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Ryan Lock
Budapest/48: A Ryan Lock Story
It sounds like easy money. Fly into Budapest. Handle the exchange in a straightforward kidnap for ransom case. Fly back home. Total time 48 hours. But as private security operators Ryan Lock and Ty Johnson are about to find out, there is no such thing as easy money. Budapest/48 is the new novella (short novel) from bestselling thriller writer Sean Black.
- GenresThriller
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2015
29 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Sean Black
82 books248 followersI write the Ryan Lock series of thrillers, which feature ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock and his partner, former Marine, Ty Johnson. The first two books in the series, Lockdown and Deadlock, hit the Official UK Top 50 Bestseller Chart, and the third, Gridlock, has just been released in hardback. They have have also been translated into Dutch, German, and Russian.
I'm a firm believer in hands-on research, also known as 'any excuse to get out of the house', so before I wrote Lockdown, I trained for a month with former members of the Royal Military Police's specialist close protection unit. That turned out to be great preparation for Deadlock, which I researched by spending time inside Pelican Bay Supermax in California (see the TV interview on my author page). I recently completed a desert survival course in Arizona and ventured into the tunnels under Las Vegas, all as preparation for a new standalone thriller I will begin work on once I have completed the fourth Ryan Lock book.
Before I became a full-time novelist, I taught college and wrote television drama. I'm an Oxbridge and Ivy League graduate – try not to hold that against me.
I'm a firm believer in hands-on research, also known as 'any excuse to get out of the house', so before I wrote Lockdown, I trained for a month with former members of the Royal Military Police's specialist close protection unit. That turned out to be great preparation for Deadlock, which I researched by spending time inside Pelican Bay Supermax in California (see the TV interview on my author page). I recently completed a desert survival course in Arizona and ventured into the tunnels under Las Vegas, all as preparation for a new standalone thriller I will begin work on once I have completed the fourth Ryan Lock book.
Before I became a full-time novelist, I taught college and wrote television drama. I'm an Oxbridge and Ivy League graduate – try not to hold that against me.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 17, 2015
I had never read any Sean Black before, and one afternoon I was looking for some TV-like-light reading to pass some time and found this on Amazon. It’s overpriced at $2.99. It’s a short 19,000 words and feels like it.
Ryan Lock and his side-kick Ty (Tonto, anyone?) have been hired by a British Assurance firm to help make the exchange of a kidnapped businessman in Budapest. Unfortunately, it’s thoroughly predictable and has huge gaps with no explanation but with the usual cast of characters including the gullible victim, the beautiful assistant (why was she even there?) who can’t wait to screw the hero (but just a one off, no LTR, please.) Again, Tonto gets the shaft, no gorgeous babe for him, he seems to be more busy actually paying attention to what’s going on.
I hate to judge a body of work by one novella, but this really felt rushed. Lock doesn’t even have any interesting foibles. An author really needs to have something more than having his character move into the “Weaver” stance before shooting to keep my interest. Not even a sense of Budapest. Maybe for James Patterson fans.
Ryan Lock and his side-kick Ty (Tonto, anyone?) have been hired by a British Assurance firm to help make the exchange of a kidnapped businessman in Budapest. Unfortunately, it’s thoroughly predictable and has huge gaps with no explanation but with the usual cast of characters including the gullible victim, the beautiful assistant (why was she even there?) who can’t wait to screw the hero (but just a one off, no LTR, please.) Again, Tonto gets the shaft, no gorgeous babe for him, he seems to be more busy actually paying attention to what’s going on.
I hate to judge a body of work by one novella, but this really felt rushed. Lock doesn’t even have any interesting foibles. An author really needs to have something more than having his character move into the “Weaver” stance before shooting to keep my interest. Not even a sense of Budapest. Maybe for James Patterson fans.
March 18, 2015
Sean Black is one of my favourite thriller writers, having created one of the best characters I've read about in the genre in Ryan Lock. I was very excited then to receive an unexpected email with a review copy inside of Budapest/48. Short stories in the Kindle age, as I've said before, tend to be nothing more than a glorified advert for an author's work, yet Budapest/48 is slightly longer than your average short story, and almost manages to pack the punch that a full-length novel from Sean Black does.
Ryan Lock and his partner Ty are given a job that sounds like easy money. Fly into Budapest, handle a kidnap exchange before flying back home. This all sounds too easy, and those who have met Lock and Ty before will know that nothing is ever that simple for them, as they are about to find out... Sean, as always doesn't waste any time, getting stuck into the story from the off. Meeting Lock and Ty is like being reacquainted with old friends, I love their friendship (and Lock's warning to Ty about Ryanair early on in the book). The story moves at a fast pace, and being short it was obviously a little rushed before being wrapped up neatly towards the end, but with the strong characterisation and writing that is always delivered from Sean.
As always it's difficult to talk about the plot of a short story, but given that I had this read in just one sitting and was left wanting more, hopefully that's a sign of how much I enjoyed it. It serves as both an introduction to Lock and Ty, but will also whet the appetite of Sean's eager fans who are patiently waiting for another full-length novel featuring Ryan Lock. Perfect for that train journey into work, or a quick and easy read before bed. And those new to Sean's books would certainly be well-advised to read them, all of them come highly recommended by me.
Ryan Lock and his partner Ty are given a job that sounds like easy money. Fly into Budapest, handle a kidnap exchange before flying back home. This all sounds too easy, and those who have met Lock and Ty before will know that nothing is ever that simple for them, as they are about to find out... Sean, as always doesn't waste any time, getting stuck into the story from the off. Meeting Lock and Ty is like being reacquainted with old friends, I love their friendship (and Lock's warning to Ty about Ryanair early on in the book). The story moves at a fast pace, and being short it was obviously a little rushed before being wrapped up neatly towards the end, but with the strong characterisation and writing that is always delivered from Sean.
As always it's difficult to talk about the plot of a short story, but given that I had this read in just one sitting and was left wanting more, hopefully that's a sign of how much I enjoyed it. It serves as both an introduction to Lock and Ty, but will also whet the appetite of Sean's eager fans who are patiently waiting for another full-length novel featuring Ryan Lock. Perfect for that train journey into work, or a quick and easy read before bed. And those new to Sean's books would certainly be well-advised to read them, all of them come highly recommended by me.
November 30, 2019
brief synopsis:
ty chaperones ryan as he goes away for a romantic weekend.
setting:
budapest
named personalities:
michael lane - a thirty-four-year-old british national; a business analyst
ryan lock - a famous private security contractor
tyrone 'ty' johnson - ryan's business partner
jan - michael's wife
grace - michael and jan's two-year-old daughter
andrás szarka - the negotiation team's designated communicator
james robertson - a scottish psychologist; the chief negotiator
yuksia vertov - the negotiation team's coordinator
katya - a beautiful young russian woman
hugo 'the russian' - katya's husband
grumpy - one of hugo's thugs
dopey - another of hugo's thugs
happy - still another of hugo's thugs
kwaneesha - a girl from long beach
typo:
p68: "...do exactly what i tell you do, when i tell you."
sean's editors must be speed readers.
ty chaperones ryan as he goes away for a romantic weekend.
setting:
budapest
named personalities:
michael lane - a thirty-four-year-old british national; a business analyst
ryan lock - a famous private security contractor
tyrone 'ty' johnson - ryan's business partner
jan - michael's wife
grace - michael and jan's two-year-old daughter
andrás szarka - the negotiation team's designated communicator
james robertson - a scottish psychologist; the chief negotiator
yuksia vertov - the negotiation team's coordinator
katya - a beautiful young russian woman
hugo 'the russian' - katya's husband
grumpy - one of hugo's thugs
dopey - another of hugo's thugs
happy - still another of hugo's thugs
kwaneesha - a girl from long beach
typo:
p68: "...do exactly what i tell you do, when i tell you."
sean's editors must be speed readers.
July 19, 2019
First to read by this author and will look for more. A good flowing plot an introductions to the characters. One is intrigue of why he thought it would be easy money. The insurance for such happening is always taken out. So it is paid and person is released. The plot is good beginning for his series.
August 9, 2019
Too short to review
It's difficult to review such a short story. I am always looking for new writers with a few books under their belt. I am ready to read a couple of books and see if Mr. Black satisfies my hunger.
It's difficult to review such a short story. I am always looking for new writers with a few books under their belt. I am ready to read a couple of books and see if Mr. Black satisfies my hunger.
November 26, 2019
A Good Book
Overall, it was a decent book. I did find the ending kind of abrupt and not totally satisfying. Could have written that part with more details, and it would have been better.
Overall, it was a decent book. I did find the ending kind of abrupt and not totally satisfying. Could have written that part with more details, and it would have been better.
October 14, 2017
A shorter than usual story in the Ryan Lock series but nonetheless as enjoyable and engaging as the previous ones that I've read. No disappointments here!
September 16, 2021
A waste of a book. Not long enough to really develop a story line and the plot was rather shallow. Disappointed frankly. I've read a lot.of his other books and liked them but this one not so much!!
February 20, 2022
This book was short and because of that I gave it a 3. It could have gone on so I'm not sure why the book stopped where it did, but it was a good short story.
March 5, 2015
Some of you may know I am a huge Lock fan and although this isn’t a full book, it’s certainly better than a short story. It’s about a third of the length of a normal Lock novel, which is enough to whet the appetite. Meeting up with Ryan and Ty is like seeing old friends and I feel like I read about them only yesterday. This time they are on their way to do a job extracting a guy in a straightforward kidnap for ransom case.
As ever with these two, nothing is that straightforward. Typically the case has its own issued and Ryan and TY find themselves at one point in a rather precarious position. I wasn’t that amused to see a potential love interest for Ryan, especially as her name was not Kat! The story, although not full length, had the exact same style and flair that has made me a fan of this series in the first place. The only downside is that there just wasn’t enough. I could read about these two endlessly.
With two fantastic characters in Ty and Lock, along with some black humour they are the perfect combination for me and I have yet to be let down by a Lock book. Another great read by Mr Black, and as always I will be waiting with baited breath for the next instalment.
As ever with these two, nothing is that straightforward. Typically the case has its own issued and Ryan and TY find themselves at one point in a rather precarious position. I wasn’t that amused to see a potential love interest for Ryan, especially as her name was not Kat! The story, although not full length, had the exact same style and flair that has made me a fan of this series in the first place. The only downside is that there just wasn’t enough. I could read about these two endlessly.
With two fantastic characters in Ty and Lock, along with some black humour they are the perfect combination for me and I have yet to be let down by a Lock book. Another great read by Mr Black, and as always I will be waiting with baited breath for the next instalment.
June 3, 2016
Excellent
Seems to leave plenty material for further books. Ryan Lock is starting to live life again. Looking forward to next story.
Seems to leave plenty material for further books. Ryan Lock is starting to live life again. Looking forward to next story.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews