of us.
Read this book. You won’t be disappointed. You can be sure I will read Mader’s next book – even though I don’t read dark fiction. Come to think of it, in spite of the subject matter, it didn’t seem all that dark. That’s how good it is. Brilliant.
The Biker grabbed me from the first sentence. The empathy and insight Mader has for his characters and the skill with which he brings it makes me forget the tough language, forget that the story takes place in a part of the city I’d rather not know about, forget that there is constant and very real danger, forget that I am afraid of the world his characters survive in. This is the underbelly of civilized society, filled with drugs, death and violence – all things I fear and abhor. But Mader brought me there and made me share his compassion for the disenfranchised, showing that no one is totally despicable, everyone is, well … human, that there is good, and often nobility, in all of us.
Read this book. You won’t be disappointed. You can be sure I will read Mader’s next book – even though I don’t read dark fiction. Come to think of it, in spite of the subject matter, it didn’t seem all that dark. That’s how good it is. Brilliant.
July 24, 2012
The story has elements of a classic western, yet it definitely is contemporary urban. It's a great companion for summer vacation down time reading. The language is also contemporary urban. It is the language of the streets, the working class - consistent with the characters backgrounds. The books takes you to those streets of San Francisco much as the Dirty Harry movies, Bullet, or the TV show called "The Streets of San Francisco." It has elements of the classic paperback novels of the sixties and the style totally puts the reader in that frame of mind. And yet, while it is contemporary, it spans probably three generations of experience through it's characters.
There is a tipping point to novels like this one. The point where the story just demands you don't put it down. You have theories about how it's going to end and you just can't take a break from it till you find out which way it's going to go down. For me, around 30%. Once I had read that far, I knew my kindle wasn't leaving my hands till I finished. Great characters, superbly described scenes, and great action.
There is a tipping point to novels like this one. The point where the story just demands you don't put it down. You have theories about how it's going to end and you just can't take a break from it till you find out which way it's going to go down. For me, around 30%. Once I had read that far, I knew my kindle wasn't leaving my hands till I finished. Great characters, superbly described scenes, and great action.
October 9, 2012
This is the second book I've read and reviewed by author JD Mader. I am happy to conclude he did not disappoint (I really didn't expect anything else)! I love how Mader's characters are so real and life-like. They are regular people who end up in circumstances that could really happen. The language is raw and unpolished. The scenery described makes me feel like I'm watching a movie. Mader loves his San Francisco and it shows in the lovingly way he portrays the city in the book.
The only part I had a problem with was the "love at first sight" angle, as I feel it's been done too many times. However, if the characters carry on into the second book, it will be interesting to see where they go next. I'm very glad I read this book and look forward to what the author dreams up next! He's a force to be reckoned with!
The only part I had a problem with was the "love at first sight" angle, as I feel it's been done too many times. However, if the characters carry on into the second book, it will be interesting to see where they go next. I'm very glad I read this book and look forward to what the author dreams up next! He's a force to be reckoned with!
November 4, 2012
This book is very good, it's amazing.
November 25, 2018
After reading Joe Café, also by JD Mader, I was compelled to seek out his next work. The Biker is an excellent read. You'll enjoy getting to know Matt Stark and the variety of characters that help him in his quest for justice. I couldn't put the book down. I'm looking forward to JD Mader's next book..
October 17, 2012
THE BIKER: Book Noir (NOTE--I ALSO POSTED THIS REVIEW ON AMAZON, WHERE I PURCHASED THE BOOK)
Dan Mader’s book is the odyssey of a biker, a man who has dedicated himself to finding the killer of his father. It is a book that reads the way I remember the classic films noirs of the ‘forties--black-and-white with flashes of red. Gritty, back-alley real. The language is spare. It is the language of street rap, angry poetry, a blues riff with an unexpected edge of deep humanity.
Somewhere in the night-shrouded hills of San Francisco rides a man on a bike, and he’s pissed. His father’s been brutally killed by a scar-faced man. And now he, too, has been attacked and almost killed by a bunch of gang-bangers who’ve left him like a scrap of raw meat left on a gnawed bone. Those men, he knows, work for the man with the scar.
Matt Stark is a man with a mission. Ironically, the mission largely takes place in the area of SF they call The Mission. He has only a few friends, but they are people he loves, and who love him in return.... His father’s brother Ben, and his uncle’s girlfriend Jenny. His sidekick, the man he calls Striker. Period. Oh, and then Maria happens to his life. Like a rainbow happens.
The Biker is a book that reads like a thunderous ride down Hell’s Highway. The pace is brutal, as Matt narrows his search for the scar-faced man, and as that man, Luis, searches for him. The characters are achingly real, especially the lovely Maria and the stubborn, dedicated Matt who falls in love with her. The motivations are raw, and the action is as psychologically brutal as in a film noir like Key Largo.
Mader’s prose has always reached out and grabbed me like a hand coiled around my throat--but that is his flash fiction. Given a whole book to work in, I found that he is skilled at entwining an omniscient point of view, letting us see through the eyes of several of his most arresting characters....letting us glimpse the hurt, the steel will, the anguish, the love--even the fear that make his characters very human.
Matt describes his bike, and he might as well be describing himself: “The bike was hell on wheels. Fast…that was part of it. Balanced…that was part of it. It had soul.” Here’s a passage after Matt beats the crap out of an attacker: “‘Usually when I get into a fight, this doesn’t happen.’ He kicked the man in the balls with a steel-toed boot.” Matt describes Maria: “Her beauty was a blow to the chest....She looked like a twinge in the heart.”
Kudos, Mr. Mader. Your book seems to be a homage not just to Louis L’Amour, but to the lovingly made dark films of another era. If you are young, you are as young as the bleak eyes of a man who’s been there, done that, but who also has a spark of hope for the future. And yes, love.
Dan Mader’s book is the odyssey of a biker, a man who has dedicated himself to finding the killer of his father. It is a book that reads the way I remember the classic films noirs of the ‘forties--black-and-white with flashes of red. Gritty, back-alley real. The language is spare. It is the language of street rap, angry poetry, a blues riff with an unexpected edge of deep humanity.
Somewhere in the night-shrouded hills of San Francisco rides a man on a bike, and he’s pissed. His father’s been brutally killed by a scar-faced man. And now he, too, has been attacked and almost killed by a bunch of gang-bangers who’ve left him like a scrap of raw meat left on a gnawed bone. Those men, he knows, work for the man with the scar.
Matt Stark is a man with a mission. Ironically, the mission largely takes place in the area of SF they call The Mission. He has only a few friends, but they are people he loves, and who love him in return.... His father’s brother Ben, and his uncle’s girlfriend Jenny. His sidekick, the man he calls Striker. Period. Oh, and then Maria happens to his life. Like a rainbow happens.
The Biker is a book that reads like a thunderous ride down Hell’s Highway. The pace is brutal, as Matt narrows his search for the scar-faced man, and as that man, Luis, searches for him. The characters are achingly real, especially the lovely Maria and the stubborn, dedicated Matt who falls in love with her. The motivations are raw, and the action is as psychologically brutal as in a film noir like Key Largo.
Mader’s prose has always reached out and grabbed me like a hand coiled around my throat--but that is his flash fiction. Given a whole book to work in, I found that he is skilled at entwining an omniscient point of view, letting us see through the eyes of several of his most arresting characters....letting us glimpse the hurt, the steel will, the anguish, the love--even the fear that make his characters very human.
Matt describes his bike, and he might as well be describing himself: “The bike was hell on wheels. Fast…that was part of it. Balanced…that was part of it. It had soul.” Here’s a passage after Matt beats the crap out of an attacker: “‘Usually when I get into a fight, this doesn’t happen.’ He kicked the man in the balls with a steel-toed boot.” Matt describes Maria: “Her beauty was a blow to the chest....She looked like a twinge in the heart.”
Kudos, Mr. Mader. Your book seems to be a homage not just to Louis L’Amour, but to the lovingly made dark films of another era. If you are young, you are as young as the bleak eyes of a man who’s been there, done that, but who also has a spark of hope for the future. And yes, love.
December 24, 2012
Mader continues to do well all that he did well in joe cafe. The Biker is another story about the consequences of violence, this time through the revenge tale of Matt Stark, who fluidly changes chords between quiet sensitivity, and outcast brutality. The characters are anchored by their families and their histories, adding to the sense of violence as a cyclical phenomenon, or a feedback loop.
The Biker makes heavier use of dialog than Joe Cafe; Mader recreates the familiarity of friends who say what no one else would, and the comfort of mentors who say what no one else could.
The story depends on jarring coincidence, which I would have called reckless plotting in a detective story, but I forgot all about it when I started reading the interplay between Matt and Maria. Maria's self-introduction, nearly halfway through the book, sounded surprisingly masculine to me--a reaction I have had before to female characters written by men--and it took me a long time to figure out why. She opens with a trait list, her likes and dislikes, like something you would hear from a man fumbling through speed dating. How can I say who I am in sixty seconds? But just as I was about to declare the character unbelievable, I stumbled on an author's biographic blurb by a woman who took the same tone. It echoed a lot of my prejudices back at me, and gave me something to think about. When I finally came up for air, I realized that Maria's concrete pragmatism is written as a complement to Matt, whose emotional decision making would sound stereotypically feminine if he quit punching people. And of course, the combination of gruff outsider, and emotional, sensitive introvert is a close match for another author's web page that I check periodically: see jdmader.com.
The Biker makes heavier use of dialog than Joe Cafe; Mader recreates the familiarity of friends who say what no one else would, and the comfort of mentors who say what no one else could.
The story depends on jarring coincidence, which I would have called reckless plotting in a detective story, but I forgot all about it when I started reading the interplay between Matt and Maria. Maria's self-introduction, nearly halfway through the book, sounded surprisingly masculine to me--a reaction I have had before to female characters written by men--and it took me a long time to figure out why. She opens with a trait list, her likes and dislikes, like something you would hear from a man fumbling through speed dating. How can I say who I am in sixty seconds? But just as I was about to declare the character unbelievable, I stumbled on an author's biographic blurb by a woman who took the same tone. It echoed a lot of my prejudices back at me, and gave me something to think about. When I finally came up for air, I realized that Maria's concrete pragmatism is written as a complement to Matt, whose emotional decision making would sound stereotypically feminine if he quit punching people. And of course, the combination of gruff outsider, and emotional, sensitive introvert is a close match for another author's web page that I check periodically: see jdmader.com.
August 14, 2012
The Biker is the kind of character-driven action-adventure story that keeps you reading long after you should have shut out the lights and gone to bed. The plot is clean and simple without being brainless, but the characters are what really make the story. Each is well-defined and memorable - no cardboard cutouts here - and they are believable, living in a world made up of a full color palette rather than merely black and white. Added to that is Mader's flair for descriptions and witty dialogue. Put all of the elements together, and you have an engaging, enjoyable novel that will neither bore you nor hurt your brain but fits Goldilocks-style into the 'just right' space in between the two.
September 1, 2014
Take a Louis L'Amour western, replace the horses with motorcycles, set the story in modern day San Francisco, add imagination and great writing, and you get The Biker. I started the book looking forward to a few evenings of pleasant reading, and couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to reading the next Matt Stark novel... Matt Stark is a brilliantly flawed yet heroic character. This book is high on my list of favorites for the year!
January 8, 2017
While this is not my usual genre - lots of fighting/violence, I was really impressed. These characters are very well-rounded and very likeable, especially given the sediness. The story has good pacing and kept my interest. I enjoyed it. My only complaint was about science - global climate change would not expand SF.
October 14, 2012
Pretty good story. Decent writing and it got me interested quickly. The ending, I dunno, seemed a little weak after all the tension building up. I kind if expected something a little stronger. But I did enjoy this story.
October 6, 2012
If you like watching Sons of Anarchy you might like this book about a lone biker looking for revenge on his father's death. Loved the surprise twist at the end!.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews