The Second Letter

Jake Travis #1

by Robert Lane

Gold Medal winner of the Independent Book Publishers Association 2015 Benjamin Franklin award for Best New Voice: Fiction.

When Jake Travis is contracted by his ex-army Colonel to retrieve a stolen Cold War letter, he is quickly swept into a world where the line between good and evil becomes increasingly blurred.

A gripping page turner that fuses suspense with literary fiction, The Second Letter, brims with intricate plot twist, richly-drawn characters, action, and intrigue. Jake stops at no end--moral or otherwise--to complete his task. Only by risking all, can Jake define himself and secure his relationship with the woman he loves.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Fiction

314 pages, ebook

First published December 31, 2013

About the author

Robert Lane is the author of the critically acclaimed Jake Travis novels. His debut novel, "The Second Letter" was the Independent Book Publishers Association 2015 Gold Medal Winner for Best New Voice: Fiction.


Florida Weekly states: “Jake Travis is one of the best leading men to take the thriller-fiction stage in recent years. Lane has created a winning hero who is super-skilled, super-fit, oddly bookish, and funny as a stiletto. Lane mixes confidence and doubt, steadiness and recklessness, and toughness and sensitivity in engaging proportions.”

Foreword Clarion Reviews adds: "Lane’s writing is sharp, evocative, and gripping. Travis distinguishes himself from other dynamic PI’s in the genre via his pure zest for life which is often presented with a sensual edge.”

“Razor-sharp wit.” Midwest Book Review

“The prose is confident and clever, the pacing smooth and compelling…consistently entertaining crime thrillers.” Kirkus Reviews

“Entertaining and enjoyable.” SceneSarasota

“Witty dialogue, and page-turning drama.” BlueInk Reviews

Lane resides on the west coast of Florida.

Reviews

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this novel were slow and parts just zipped by. It is the story of a man who works for a secret government agency who is sent to retrieve an old letter from a man who is involved with strip clubs, trafficking and gangsters. The story also involves his personal life as well as that of the antagonists. There is more than a little violence and a corresponding amount of smart mouthing from the hero. Thanks to the author and publisher for an e-Galley for an honest review.

[Deborah Whipp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Jake Travis is our hero. But let's take a minute and look at the women in the book, who are: strippers and whores who work in the clubs of lead bad guy Escobar; Escobar's wife, who loves shopping and throws an annual charity function, but mostly irritates contractors with her inability to make up her mind while decorating; an FBI agent who is getting information from Escobar by sleeping with him and playing a bimbo; Escobar's angry maid; a horny bartender/hostess who hits on our hero Jake; little girls being sold into the sex trade; and finally Kathleen, the hero’s girl, a woman who was about to divorce her criminal husband before some bad guys kidnapped her and were going to kill her. But Jake rescued her and saved her and loves her, so she must be okay.

Yet despite his love for her, our hero fantasizes about licking the belly button ring of a waitress, licking the water drops off of a naked painting, what he’d like to do to the hot FBI agent, and he can’t resist talking about the silicone tits of a bar patron at the very end of the book, right before realizing he needs to go fix things with his true love. How romantic.

Jake Travis is our self-proclaimed boorish hero, but owning it didn’t make him likable. I get the feeling the Florida setting and name Travis are references to the Travis McGee books by John D. MacDonald that I loved decades ago. But now I’m left wondering if Travis McGee would also be out of place in an era where women prefer not to be constantly objectified and sexualized.

I found the dialogue painfully bad – Jake didn’t talk, he exchanged what he thought was witty banter with the other characters or spoke in one liners. The strip clubs and child sex trade were topics I'd rather skip, and the disgusting fight scene where Jake bite’s off someone’s nose was just gross.

The type of male characters I prefer reading about are more in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan mold.

I DID like the title's referenced second letter, which was a love letter written decades ago, and which is finally revealed at the very end. I just wish I hadn't had to read everything else to get to it. Definitely not reading any more in this series.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing and awesome love story. One that spanned two lifetimes. All around the world we hear about the strife of some people and the love of other people. Yet in this story we have both. A hard core man that risks his life over and over again for the safety and sanity of his nation. Yet on the other hand he finally finds love and strives to make her happy. He wishes he could live and breathe in the outdoors. He loves to fish and swim and run in the ocean. He loves his lady the same way. He is a government agent. He takes risks to save what is right in our world and he loves her to the same degree. This book is a thrilling read and I highly recommend it.

[Stacei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really different, but liked it

I was confused and hard a hard time following this book at first. It evolved and went through twists and turns. Every so often a whole new path was opened. I recommend this book, but if you have trouble getting into it, be patient as it will be worth it.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, tender and oh so marvelous

A very different read than most. While tying together today's drug and immigrant issues with the past, this book does a credible job of being both judge and jury. A fast read definitely worth it.

[Cheryl Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just...WOW!

What a great story. Good characters, good plot, good resolution. I will read more of his work and enjoy that also

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a secret letter that was written during the lead up to the US attempted invasion of Cuba.

It was hidden 60 years ago. Someone has found it and is offering to sell it to the US government in exchange for them writing off his tax bill.

He NEVER opened the envelope. That's the first thing that I would do. You have to know whether it has anything worth selling.

Jake is hired to recover the letter. The search has a lot of twists. Jake has some bad behaviours - mostly in his mind.

The story keeps you reading

[Keith Gosnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A VERY good book!

I picked up this book, looking for something different. Well, I found it. Several of the characters and their parts of the story were of a time 60 years past. I remember the Bay of Pigs and the events and people involved. Mr. Lane built a great story with good background of historical people, from the Kennedy brothers to Dean Rusk and McNamara. We like to think those were simpler days, but they really weren't. The government was just a bit better at hiding their machinations and convoluted plots.

[james Guglielmino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Enjoyed It Immensely

I had thought Robert Lane was significantly less than J D McDonald. What right did he have to name his hero Travis, as McDonald did, though Lane made it his last name? What right to have Jake Travis live on the west coast of Florida and be as at home on the water as Travis McGee? He had EVERY right. Lane isn’t posing as McDonald. He is near his reincarnation.

[Renee Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this ARC for an honest review. This book was not my favorite. Could have been the genre and therefore, more appealing to others who favor this type of story. It did not capture and hold my attention and therefore required effort to read it. Was not a page turner in my case. Others may enjoy it but it was not my cup of tea.

[Backyard Majority · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book started off pretty good and then quickly sank into slow moving boredom. And yet another author who devotes entirely too much time to supposedly witty and snappy repartee that's childish and begs to be skipped. After getting about 30% through I just read the last two chapters and was done with it.

[Talon K. Condon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Lane is brilliant!

Take up any of his books and you will be transported to the place and time if the story. He writes in a manner that makes reading effortless. Don’t start the book unless you have the time blocked out because you won’t want to put it down.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a good read. I could have used more editing for grammar and structure, it got a little long and detailed at times, and the violence was a little too graphic in places; but still it was an interesting novel.

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it!

I love all of it, the characters, the plot and most especially the dialogue. Not only has Travis got a mouth on him, it's well educated, emotional and moral. The backstory of Jim and Dottie made me cry.

[Cynthia Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t miss this top notch thriller

Highly satisfying blend of action, interior monologue, quirky characters and wit – and brought me to tears at the end. But above all, Mr Lane's effortless prose and unique turn of phrase make this a brilliant read.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

One envelope never opened??? Who knows what evil lurks…??? Or does it??? If no one opens the envelop, how will we ever know??? I enjoyed the story and the use of the second letter and recommend the book.

[Rhue McDonough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I deeply enjoyed every aspect of this book. I do not want to give out spoilers as that would ruin the book for you. But know that it's something you need to read. It will stay with you for a good while.

[Lois Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Words,words and more words

This was tiring and boring in such a long drawn out story. I had to force myself to finish it. Even the ending was boring. Never want to read any more of this ser ies

[Mary Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story line keeps you guessing.

Been awhile since I read a book that keeps you guessing on the true outcome. Enjoyed the authors writing style and the detail describing each character and scene from pass to.present. I would recommend this book.

[Katherine Denise Bynum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this. It pulled me in not only with the history but the love story as well. Jake and Kathleen make an awesome couple and I love their banter. Taking out bad guys and saving kids. What could be better. Great read.

[Marlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I enjoyed reading it.

[Chandru CS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this part <3

“My goodness, Ted, you’re a pleasant surprise. What brings you to my ‘God-forsaken piece of sand’? I believe that was your comment when you viewed it on a map.”

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have probably have given this a 4 had it not slid into emotional babel the last tow or three chapters. Still, I will read book two. 3.5

[Barbara Fusi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

A well-written exciting story. I will.look for Jake 2 . A really good read. Fast and furious at times and very incitefull
At other times!

[Marianne Myrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review

Found the book confusing at times. Although I finished it, just could not get into it. May read it again.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable..great characters

Loved the light dialog
Overly intense / violent in some of the end scenes
Relationship emotions were very real and believable

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars 'cause it wasn't my favorite. Got a little wordy in places. Lots of philosophsying, even for Jake. But still, always can get comfortable with a JakeTravis book.

[Dave]

It's a caper book set in in South Florida with very little gay content. That's all I have to say about it.

[charles kerner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, now going to try the prequel Midnight on the water, I think

[Lorraine Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading The Cardinal's Sin by Robert Lane, the third book in his Jake Travis series, I decided to read his first book, The Second Letter . My intent was three-fold. First, I wanted to meet the characters as first presented, and second, I had immensely enjoyed the third book, and lastly, I had read a review by another reader who said she was put off by the violence in the first novel and I couldn't reconcile that with the amount of violence, or lack of violence, actually, in the third book. My instincts were right. I didn't find this a very violent book at all. In fact, there was none until almost the very end of the book.

The Second Letter begins in the early 60s in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and the beginning, or possibly the continuation, of American intervention in "helping" other countries turn to the American model of democracy. We are introduced to a delightful lady whose late husband had been a "dashing Secret Service agent before such men even existed" and, on this particular day, it was exactly 101 days since her husband, Jim's, death. His friend and colleague shows up at the home Dorothy and Jim had created from an old stone church near Boca Ciega Bay. Her young gardener, Angelo, not only cares for the landscape but is very protective and a little bit possessive of Dorothy. Ted Sullivan has a brief visit before asking Dorothy to keep a letter safe as he worries that something might happen to it and feels it should be preserved. He tells her she can read it if she wants but she doesn't want. After he leaves, Dorothy and Angelo think of a safe place to bury the letter: outside in a hole Angelo had been trying to figure out what to use to fill.

From there, we fast-forward about 50 years to the double life of Jake Travis in Key West: his cover is that of a repossessor of autos, whereas in reality he's a contract worker for a government agency. His next assignment? Retrieve a letter that has surfaced and is being used by a petty criminal named Raydel Escobar to try to blackmail the IRS into overlooking his debt of $7M. Dorothy's house is now a museum, an outside corner of it has been vandalized, and Jake's boss, Col. Janssen, thinks this is where the letter came from and he wants it back.

There are a couple of ways Jake can go about this, and there are people in his life and work who assist him. His girlfriend, Kathleen (an alias), is in the witness protection programme. Jake and his working partner, Garrett try to get the dirt on Escobar in order to blackmail him into turning the letter over, and find more than they expect.

I was curious about the 2nd letter in the story. About half-way through I thought I knew what the second letter was but it turned out I was wrong. I wondered if that had been a deliberate red herring. As I had been in touch with Mr. Lane, I thought I'd ask him if he had the title set before he finished the book and knew there would be "a second letter". Here is his reply:

The working title was In the Shadow of Good. I wrote the opening chapter without a clue that there was a second letter in the envelope. I didn't even know what the first letter was about. The envelope was sealed in my mind, even as I approached the end of writing the novel. Once I mentally opened it, and a second letter fell out, (a love letter of all things), I realized the second letter was the central theme of the novel. It harkened beautifully back to the opening scene of the book and Dorothy Harrison.
A deliberate red herring? Perhaps. I write for myself and I like surprises. I also know my mysteries are more of the heart and less of politics and law.

Lane portrays a rather dark side of Washington and I wondered if any real-life stories had influenced his portrayal of the congressman.

Not consciously. I read Allen Drury's Advise and Consent a zillion years ago. Perhaps it left a taste of how nasty Washington can be. Jake needed to be in that mode to meet his objective.

I really enjoy the characters in this series — the way Jake copes with distancing himself from unpleasant things he has to do, his relationship with Kathleen, his routines and hangouts, his partner and friends and his ability to improvise. He reminds me of other characters I have read and like. That, and the surprises that crop up unexpectedly, are what make this series a really fun read.