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Pat Ruger Mystery Series #1
For Hire
This is an alternate Cover Edition for ISBN13: 9781494484545.
Pat Ruger is a retired detective in Denver, Colorado, who does freelance PI work. An old friend, Angel, is a long-time weed dealer who refers a case to Pat- a missing woman suspected of being kidnapped and radicalized by Islamic extremists. Pat’s new client and her best friend are young women of the street and they eagerly help him recover from mourning over his late wife. When Pat uncovers a terrorist plot, can he find a large explosive device set to kill thousands of people and disarm it in time?
Pat Ruger is a retired detective in Denver, Colorado, who does freelance PI work. An old friend, Angel, is a long-time weed dealer who refers a case to Pat- a missing woman suspected of being kidnapped and radicalized by Islamic extremists. Pat’s new client and her best friend are young women of the street and they eagerly help him recover from mourning over his late wife. When Pat uncovers a terrorist plot, can he find a large explosive device set to kill thousands of people and disarm it in time?
266 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2013
158 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Jack Huber
24 books20 followersJack was born in Southern California but now resides in Colorado with his wife, Nadyne, and their Cairn Terrier, Lucy. Jack has found a niche in the detective/mystery/crime/thriller genres with his Pat Ruger Mystery Series novels.
Jack has several books of poetry and photography on the market and has been a Staff Writer for Poetic Monthly Magazine. During his thirty years in IT, he has had many of his articles published in various print and web magazines and journals. His first poems were published when he was just 10 when two pieces submitted by a teacher were accepted by a literary magazine. Jack has since written poetry off and on throughout his life.
Jack began taking photos while in grade school with his first Brownie camera. It was given to him by his grandmother and used black and white film. As with his poetry, Jack prefers interesting takes on commonplace themes.
Jack has several books of poetry and photography on the market and has been a Staff Writer for Poetic Monthly Magazine. During his thirty years in IT, he has had many of his articles published in various print and web magazines and journals. His first poems were published when he was just 10 when two pieces submitted by a teacher were accepted by a literary magazine. Jack has since written poetry off and on throughout his life.
Jack began taking photos while in grade school with his first Brownie camera. It was given to him by his grandmother and used black and white film. As with his poetry, Jack prefers interesting takes on commonplace themes.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 2, 2019
Pat Ruger: For Hire #1 – This is my first read by this author and I found myself immersed until the last page and then picked up the second book. Well written, but needing some editing – none distracting, with interesting and intriguing storylines. This story could have been written by Joseph Wambaugh. The main characters are developed enough to be interesting; I’m sure as the series goes, we’ll learn more about them. They have good dialog and work well together. The pace was continuous, never slowing down while the storylines merged into an intriguing, substantial read. I did laugh about the sex scenes, not explicit, since they came off as male fantasies; all the sudden this old dude has all types of women, haha. But he is a decent person and I like him, a good main character. I found the sixth book of this series on HiddenGems and discovered I had several Ruger books in my library. 4*
Pat Ruger: Caribbean Shuffle #2 – This story picks up a few months after For Hire ends. Still with the male fantasies, but some are explicit now. Unfortunately, this story is not as well thought out or researched; it reads way too much like a D-rated Hollywood movie. Research would have shown how to communicate between ships instead of what was done; also, there is not a Naval man that calls his ship a boat. While the ideas were good, the lack of realism makes the story silly. Still needs editing. 3*
Pat Ruger: Native Species #3 - This story picks up in the same scene where Shuffle ends. As bad as Caribbean was with the Hollywood copying, this story is pathetic. Formatting is inconsistent, which makes reading it difficult. There is an extra space between each sentence, even in the mid of one person’s dialog, which is too Hollywood. AND, every female, especially the young ones, wants sex with Pat. Give me a break. What happened to the guy who wrote For Hire? Get him back, two out of three books that are poorly written and silly make me sorry I found Oblivion on Hidden Gems. I couldn’t finish this drivel. 2*
Pat Ruger: Oblivion Highway #6 – After reading two flops by this author, this book is similar to his first book, For Hire, which was pretty good. The writing style is similar to FH, unlike the two others, which were too juvenile and Hollywood. The storylines were good. Pat is still a caring, helpful person that almost gets himself killed. There are a couple of new characters that will probably show up in the next book; both are great, a sex therapist and a Lab. The pace is fast and I found the book interesting. Hopefully, the author continues in this vein and doesn’t return to the writing style of the second and third books. I found this book on HiddenGems. 4*
Pat Ruger: Caribbean Shuffle #2 – This story picks up a few months after For Hire ends. Still with the male fantasies, but some are explicit now. Unfortunately, this story is not as well thought out or researched; it reads way too much like a D-rated Hollywood movie. Research would have shown how to communicate between ships instead of what was done; also, there is not a Naval man that calls his ship a boat. While the ideas were good, the lack of realism makes the story silly. Still needs editing. 3*
Pat Ruger: Native Species #3 - This story picks up in the same scene where Shuffle ends. As bad as Caribbean was with the Hollywood copying, this story is pathetic. Formatting is inconsistent, which makes reading it difficult. There is an extra space between each sentence, even in the mid of one person’s dialog, which is too Hollywood. AND, every female, especially the young ones, wants sex with Pat. Give me a break. What happened to the guy who wrote For Hire? Get him back, two out of three books that are poorly written and silly make me sorry I found Oblivion on Hidden Gems. I couldn’t finish this drivel. 2*
Pat Ruger: Oblivion Highway #6 – After reading two flops by this author, this book is similar to his first book, For Hire, which was pretty good. The writing style is similar to FH, unlike the two others, which were too juvenile and Hollywood. The storylines were good. Pat is still a caring, helpful person that almost gets himself killed. There are a couple of new characters that will probably show up in the next book; both are great, a sex therapist and a Lab. The pace is fast and I found the book interesting. Hopefully, the author continues in this vein and doesn’t return to the writing style of the second and third books. I found this book on HiddenGems. 4*
September 21, 2018
Pat is a Private Investigator and retired detective, living and working in Denver. His latest case is brought to him by Angel, a weed dealer Pat has known for many years. A young woman, Elena, has gone missing, possibly kidnapped, and before disappearing was suspected of being made into an Islam extremist at the mosque she has been attending.
Pat looks for Elena’s sister, Lola, and with her friend Anna, start to help Pat out in more ways than one. He is still recovering from the loss of his wife, just a year ago. Unfortunately, the case referred by Angel, has Angel keeping some sort of side line secret. This could be dangerous towards Pat and anyone around him. One link that is found, to the missing Elena, is to an organisation called ‘Children of Bartholomew’, some sort of cult.
Pat takes Lola and Anna under his wing, to set up PAL Investigations, so they can be more help to him, researching clues and keeping his new office working well. The company gets recruited to work undercover for the FBI on this cult and to try to find out what they might be up to. And where does Elena fit into this? Pat also works with a cop called Jimmy Stewart, to check them out.
It is thought that this group is working with Muslim extremists and may have big plans for some violent attacks. It is up to Pat and his new colleagues to find a large explosive device, before it can be set off and kill possible thousands of innocent people. There are quite a few more troublesome situations for Pat to solve, before you can get to the end of the book. It makes for a very exciting and fast paced thriller.
This is book one of the Pat Ruger series and shows how Pat’s investigative company was started up and some of Pat’s method and police contacts. That doesn’t stop him from getting into trouble himself. Terrorist attacks are quite common news around the world nowadays unfortunately and are a sad reflection of people not being able to get on together without prejudice, hate or violence. Pat is a very realistic character, with flaws and bad things happening to him. He certainly doesn’t come out of events without a scratch.
I enjoyed this book and have already read a couple of the other Pat Ruger stories, which don’t have to be read in order, as they always have enough information for you to find out who Pat is and what he does. A great Private Investigator book series, with modern events being reflected in them. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Pat looks for Elena’s sister, Lola, and with her friend Anna, start to help Pat out in more ways than one. He is still recovering from the loss of his wife, just a year ago. Unfortunately, the case referred by Angel, has Angel keeping some sort of side line secret. This could be dangerous towards Pat and anyone around him. One link that is found, to the missing Elena, is to an organisation called ‘Children of Bartholomew’, some sort of cult.
Pat takes Lola and Anna under his wing, to set up PAL Investigations, so they can be more help to him, researching clues and keeping his new office working well. The company gets recruited to work undercover for the FBI on this cult and to try to find out what they might be up to. And where does Elena fit into this? Pat also works with a cop called Jimmy Stewart, to check them out.
It is thought that this group is working with Muslim extremists and may have big plans for some violent attacks. It is up to Pat and his new colleagues to find a large explosive device, before it can be set off and kill possible thousands of innocent people. There are quite a few more troublesome situations for Pat to solve, before you can get to the end of the book. It makes for a very exciting and fast paced thriller.
This is book one of the Pat Ruger series and shows how Pat’s investigative company was started up and some of Pat’s method and police contacts. That doesn’t stop him from getting into trouble himself. Terrorist attacks are quite common news around the world nowadays unfortunately and are a sad reflection of people not being able to get on together without prejudice, hate or violence. Pat is a very realistic character, with flaws and bad things happening to him. He certainly doesn’t come out of events without a scratch.
I enjoyed this book and have already read a couple of the other Pat Ruger stories, which don’t have to be read in order, as they always have enough information for you to find out who Pat is and what he does. A great Private Investigator book series, with modern events being reflected in them. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
October 13, 2017
Retired Denver cop, Pat Ruger, does freelance PI work. When an old friend, weed dealer, Angel, refers a young woman to him, and she asks his help finding her missing sister, suspected of being taken and radicalized by an extremist group, he finds himself up to his waders in drug dealers and terrorists—all out to kill him.
Pat Ruger for Hire by Jack Huber is a fast-paced mystery, laced with humor, spiked with deadly action, and with an explosive climax that will have you on the edge of your chair. While most of the characters are quite believable, I had to strain my brain to believe that Pat was as attractive to every female character he encountered, or that he could keep the pace he did, without eventually needing a pacemaker.
An interesting character, though, and I can imagine he’ll get up to some fascinating adventures in future offerings.
Pat Ruger for Hire by Jack Huber is a fast-paced mystery, laced with humor, spiked with deadly action, and with an explosive climax that will have you on the edge of your chair. While most of the characters are quite believable, I had to strain my brain to believe that Pat was as attractive to every female character he encountered, or that he could keep the pace he did, without eventually needing a pacemaker.
An interesting character, though, and I can imagine he’ll get up to some fascinating adventures in future offerings.
October 25, 2018
After reading and reviewing a later book in the Pat Ruger series by Jack Huber, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first book and finding out how P A L detective agency and Pat Ruger came into being. I also enjoyed the quirky and fun banter between the main characters as they faced a myriad of cases with different clients all while searching for the solution to the major case, the missing person case that started the book. The characters are entertaining and slightly unpolished which makes them even more human to the reader. And, of course, with any private detective, there are women involved, and possibly one of them leading to a real romantic love interest. Looking forward to reading the next books in this series. This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books.
September 20, 2018
This book has several unique and interesting characters. Pat ends up in a partnership with a pair of wild hookers after agreeing to track the missing sister of one of them. The plot involves terrorists, cults and local criminals. The action is very good suspense builds through the story. Other than the characters themselves description is at a minimum. Pat begins to develop a relationship with a local FBI agent while being pursued by his new partners. Lots of fun and action make this a good book.
September 20, 2018
Starts out like an old-fashion bad-ass private dick novel, and then makes a whole lot of unexpected twists and turns. The problem is that I seem to recognise every scene and every character from other books (starting with Evanovich's ex-ho' Lola) and there's an unnatural amount of sex offers. The book has some entertainment value, but I'm glad I got it for free.
February 22, 2019
Pat Ruger hires out as a Private investigator. When he takes on the job of finding a missing woman, Pat is going to get more than he bargained for. Sleeper cells and bomb threats are just part of the adventure as pat Ruger tries to solve the problems that landed in his lap. This is a quick read with a ripped from the headlines leaning.
March 26, 2019
Easy, quick read
If you like an easy, quick, read this book will not disappoint. As a Series 1 book it lays out some back history to the characters and the end is tied up nearly for the reader.
If you like an easy, quick, read this book will not disappoint. As a Series 1 book it lays out some back history to the characters and the end is tied up nearly for the reader.
Read
June 4, 2019Excellent reading!
I loved this story and the characters! I couldn't stop reading once I got started. Suspenseful, romantic, and even a little sexy. I am gonna get started on the next book immediately! Well done!
I loved this story and the characters! I couldn't stop reading once I got started. Suspenseful, romantic, and even a little sexy. I am gonna get started on the next book immediately! Well done!
January 30, 2020
Pat Ruger....
Fantastic read with fantastic characters and storyline! Pat Ruger, a PI, sure gets into a few “messes” but all works out great! Lots of action to be read. Definitely a must read.
Fantastic read with fantastic characters and storyline! Pat Ruger, a PI, sure gets into a few “messes” but all works out great! Lots of action to be read. Definitely a must read.
April 9, 2019
Not bad
This is a retired cop gone private investigator story that is not bad but just a little unbelievable. It didn't flow very well and it seemed that there was a lot of gratuitous pursuit by several women. I will probably get the next one just to see if the story starts to flow better.
This is a retired cop gone private investigator story that is not bad but just a little unbelievable. It didn't flow very well and it seemed that there was a lot of gratuitous pursuit by several women. I will probably get the next one just to see if the story starts to flow better.
March 1, 2017
My Review as Posted on Amazon:
Great!!!!!
ByIMHO on October 26, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Jack Huber hit this one out of the park! ( pun intended - read the story! ) Pat Ruger is a retired police detective, that is asked to find a missing person, because the police department was no longer looking....
If you like mysteries and detective novels, then this is a Must Read!!! And books 2 & 3 are available!!
Great!!!!!
ByIMHO on October 26, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Jack Huber hit this one out of the park! ( pun intended - read the story! ) Pat Ruger is a retired police detective, that is asked to find a missing person, because the police department was no longer looking....
If you like mysteries and detective novels, then this is a Must Read!!! And books 2 & 3 are available!!
March 10, 2015
"Pat Ruger - For Hire" is an easy to read book. The author does as good job painting a visual picture of the characters in the book. Pat Ruger is a investigator for hire whom we meet, he is likable and portrays a retired cop in a traditional way. There are also his soon to be partners, ex prostitutes, who keep his life lively. When Pat Ruger's long time friend is killed, the story line slightly alters and the book becomes more predictable. The book does not have a big final scene. Would have liked to see more character development and learned more about the main characters.
I did receive a free copy of this book in a giveaway.
I did receive a free copy of this book in a giveaway.
April 15, 2014
An excellent story, with believable characters, and a good plot. You can't help but sympathizing with Pat, a modern day old-school private detective. The story dives right into action almost immediately after starting, and you are kept in suspense throughout the book. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to witness the birth of the new Thomas Magnum. Jack Huber, give us more Pat Ruger! :)
March 11, 2015
Great story. Believable characters. Entertaining and fast paced. Really enjoyed reading this book. I received this book free from good reads for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews