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Mike Delaney Thriller #1.2
Captured
Mike Delaney is Jack Reacher with the soul of a Zen master.
A woman on the run from a ruthless cyber gang sees Mike Delaney on the street. In desperation she drops something into his pocket and snaps him on her cell phone. From that moment the ex-US assassin, ex-Hong Police enforcer and ex-monk is sucked into a war against an enemy that will stop at nothing to get it back. Whether he likes it or not, Delaney is now an accomplice and must find the woman and bring the gang to justice. Then he comes face-to-face with Mammoth.
A woman on the run from a ruthless cyber gang sees Mike Delaney on the street. In desperation she drops something into his pocket and snaps him on her cell phone. From that moment the ex-US assassin, ex-Hong Police enforcer and ex-monk is sucked into a war against an enemy that will stop at nothing to get it back. Whether he likes it or not, Delaney is now an accomplice and must find the woman and bring the gang to justice. Then he comes face-to-face with Mammoth.
- GenresCrime
57 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
David Callinan
26 books133 followersDavid Callinan is Anglo-Irish, born into a family from Limerick in the west of Ireland who grew up in the UK. After a spell at art school, early years saw a host of jobs from telegraphist to salesman – before discovering music. After busking all over Europe he rediscovered Irish music and formed The Spalpeens playing all over the UK, Europe and Ireland touring with The Dubliners, Sweeney's Men, The Chieftains and many others.
He appeared in films such as The Lion In Winter (Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn) and Sinful Davey (John Hurt) and scores of television advertisements (was even directed by the late, great John Huston).
Later, he formed Urban Clearway, touring and performing with artists such as Elton John, Billy Connolly, Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry.
He co-wrote a Celtic rock opera for the Edinburgh Festival. 'Pucka-Ri' starred a young Pierce Brosnan and became one of the hits of the Fringe, before transferring to the Arts Theatre in London.
Latterly, an earlier spacey, folk-rock album, Freedom's Lament, recorded by Callinan-Flynn, has emerged as a highly sought after title on the Internet – and new wave Irish chanteur Sean Tyrrell has recorded a number of his songs on recent albums.
He began to write seriously, producing a string of screenplays and novels, the first of which, 'Fortress Manhattan' was published by Gollancz (Orion) and the '10-Minute Miracle' by HarperCollins.
Current books include thrillers: 'The Immortality Plot'; 'Knife Edge'; 'Bodyswitch' and 'An Angel On My Shoulder'.
He has written the YA fantasy trilogy, 'The Kingdoms Of Time And Space' and a chapter series for 7-10 year olds, 'The Weather Kids'.
He appeared in films such as The Lion In Winter (Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn) and Sinful Davey (John Hurt) and scores of television advertisements (was even directed by the late, great John Huston).
Later, he formed Urban Clearway, touring and performing with artists such as Elton John, Billy Connolly, Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry.
He co-wrote a Celtic rock opera for the Edinburgh Festival. 'Pucka-Ri' starred a young Pierce Brosnan and became one of the hits of the Fringe, before transferring to the Arts Theatre in London.
Latterly, an earlier spacey, folk-rock album, Freedom's Lament, recorded by Callinan-Flynn, has emerged as a highly sought after title on the Internet – and new wave Irish chanteur Sean Tyrrell has recorded a number of his songs on recent albums.
He began to write seriously, producing a string of screenplays and novels, the first of which, 'Fortress Manhattan' was published by Gollancz (Orion) and the '10-Minute Miracle' by HarperCollins.
Current books include thrillers: 'The Immortality Plot'; 'Knife Edge'; 'Bodyswitch' and 'An Angel On My Shoulder'.
He has written the YA fantasy trilogy, 'The Kingdoms Of Time And Space' and a chapter series for 7-10 year olds, 'The Weather Kids'.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 4, 2017
3.5 stars, rounded up.
Rhonda Mateo has information on a flash drive that she's trying to hide from people who are after her. In a moment of desperation, she discreetly slips the drive into the jacket pocket of the closest person--an ex-military and ex-police officer, Mike Delaney. Delaney witnesses Mateo being kidnapped and decides to take matters into his own hands in attempt to rescue her.
This story was well-written and entertaining. I found it within my Kindle library and thought it would be something different (my fault for not reading blurbs). I don't particularly enjoy this genre but this was a short story and moved along at a good pace. I thought it was pretty far-fetched, but again, that's just my opinion and the reason I don't care much for these types of books.
Rhonda Mateo has information on a flash drive that she's trying to hide from people who are after her. In a moment of desperation, she discreetly slips the drive into the jacket pocket of the closest person--an ex-military and ex-police officer, Mike Delaney. Delaney witnesses Mateo being kidnapped and decides to take matters into his own hands in attempt to rescue her.
This story was well-written and entertaining. I found it within my Kindle library and thought it would be something different (my fault for not reading blurbs). I don't particularly enjoy this genre but this was a short story and moved along at a good pace. I thought it was pretty far-fetched, but again, that's just my opinion and the reason I don't care much for these types of books.
October 4, 2018
Captured by David Callinan is a 71-page short story that sells for USD 2.99 on Amazon. I managed to get the short story for free through a combination of book giveaways. The story is interesting in its niche but because of typo errors, not grammar errors, I would not pay to read it. For readers who like to read of superheroes, fantasy, and amazing coincidences, this will be a good read. I found it too formula driven and extremely predictable.
The characters do not have superpowers. It just happens that Rhonda Mateo is such a world class IT expert in security systems and encryption that members of all other IT agencies, government and private, recognize her work. When she agrees to go to work for Timeline, a company led by Erasmus Ryker, Rhonda found the company was developing a unique data capturing system that would allow Ryker to siphon money from governments, banks, and rich people in general. Being the moral person she was, and also because she was working for the government as an undercover agent, she copied relevant data files which she intended to deliver to her bosses. But the evil Ryker discovered her theft and had her followed by a couple of bad guys plus one huge bone-breaker individual named Mammoth. Rhonda was on the run. Resigned to the near inevitability of capture, she had to find a hiding place for the USB containing stolen data.
Luckily, she spotted a fit looking handsome individual about to enter a shop. Approaching him, she took a photo with her handphone (distraction) while slipping the memory stick into his pocket. She then continued running but was captured by Ryker’s minions which included the evil Mammoth.
Again luckily, the innocent bystander Rhonda had chosen was Mike Delaney, a former cop, former military, present-day devotee of martial arts, and an aspiring monk. His nickname on an amateur investigator website was The Monk. Mike avoided the police as much as possible despite having been a cop in an earlier career. He felt he could solve his own problems through meditation, focus, and unbelievable fighting skills. The attentive reader will learn a lot about pressure points in this story.
So we have a world-class encryption secret agent who meets a world-class mercenary type. Both have the necessary moral compass settings to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. I digress, that was Superman. He has long gone, subsumed into the great number of other superheroes. And the American way is struggling in a swamp so this short story might be reflecting values we wish to have. The forces of Good must defeat the evil, but slick and perversely talented Erasmus Ryker.
This is a pleasant, short, comfort read. Its predictability and typos lead me to give it three stars. It is written to such an obvious formula that I will not read more from this author.
The characters do not have superpowers. It just happens that Rhonda Mateo is such a world class IT expert in security systems and encryption that members of all other IT agencies, government and private, recognize her work. When she agrees to go to work for Timeline, a company led by Erasmus Ryker, Rhonda found the company was developing a unique data capturing system that would allow Ryker to siphon money from governments, banks, and rich people in general. Being the moral person she was, and also because she was working for the government as an undercover agent, she copied relevant data files which she intended to deliver to her bosses. But the evil Ryker discovered her theft and had her followed by a couple of bad guys plus one huge bone-breaker individual named Mammoth. Rhonda was on the run. Resigned to the near inevitability of capture, she had to find a hiding place for the USB containing stolen data.
Luckily, she spotted a fit looking handsome individual about to enter a shop. Approaching him, she took a photo with her handphone (distraction) while slipping the memory stick into his pocket. She then continued running but was captured by Ryker’s minions which included the evil Mammoth.
Again luckily, the innocent bystander Rhonda had chosen was Mike Delaney, a former cop, former military, present-day devotee of martial arts, and an aspiring monk. His nickname on an amateur investigator website was The Monk. Mike avoided the police as much as possible despite having been a cop in an earlier career. He felt he could solve his own problems through meditation, focus, and unbelievable fighting skills. The attentive reader will learn a lot about pressure points in this story.
So we have a world-class encryption secret agent who meets a world-class mercenary type. Both have the necessary moral compass settings to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. I digress, that was Superman. He has long gone, subsumed into the great number of other superheroes. And the American way is struggling in a swamp so this short story might be reflecting values we wish to have. The forces of Good must defeat the evil, but slick and perversely talented Erasmus Ryker.
This is a pleasant, short, comfort read. Its predictability and typos lead me to give it three stars. It is written to such an obvious formula that I will not read more from this author.
March 29, 2019
The editing errors in this novella make it feel like a lengthy saga. Tense shifts, grammatical errors, sentence structure, and I could go on. The writing style feels like this should be in the Young Adult genre where you expect super heroes and love that's never consummated or villains that never get killed. Not in the adult Thriller genre. The fight scenes are well choreographed however, and the plot does move right along. For those reasons I give it 3 stars.
December 11, 2017
I think this needs to be read with the rest if the series. I felt like an outsider not really understanding the story, having too many questions. I would probably have like it if id read the main books as this is just a novella. But as stand-alone, it doesnt work. Atleast not for me.
October 30, 2018
Recieved free for review:
Ending has me wanting to read more....
Ending has me wanting to read more....
January 5, 2019
A good short story! I enjoyed it & will look out for more from this series!
September 17, 2020
nice short thriller suspense.
March 25, 2024
Terrible tosh
Delaney should be called The Monkey, not The Monk.
Walks into danger and gets caught with consummate ease
About the dumbest spy/agent ever.
Delaney should be called The Monkey, not The Monk.
Walks into danger and gets caught with consummate ease
About the dumbest spy/agent ever.
May 4, 2017
Rhonda Mateo has been working for a company when she discovers they're up to something really bad. When she downloads the evidence and tries to get it to the authorities, she's pursued by the enforcers and so leaves the evidence in the pocket of a passerby who looks trustworthy... And happens to be Mike Delaney! The book then follows Mike as he tries to find and free Rhonda, and stop whatever the bad guys are up to. Will he succeed, or will she - and maybe he - end up dead?
An excellently written short story, with great characters, lots of action, and an excellent final twist! Definitely worth reading for all Mike Delaney fans!
An excellently written short story, with great characters, lots of action, and an excellent final twist! Definitely worth reading for all Mike Delaney fans!
April 1, 2017
I only gave a 3 star, as I'm not fond of short stories.
But, I DO like the Mike Delaney series. Short stories just leave me wanting.
But, I DO like the Mike Delaney series. Short stories just leave me wanting.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews