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Second Son
"Derek Blount knows how to build tension with the best of contemporary thriller authors." -- Anne Hillerman, NY Times Bestselling Novelist
A storm is coming. His name is Silas Kane.
Dr. Grant Armstrong has returned home from his medical work in Africa. His grandfather is dead. His remaining family has gathered on Armstrong Island where a billion dollar inheritance is in play. And he’s just learned from his best friend, NYPD Detective Eric Johnson, that the old man may have been murdered.
When Silas Kane—the ruthless second son of an infamous serial killer—escapes police custody, Eric embarks on a mission to recapture the monster. Following a bloody trail through the streets of New York, Eric races against time to stop Kane before he strikes again.
Meanwhile, Grant is left alone to investigate his grandfather’s death with each clue leading him further down a path he doesn’t wish to follow.
A violent storm envelopes the State of New York as Eric and Grant each pursue a killer. Will either succeed…or survive?
Brimming with tantalizing mystery, pulse-pounding suspense and unexpected twists, Second Son is a complex, exhilarating thriller and an electrifying follow-up to the stellar Hostile Takeover.
A storm is coming. His name is Silas Kane.
Dr. Grant Armstrong has returned home from his medical work in Africa. His grandfather is dead. His remaining family has gathered on Armstrong Island where a billion dollar inheritance is in play. And he’s just learned from his best friend, NYPD Detective Eric Johnson, that the old man may have been murdered.
When Silas Kane—the ruthless second son of an infamous serial killer—escapes police custody, Eric embarks on a mission to recapture the monster. Following a bloody trail through the streets of New York, Eric races against time to stop Kane before he strikes again.
Meanwhile, Grant is left alone to investigate his grandfather’s death with each clue leading him further down a path he doesn’t wish to follow.
A violent storm envelopes the State of New York as Eric and Grant each pursue a killer. Will either succeed…or survive?
Brimming with tantalizing mystery, pulse-pounding suspense and unexpected twists, Second Son is a complex, exhilarating thriller and an electrifying follow-up to the stellar Hostile Takeover.
- GenresFiction
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2016
215 people are currently reading
555 people want to read
About the author
Derek Blount
6 books32 followersDerek Blount is an award-winning author who spent two decades in the world of corporate finance before fully engaging his career in writing.
Derek's pulse-pounding Hostile Takeover Thrillogy--including Hostile Takeover , Second Son and Final Reckoning has garnered critical praise including:
"Derek Blount knows how to build tension with the best of contemporary thriller authors." -- Anne Hillerman, NY Times Bestselling Novelist
"I could not put this book down. The plot is fabulous, the characters are fabulous, the writing is fabulous…and every detail of the New Mexico desert rings true to this former New Mexican." -- Anne Taintor, annetaintor.com
His first published work, The Three Christmases of William Spencer , reached #1 in Amazon's "holiday books" category. The work was hailed as "a truly beautiful book" and described by parenting author and Chicken Soup for the Soul editor Susan Heim as "a wonderful gift book for sharing the joy of the season and the meaning of life."
Derek resides in Texas with his wife, Bethany, and their two sons. He is a member of American MENSA and serves on the Board of Directors of a prominent not-for-profit medical research organization.
Learn more at derekblount.com
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 23, 2020
The looming monster
Great book that grabs your attention and makes you squeal through some monstrous scenes. This psycho thriller is an interesting and fun read.
Great book that grabs your attention and makes you squeal through some monstrous scenes. This psycho thriller is an interesting and fun read.
June 3, 2020
This was the second one and very well written. Lots intriguing twists and turns.
April 6, 2020
Stay up all night and read worthy
Grant and Eric have been friends since childhood. But Grant return home for his grandfather's funeral puts them both in danger.
Just when you know you have finally figured it, there is yet another twist.
Grant and Eric have been friends since childhood. But Grant return home for his grandfather's funeral puts them both in danger.
Just when you know you have finally figured it, there is yet another twist.
April 7, 2020
Well crafted making it an excellent read
July 14, 2020
SECOND SON [2016] By Derek Blount
My Review One Star*
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This novel by a new-to-me author was offered as a free book from Goodreads the first week in April of this year. It was originally published in the fall of 2016, and the genre classification is listed as "suspense thriller".
I decided to give this book a shot and read it this past week. The story held my interest to the extent that I finished reading it. But...
The events that take place all occur within a tightly compressed time frame, and the chapters are literally dated and timed along a linear timeline. This is not a new writing technique of course, and it occurred to me that all of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books take place within a very brief time frame. However, in the case of SECOND SON, it reminded me of a video editing software program wherein the "author" drops one scene after another onto a linear storyboard in order to later connect the separate scenes and make a single video comprised of the different components.
To be fair, it was for a number of reasons, but the compressed timeline failed to create any semblance of suspense nor did it create any much needed momentum in a stationary yet puzzling narrative. I would posit that the writer's aim was to pull the reader back and forth along a straight line that marched relentlessly forward to an explosive climax. But in fact, the opposite occurred in that the alternating story segments came across to me as compartmentalized with no obvious connection to one another.
The author also opted to switch characters and POVs along the continuum, and did not limit himself to switching between what was happening with the two main characters, but rather included secondary characters and even those fictional characters that were limited to what might be called "bit parts" if it were a movie. Alternating the characters and POVs in a long series of action-packed scenes is hardly a new gimmick. Robert Dugoni did a superlative job utilizing this technique in his best selling novel THE JURY MASTER. Each chapter featured either the book's hero or alternatively one (or more) of the "good guys" engaged in an intriguing or dangerous situation with a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. This technique failed for a number of reasons, but certainly one big contributor was the fact that the alternating "scenes" did not tie in or relate to any identified main plot. As an example, and I realize it is an oversimplification, we have our idealistic young Dr. Grant (hero of the book) behaving like a star-struck teenage boy over his recently deceased (and possibly murdered) beloved Grandfather's health care provider one minute, then in the next chapter the reader's senses are assaulted by a scene of sadistic brutal killing and/or maiming courtesy of Kane (villain of the book).
At 37% into the book---I still found myself pondering when or even if the two story lines would ever converge, and even if they would, could it possibly salvage the novel? 1-a young black homicide cop and his best friend since childhood (a philanthropic MD devoting his skills and time in poor African villages) investigating his Grandfather's murder by one of the members of his own family of hypocritical narcissistic leeches who want the inheritance (aunts and uncles, their spouses) AND 2-the manhunt for serial killer Silas Cane with Grant's BFF ERIC (black cop) heading up manhunt for KANE.
In fact, it isn't until Page 247 that the author tacks the two story lines together and applies a couple of staples to hold it. Bear in mind that the book's length is only 338 pages. So there does reach a point along the timeline when a link between Grant and the vicious sexual psychopath Kane is revealed.
But the overriding factor in the failure of this book as a whole was not attributable to the writing or story telling techniques this author deployed. Rather it was solely due to the inability of his main character to "carry" the novel's main plot. "Character is king" is true irrespective of the genre of fiction an author chooses to creatively pursue. Character development as a whole was sorely lacking in this book, but in the main character of Grant Armstrong it was worse than lacking. The hero (Grant) was depicted as a cardboard caricature and that is being kind.
The main character of the story is the pure and idealistic young, handsome, and morally incorruptible Grant. This is a boy who was born into an affluent family, lost his father when he was young, but remained very close to his paternal grandfather. Grant was painted by the author as almost able "to walk on water" from the very beginning. Even as a boy, he abhorred his family's riches, drove a clunker to school, wore simple clothes, socialized and played sports with all of the poor kids in his public school. The reader would learn that even as a teenager, Grant funded the lunch money for many a poor kid during his time in school (anonymously of course). Much to the chagrin of his family (excluding his grandfather naturally) his best friend was a young and impoverished black boy, later his BFF and the brother he never had. They were inseparable until he simply had to leave the negative influence of his aunt and uncles behind (who were portrayed as remorseless leeches from the get-go). Grant attended an Ivy League School, graduated with an MD behind his name. The young doctor naturally went to Africa where he could donate his time and talents to caring for and treating the poor people and children of the impoverished landscape. Meanwhile, BFF Eric opted to join the police force and naturally went on to became the youngest man to ever make it to the rank of Homicide Detective in the history of the department.
Honestly, the paragraphs that featured the main protagonist Grant, and his unadulterated idealistic, pious, and righteous belief system was enough to really make the average man stop reading. For example, at one point in the story Grant eats a plate of Lasagna. But the author feels obliged to illuminate Grant's innermost feelings about this commonplace culinary experience.
"GRANT HAD TAKEN HIS MEALS WITH THE VILLAGERS. THE CLINIC HAD PROVIDED DECENT RATIONS FOR THE MEDICAL PERSONNEL, BUT GRANT OFTEN GAVE AWAY HIS FOOD TO THE CHILDREN AND SHARED THEIR GRUEL." (GRANT FOUND HIMSELF " FEELING SPOILED FOR HAVING ENJOYED HIS REPAST TO SUCH AN EXTENT.")
In fact, the only time in the novel that the fictional character of Grant feels like a real person is when he instantaneously gets sexually aroused by his deceased Grandfather's "health care worker" Julie who has remained at the family's luxurious island property. To be fair, he exhibits some self-guilt when he finds himself ogling her at every occasional encounter, and is a "mature" enough man to ignore the physical manifestations of his sexual attraction to Julie by not jumping into a cold shower or doing what the average young red-blooded male would do in that same circumstance, namely take the matter into his own hands.
But our righteous saintly hero Grant did not have to feel guilty for long. He was able to stop feeling guilty for the strong physical attraction to the health care worker by the arrival of an epiphany.
"THE ONLY THING OF WHICH GRANT COULD BE CERTAIN, IF EVEN AT A SUBCONSCIOUS LEVEL, WAS THAT AT SOME POINT IN THE PAST TWO DAYS, HE HAD BEGUN TO FALL IN LOVE WITH JULIE RUSSELL. "
This part of the story line now sounds like a fictional romance novel..."fall in lust" inside of 48 hours maybe but you don't "fall in love" with a stranger in a couple of days which held a handful of brief meetings between the two of you.
Frankly, the author simply reveals little talent in creating real-to-life fictional characters. They all come across as caricatures or cliches, including the main protagonist and the larger-than-life villain Kane. Based upon the description of Kane in the book I immediately pictured the actor who portrayed (ironically 'KANE" from horror genre film KANE SEE NO EVIL---except the author's Silas Kane liked to snap hooker's necks during sex as he climaxed (instead of violently killing all women in his path and plucking out their eyeballs not necessarily in that order). Derivative? The giant psychopath from the gore fest of a movie sure feels a lot like his larger-than-life monster of the book named Silas Kane.
Sadly, SECOND SON was populated with stereotypes and there was not a single character that felt genuine to me. Grant's family members are cardboard characters, all of them presented as hypocritical narcissistic leeches who want the inheritance. The young black brilliant hunky Homicide Detective Eric is too perfect, and additionally unsympathetic. Grant and Eric were so close and devoted to one another I felt at times that the "bro-romance" was absurdly over the top. He was ultimately revealed as an arrogant hot-head that was a rogue cop whose own irresponsible actions directly resulted in his innocent partner's death. Character development, or more aptly, the lack of, was a critical flaw, and one that simply couldn't be overcome.
The reader is treated to a disjointed narrative, unsuccessful attempts at misdirection, gratuitous sexual references that go beyond vulgar, and graphic gore and sadistic torture depictions with no obvious contributions to the plot. The sick sadistic torture in this novel is such that I had to actually think to myself whether I had ever read any novel that was this nauseating. I can recall only one book with an incredibly powerful torture scene that rivaled the level or depth and degree of this fellow's numerous descriptive acts of horror. In that case, however, it was gruesome, yes, but integral to the plot. I also recently read RAIN WILL COME by Thomas Holgate and its torture/murder scenes in my opinion didn't come close to those in SECOND SON.
Finally, the credibility gaps and poorly researched parts of the book. One of my biggest problems was the author's flagrant derogatory remarks about RNs who have an Associate Degree (and to PTs needing NO degrees). Refer to quotes below:
"SHE HAD MENTIONED THAT SHE WAS NOT A REGISTERED NURSE. THAT HADN’T SURPRISED GRANT AT ALL. MOST IN-HOME HEALTHCARE WORKERS HE HAD KNOWN WERE YOUNG WOMEN WITH ASSOCIATES DEGREES IN NURSING, SPECIALIZING IN SIMPLY BEING THERE FOR PATIENTS WHO NEEDED MINOR PHYSICAL THERAPY AND, MORE THAN ANYTHING, SOMEONE TO TALK TO. "
"HEALTHCARE WORKERS OF THAT CATEGORY NEVER WORKED FOR THOSE WITH ANY SERIOUS MEDICAL NEEDS."
There are so many things wrong with the above narrative in the book that I wouldn't know where to begin. First, women and men who earn an Associate Degree in Nursing go on the take the State Boards to allow them to becoming a practicing nurse in every field from hospital specialty wards to long term care. Second, an RN with an AD takes the SAME State Boards as a graduate from a BS 4 yr program (2 years are nursing and 2 years are liberal arts plus maybe a few "leadership" courses); the obsolete Diploma RN has NO college degree at all, takes the SAME State Boards that the do the AD and the BSN graduates. Typically the Diploma RN is seen as the low RN on the totem pole because of NO college education, but in fact has 3 years on the job training from typically a respected Catholic Hospital who in turn gets blind obedience and slave labor for 3 years. It is the Diploma RN who takes the Boards and is ready for anything. The author is completely uninformed. I've personally known RNs with ADs who have been not just Nursing Supervisors in both hospitals and long term care facilities but also heads of specialty departments. His remarks are flatly insulting to nurses in general. Any fool would know that if a woman or man wanted to be considered for a teaching position in a School Of Nursing or a DON or Administer in a major metropolitan hospital he or she had better consider not just a BSN but an MSN in Nursing. OH, and the author should have researched physical therapy. That is an advanced degree, typically at least four years. His narrative also insults PTs.
But talking about credibility gaps, at the conclusion of the book when our virtuous hero Grant has became abundantly aware that Julie is not destined to be the love of his life, she has him in the cross hairs of a gun and is ready to blow his brains out if he doesn't recant his declaration that he doesn't care any more. Any man on the face of this earth, would say anything to a sociopath ready to kill him, even if it wasn't the truth, to get her to put down the gun, and then try to get the upper hand. Not our righteous Grant. He will NOT take back his I don't love you now, even if it literally means his life. But of course, his BFF Eric crawls to the rescue over quite a distance of unfriendly terrain, miraculously is masterfully coping with his broken bones and terrible beating by Kane (not to mention the chest pain from 3 bullets blasting into his armored vest). He not only makes it to the scene before Julie pulls the triggers but demonstrates his masterful marksmanship under unbelievable conditions and hits her square in the eye.
I did read this book in its entirety, and I have a rule that I won't give a book only 1 Star unless I've not been able to finish reading it. I made an exception recently and doggone it I'm making another. This book is so disgustingly vulgar so many times, and for no apparent reason other than to be disgusting. It is obvious I also feel the same way about the gratuitous and repeated torture sequences with no discernible motivation for the book to read like torture porn.
Finally based upon information about the author, he is a genuinely warm, and giving human being, a religious man, a philanthropist, and as I mentioned earlier a legitimate Mensa card carrying genius to boot. That information is hard to reconcile with the content of SECOND SON. I am clearly an outlier here to the point where I found myself genuinely questioning if those other readers on Goodreads and Amazon read the same book I did.
PERHAPS THE WORST BOOK AND CERTAINLY MOST DISGUSTING I'VE READ THIS YEAR
My Review One Star*
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This novel by a new-to-me author was offered as a free book from Goodreads the first week in April of this year. It was originally published in the fall of 2016, and the genre classification is listed as "suspense thriller".
I decided to give this book a shot and read it this past week. The story held my interest to the extent that I finished reading it. But...
The events that take place all occur within a tightly compressed time frame, and the chapters are literally dated and timed along a linear timeline. This is not a new writing technique of course, and it occurred to me that all of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books take place within a very brief time frame. However, in the case of SECOND SON, it reminded me of a video editing software program wherein the "author" drops one scene after another onto a linear storyboard in order to later connect the separate scenes and make a single video comprised of the different components.
To be fair, it was for a number of reasons, but the compressed timeline failed to create any semblance of suspense nor did it create any much needed momentum in a stationary yet puzzling narrative. I would posit that the writer's aim was to pull the reader back and forth along a straight line that marched relentlessly forward to an explosive climax. But in fact, the opposite occurred in that the alternating story segments came across to me as compartmentalized with no obvious connection to one another.
The author also opted to switch characters and POVs along the continuum, and did not limit himself to switching between what was happening with the two main characters, but rather included secondary characters and even those fictional characters that were limited to what might be called "bit parts" if it were a movie. Alternating the characters and POVs in a long series of action-packed scenes is hardly a new gimmick. Robert Dugoni did a superlative job utilizing this technique in his best selling novel THE JURY MASTER. Each chapter featured either the book's hero or alternatively one (or more) of the "good guys" engaged in an intriguing or dangerous situation with a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. This technique failed for a number of reasons, but certainly one big contributor was the fact that the alternating "scenes" did not tie in or relate to any identified main plot. As an example, and I realize it is an oversimplification, we have our idealistic young Dr. Grant (hero of the book) behaving like a star-struck teenage boy over his recently deceased (and possibly murdered) beloved Grandfather's health care provider one minute, then in the next chapter the reader's senses are assaulted by a scene of sadistic brutal killing and/or maiming courtesy of Kane (villain of the book).
At 37% into the book---I still found myself pondering when or even if the two story lines would ever converge, and even if they would, could it possibly salvage the novel? 1-a young black homicide cop and his best friend since childhood (a philanthropic MD devoting his skills and time in poor African villages) investigating his Grandfather's murder by one of the members of his own family of hypocritical narcissistic leeches who want the inheritance (aunts and uncles, their spouses) AND 2-the manhunt for serial killer Silas Cane with Grant's BFF ERIC (black cop) heading up manhunt for KANE.
In fact, it isn't until Page 247 that the author tacks the two story lines together and applies a couple of staples to hold it. Bear in mind that the book's length is only 338 pages. So there does reach a point along the timeline when a link between Grant and the vicious sexual psychopath Kane is revealed.
But the overriding factor in the failure of this book as a whole was not attributable to the writing or story telling techniques this author deployed. Rather it was solely due to the inability of his main character to "carry" the novel's main plot. "Character is king" is true irrespective of the genre of fiction an author chooses to creatively pursue. Character development as a whole was sorely lacking in this book, but in the main character of Grant Armstrong it was worse than lacking. The hero (Grant) was depicted as a cardboard caricature and that is being kind.
The main character of the story is the pure and idealistic young, handsome, and morally incorruptible Grant. This is a boy who was born into an affluent family, lost his father when he was young, but remained very close to his paternal grandfather. Grant was painted by the author as almost able "to walk on water" from the very beginning. Even as a boy, he abhorred his family's riches, drove a clunker to school, wore simple clothes, socialized and played sports with all of the poor kids in his public school. The reader would learn that even as a teenager, Grant funded the lunch money for many a poor kid during his time in school (anonymously of course). Much to the chagrin of his family (excluding his grandfather naturally) his best friend was a young and impoverished black boy, later his BFF and the brother he never had. They were inseparable until he simply had to leave the negative influence of his aunt and uncles behind (who were portrayed as remorseless leeches from the get-go). Grant attended an Ivy League School, graduated with an MD behind his name. The young doctor naturally went to Africa where he could donate his time and talents to caring for and treating the poor people and children of the impoverished landscape. Meanwhile, BFF Eric opted to join the police force and naturally went on to became the youngest man to ever make it to the rank of Homicide Detective in the history of the department.
Honestly, the paragraphs that featured the main protagonist Grant, and his unadulterated idealistic, pious, and righteous belief system was enough to really make the average man stop reading. For example, at one point in the story Grant eats a plate of Lasagna. But the author feels obliged to illuminate Grant's innermost feelings about this commonplace culinary experience.
"GRANT HAD TAKEN HIS MEALS WITH THE VILLAGERS. THE CLINIC HAD PROVIDED DECENT RATIONS FOR THE MEDICAL PERSONNEL, BUT GRANT OFTEN GAVE AWAY HIS FOOD TO THE CHILDREN AND SHARED THEIR GRUEL." (GRANT FOUND HIMSELF " FEELING SPOILED FOR HAVING ENJOYED HIS REPAST TO SUCH AN EXTENT.")
In fact, the only time in the novel that the fictional character of Grant feels like a real person is when he instantaneously gets sexually aroused by his deceased Grandfather's "health care worker" Julie who has remained at the family's luxurious island property. To be fair, he exhibits some self-guilt when he finds himself ogling her at every occasional encounter, and is a "mature" enough man to ignore the physical manifestations of his sexual attraction to Julie by not jumping into a cold shower or doing what the average young red-blooded male would do in that same circumstance, namely take the matter into his own hands.
But our righteous saintly hero Grant did not have to feel guilty for long. He was able to stop feeling guilty for the strong physical attraction to the health care worker by the arrival of an epiphany.
"THE ONLY THING OF WHICH GRANT COULD BE CERTAIN, IF EVEN AT A SUBCONSCIOUS LEVEL, WAS THAT AT SOME POINT IN THE PAST TWO DAYS, HE HAD BEGUN TO FALL IN LOVE WITH JULIE RUSSELL. "
This part of the story line now sounds like a fictional romance novel..."fall in lust" inside of 48 hours maybe but you don't "fall in love" with a stranger in a couple of days which held a handful of brief meetings between the two of you.
Frankly, the author simply reveals little talent in creating real-to-life fictional characters. They all come across as caricatures or cliches, including the main protagonist and the larger-than-life villain Kane. Based upon the description of Kane in the book I immediately pictured the actor who portrayed (ironically 'KANE" from horror genre film KANE SEE NO EVIL---except the author's Silas Kane liked to snap hooker's necks during sex as he climaxed (instead of violently killing all women in his path and plucking out their eyeballs not necessarily in that order). Derivative? The giant psychopath from the gore fest of a movie sure feels a lot like his larger-than-life monster of the book named Silas Kane.
Sadly, SECOND SON was populated with stereotypes and there was not a single character that felt genuine to me. Grant's family members are cardboard characters, all of them presented as hypocritical narcissistic leeches who want the inheritance. The young black brilliant hunky Homicide Detective Eric is too perfect, and additionally unsympathetic. Grant and Eric were so close and devoted to one another I felt at times that the "bro-romance" was absurdly over the top. He was ultimately revealed as an arrogant hot-head that was a rogue cop whose own irresponsible actions directly resulted in his innocent partner's death. Character development, or more aptly, the lack of, was a critical flaw, and one that simply couldn't be overcome.
The reader is treated to a disjointed narrative, unsuccessful attempts at misdirection, gratuitous sexual references that go beyond vulgar, and graphic gore and sadistic torture depictions with no obvious contributions to the plot. The sick sadistic torture in this novel is such that I had to actually think to myself whether I had ever read any novel that was this nauseating. I can recall only one book with an incredibly powerful torture scene that rivaled the level or depth and degree of this fellow's numerous descriptive acts of horror. In that case, however, it was gruesome, yes, but integral to the plot. I also recently read RAIN WILL COME by Thomas Holgate and its torture/murder scenes in my opinion didn't come close to those in SECOND SON.
Finally, the credibility gaps and poorly researched parts of the book. One of my biggest problems was the author's flagrant derogatory remarks about RNs who have an Associate Degree (and to PTs needing NO degrees). Refer to quotes below:
"SHE HAD MENTIONED THAT SHE WAS NOT A REGISTERED NURSE. THAT HADN’T SURPRISED GRANT AT ALL. MOST IN-HOME HEALTHCARE WORKERS HE HAD KNOWN WERE YOUNG WOMEN WITH ASSOCIATES DEGREES IN NURSING, SPECIALIZING IN SIMPLY BEING THERE FOR PATIENTS WHO NEEDED MINOR PHYSICAL THERAPY AND, MORE THAN ANYTHING, SOMEONE TO TALK TO. "
"HEALTHCARE WORKERS OF THAT CATEGORY NEVER WORKED FOR THOSE WITH ANY SERIOUS MEDICAL NEEDS."
There are so many things wrong with the above narrative in the book that I wouldn't know where to begin. First, women and men who earn an Associate Degree in Nursing go on the take the State Boards to allow them to becoming a practicing nurse in every field from hospital specialty wards to long term care. Second, an RN with an AD takes the SAME State Boards as a graduate from a BS 4 yr program (2 years are nursing and 2 years are liberal arts plus maybe a few "leadership" courses); the obsolete Diploma RN has NO college degree at all, takes the SAME State Boards that the do the AD and the BSN graduates. Typically the Diploma RN is seen as the low RN on the totem pole because of NO college education, but in fact has 3 years on the job training from typically a respected Catholic Hospital who in turn gets blind obedience and slave labor for 3 years. It is the Diploma RN who takes the Boards and is ready for anything. The author is completely uninformed. I've personally known RNs with ADs who have been not just Nursing Supervisors in both hospitals and long term care facilities but also heads of specialty departments. His remarks are flatly insulting to nurses in general. Any fool would know that if a woman or man wanted to be considered for a teaching position in a School Of Nursing or a DON or Administer in a major metropolitan hospital he or she had better consider not just a BSN but an MSN in Nursing. OH, and the author should have researched physical therapy. That is an advanced degree, typically at least four years. His narrative also insults PTs.
But talking about credibility gaps, at the conclusion of the book when our virtuous hero Grant has became abundantly aware that Julie is not destined to be the love of his life, she has him in the cross hairs of a gun and is ready to blow his brains out if he doesn't recant his declaration that he doesn't care any more. Any man on the face of this earth, would say anything to a sociopath ready to kill him, even if it wasn't the truth, to get her to put down the gun, and then try to get the upper hand. Not our righteous Grant. He will NOT take back his I don't love you now, even if it literally means his life. But of course, his BFF Eric crawls to the rescue over quite a distance of unfriendly terrain, miraculously is masterfully coping with his broken bones and terrible beating by Kane (not to mention the chest pain from 3 bullets blasting into his armored vest). He not only makes it to the scene before Julie pulls the triggers but demonstrates his masterful marksmanship under unbelievable conditions and hits her square in the eye.
I did read this book in its entirety, and I have a rule that I won't give a book only 1 Star unless I've not been able to finish reading it. I made an exception recently and doggone it I'm making another. This book is so disgustingly vulgar so many times, and for no apparent reason other than to be disgusting. It is obvious I also feel the same way about the gratuitous and repeated torture sequences with no discernible motivation for the book to read like torture porn.
Finally based upon information about the author, he is a genuinely warm, and giving human being, a religious man, a philanthropist, and as I mentioned earlier a legitimate Mensa card carrying genius to boot. That information is hard to reconcile with the content of SECOND SON. I am clearly an outlier here to the point where I found myself genuinely questioning if those other readers on Goodreads and Amazon read the same book I did.
PERHAPS THE WORST BOOK AND CERTAINLY MOST DISGUSTING I'VE READ THIS YEAR
July 3, 2020
Marvelous
I just finished Second Son. It is a very good story and I enjoyed it tremendously. And here I thought the Coronavirus was bad your villain puts it to shame. Thanks for writing.
I just finished Second Son. It is a very good story and I enjoyed it tremendously. And here I thought the Coronavirus was bad your villain puts it to shame. Thanks for writing.
February 20, 2017
Suspenseful and fast-paced; lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming. Everything a great thriller should be!
April 2, 2020
Kindle freebie until April 4th!! Second Son kept me on the edge of my seat!! There was a twist I didn't see coming, the good guys were very likeable, the bad guys were sinister, the setting played like another character and I couldn't put the book down. Perfect reading for this time of quarantine.
December 18, 2016
This is a great thriller! It was a puzzle where all the pieces fit together perfectly in the end. It had some great twists that I didn't see coming, especially at the end! Highly recommend. I read this before reading the first in the series and it stood on its own. Now I need to go read Hostile Takeover!
February 24, 2017
Outstanding and hard to put down. Loved it as much as I did Hostile Takeover!
July 4, 2021
Different Flavor, Just as Delicious
Just finished reading Second Son and had to post a review. I picked up this book after reading Hostile Takeover by the same author. I loved that book. Loved the characters. Loved the slow-burn buildup of suspense. Loved the setting in the desert of New Mexico. Loved the way two seemingly unrelated stories ended up tying together. It was a great read!
Second Son is so very different. Best comparison I can make is with movies. Remember how the movie ALIEN was this claustrophobic, small ensemble, buildup of terror? And then James Cameron came in with the sequel ALIENS and said "what if we make an action movie instead of a horror movie?" Completely different feel for the sequel but it was just as good (or better).
Same thing here. If Hostile Takeover was a slow-burn psychological suspense novel, then Second Son is a mystery thriller packed with action. The story from the first book unfolds over a period of months. Second Son's entire story is 2-3 days. It hits the gas early and keeps pushing. Relentless!
Plus, Second Son's setting in upstate New York (and NYC) is wildly different than the New Mexico desert but you definitely get a sense of place. It really adds to the story.
But as different as the two books may be, they do share one thing. The author once again takes two seemingly unrelated story tracks and then ties them together in a completely unexpected way. I LOVE THAT!!
When it comes to ice cream, I like chocolate. I also like vanilla. They're different flavors, but I love them both. Same with Hostile Takeover and Second Son. They're both literary ice cream!
Now given how different these two books are - which one is my favorite? Um...both? I really hope the answer is Final Reckoning (the third book in the trilogy). I'm about to read it, and I've heard great things. Fingers crossed.
Just finished reading Second Son and had to post a review. I picked up this book after reading Hostile Takeover by the same author. I loved that book. Loved the characters. Loved the slow-burn buildup of suspense. Loved the setting in the desert of New Mexico. Loved the way two seemingly unrelated stories ended up tying together. It was a great read!
Second Son is so very different. Best comparison I can make is with movies. Remember how the movie ALIEN was this claustrophobic, small ensemble, buildup of terror? And then James Cameron came in with the sequel ALIENS and said "what if we make an action movie instead of a horror movie?" Completely different feel for the sequel but it was just as good (or better).
Same thing here. If Hostile Takeover was a slow-burn psychological suspense novel, then Second Son is a mystery thriller packed with action. The story from the first book unfolds over a period of months. Second Son's entire story is 2-3 days. It hits the gas early and keeps pushing. Relentless!
Plus, Second Son's setting in upstate New York (and NYC) is wildly different than the New Mexico desert but you definitely get a sense of place. It really adds to the story.
But as different as the two books may be, they do share one thing. The author once again takes two seemingly unrelated story tracks and then ties them together in a completely unexpected way. I LOVE THAT!!
When it comes to ice cream, I like chocolate. I also like vanilla. They're different flavors, but I love them both. Same with Hostile Takeover and Second Son. They're both literary ice cream!
Now given how different these two books are - which one is my favorite? Um...both? I really hope the answer is Final Reckoning (the third book in the trilogy). I'm about to read it, and I've heard great things. Fingers crossed.
June 12, 2021
I loved the first book in the series (Hostile Takeover). And, I couldn't wait to read the series.
This second one in the series was pretty bad.
First, it only had two significant characters who were likable. Most of the characters were, at the least, unlikeable.
Second, it had very little relation to the first novel. (That being the second son of the "head villain"). On a good note, this can be read as a stand-alone novel.
Third, too many characters doing stupid things. Almost all of the characters go tearing through the woods when they can't see a thing (different scenes). Surprise -- most get injured! Or, shooting at something or someone when you can't be certain of the target -- tends to not be a good idea!
Fourth, there were numerous editing problems such as "her bare midriff was taught" -- the correct word is "taut". Sounds the same, but very different.
Because I liked the first in the series, I have started on the third and final novel. Hoping it is more like the first, otherwise, I'm done with Derek Blount.
This second one in the series was pretty bad.
First, it only had two significant characters who were likable. Most of the characters were, at the least, unlikeable.
Second, it had very little relation to the first novel. (That being the second son of the "head villain"). On a good note, this can be read as a stand-alone novel.
Third, too many characters doing stupid things. Almost all of the characters go tearing through the woods when they can't see a thing (different scenes). Surprise -- most get injured! Or, shooting at something or someone when you can't be certain of the target -- tends to not be a good idea!
Fourth, there were numerous editing problems such as "her bare midriff was taught" -- the correct word is "taut". Sounds the same, but very different.
Because I liked the first in the series, I have started on the third and final novel. Hoping it is more like the first, otherwise, I'm done with Derek Blount.
June 9, 2021
And The Crazy Continues...
This book is a good bridge between the first and third. The bad guy is just pure evil. I wasn't as keen on this one as the first, but it is still a great read and introduces new protagonists to the series. I just thought it was too easy to see how the love story would end and it was a bit frustrating that the main character fell in love so quickly and easily.
This book is a good bridge between the first and third. The bad guy is just pure evil. I wasn't as keen on this one as the first, but it is still a great read and introduces new protagonists to the series. I just thought it was too easy to see how the love story would end and it was a bit frustrating that the main character fell in love so quickly and easily.
December 20, 2021
Great thriller
This book kept you on your toes until the end. Lots of drama and action. Loved the look into family dynamics and greed. Would definitely recommend this author.
This book kept you on your toes until the end. Lots of drama and action. Loved the look into family dynamics and greed. Would definitely recommend this author.
March 30, 2021
A thrilling read. Kept me on my toes and I couldn't put the story down.
April 3, 2017
Can't wait for the third installment. Great stroy. Keeps you on your toes.
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