Black Jack Point

Whit Mosley #2

by Jeff Abbott

In this spellbinding new thriller, Texas judge Whit Mosley is about to cross the point of no return... Whit Mosley's missing friends turn up at Black Jack Point dead and buried, along with bones and relics from a legendary past. When Whit opens an inquest into the murders, he's plunged into a shadowy world of ruthless treasure hunters, double-crossing tycoons, and money-hungry sharks - all chasing a long-lost fortune in emeralds and gold. His only ally, police detective Claudia Salazar, is kidnapped at sea and held hostage in a deadly game of betrayal and greed. To survive, both Claudia and Whit must stay one step ahead of their common enemy - a desperate killer far more dangerous than any pirate of old...

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Adult

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2002

About the author

Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has a degree in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. His early novels were traditional detective fiction but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and France.

Series:
* Whit Mosley
* Jordan Poteet

Reviews

[Amos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh filled silliness....


2 Stars

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total Misfire


Plowing through this book and hoping that at some point it would gain traction and my interest, I reached the ending and realized I'd simply wasted most of an afternoon ..... even if it was a rainy one.

A multitude of haphazardly developed characters centered around a double murder, a kidnapping and a treasure hunt can't disguise the lack of a coherent or entertaining plot in this book. The "bad" guys are straight from the comics and the "good" guys are even tough to take. Edgar nominee aside, I missed the magic in this one.

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable crime thriller following Whit Mosley.
Just as action packed as the first in the series and full of twist and turns.
I really had to concentrate with all the characters but this didn't effect my overall experience.
The ending was a brilliant finale.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abbott, Jeff-BLACK JACK POINT-G
No honor among thieves

[Ruth Angus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally a good plot, but rambling and muddled.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. This is dark. I am not liking this series any better. This time we deal with kidnapping, rape, buried treasure, and piracy. Again Whit goes for totally the wrong woman. This time she hides her debts and involvements in a murder that he's investigating and ends up getting shot to death. Claudia (his partner) doesn't fare much better. Her boyfriend was seriously involved in multiple murders and schemes, and ends up trying to kill her, but she kills him instead. I didn't think it was a very good book.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abbott does very well, until close to the the end, to keep his penchant for too many plot twists in check, so closer to a four than a three. And who can resist a tale of pirates and treasure? (Spoiler Alert!): But everyone being crooked and greedy enough to kill long-time friends and family members? C’mon.

[Gerard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taut and well-spun!

[Satrajit Sanyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crooks don't make good partners because they almost always try to cheat each other. Jimmy Bird and Alex are digging for treasure on Patch Gilbert's land in Black Jack Point, Texas. Patch and his significant other return early surprising the thieves. When Patch's niece Lucy reports him missing, the police drive over to his home and unearth their remains.

Also dug out of the grave is older bones and parts of a treasure chest. Lucy's boyfriend Judge Whit Mosley tries to console his lover especially when the police zero in on her as a suspect since she is the sole beneficiary to Patch's estate. While Whit deals with one aspect of the crime, his friend police detective Claudia Salozar and her boyfriend are hijacked and held for ransom. The thugs want Ben's brother Alex to turn over the treasure, especially the famous emerald once belonging to Jean Lafitte, otherwise the hostages are going to be killed.

BLACK JACK POINT is an exhilarating crime thriller that is an exciting read because one really doesn't know who are the good guys or the villains. Their actions are designed to confuse the evidence and enables Jeff Abbot to show he is an expert at his craft. This fast paced story line has a shocking climax that the readers will never figure out until it's over. The crime thriller genre has a winner with this strong novel from Mr. Abbott, a rising star.

[Jim C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is part of a series but this novel could be read as a stand alone. In this one, an elderly couple happen upon a crime scheme in the middle of the night. Things do not end well for this couple and this couple are well known by our main character, Judge Whit Mosley.

This is a thriller novel. I have read the other books in this series and they were good reads. This one not so much. The author had a good idea for the story. The problem was with its execution. We expect twist and turns in a thriller novel but this book had so many of them that they became convoluted. I didn't think there was a natural flow to the twists. The same could be said for the characters. They were never truly fleshed out and the author assumed we would just know and care for them. Maybe they were in the previous novel and I just don't remember them. If so, the blame still rests on the author as the author should incorporate a little background for these characters.

I liked the concept for the caper of this novel. For whatever reason it just did not translate into a complete story. Too many sub plots with the characters which should have added to their growth. Instead it took away from the thriller and this one is the weakest book of the series.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

BLACK JACK POINT is the second of three Jeff Abbott novels in the Whit Mosley series. Abbott is a Texas man, a graduate of Rice University, lives in Austin, and writes, especially in his early books, mysteries set around the Gulf Coast. Whit Mosley is the local judge in the fictional town of Port Leo, near Galveston, where everyone knows everyone. Mosley likes to solve murders within his jurisdiction, and when two bodies of prominent townsfolk are found dead, he makes it his business to find out what happened. The characters, both good and bad, are colorfully developed; the plot has its twists and turns. There is even buried Pirate treasure and Lafitte local lore thrown in. Good summer beach read.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average at best which is disappointing, I like Whit as a character but here he kind of just plods around hoping to solve the case, its an ok thriller but never reaches the heights of other Abbott books which is a real shame.
The end of the book is ok if a little predictable, but this book never really delivers its more like an airport thriller. I know that Abbott can write a whole lot better than this (Run, Panic ,A kiss gone bad) I will read the next book in the series as I enjoy Abbotts books but he needs to up his game.

Worth you time if your struggling to find something to read.

[Alison Takacs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had very high expectations as I have loved all of Jeff Abbott’s books I’ve read so far, including the first in this series. This one was good, but not as fast-paced & exciting as the first in this series. I felt it was too drawn out. It’s possible that the storyline itself didn’t help either as I just couldn’t get into the whole pirate’s treasure/treasure-hunter plot.
The twists were good, some of which I saw coming and others I did not. I love a good series, so this was a must-read as I head into the next one in the world of Whit Mosley.

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this #2 of the series went off the deep end a bit, it was a pretty good story.
And for the first time in several books, I was actually surprised getting to the bad guy.
Whit proved once again that getting to the truth is a lot more complicated than not. And that sometimes you really need to follow your gut!

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Billed as a spellbinding thriller which turned out to be neither. Pedestrian writing and boring plot. Simply not an author for me. Narrated by John Glouchevich who I also hope never to encounter again.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

couldn't get into it. Started well, but ended up skim reading the last quarter of the book.

[Charla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read from Jeff Abbot, as usual! Entertaining and intriguing. Will be reading more in the series.

[Jerry King · Rating 4 out of 5]

2002

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, fast, action-packed thriller.

[Jen Shapiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It was okay. I felt like nothing in the plot was fleshed out as much as it could have been.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrived, convoluted. Eh.

[Ann Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed! Exciting but almost too many characters to keep up with.

[Hana Faber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I'm reading these

[Dr H L · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun

Good thriller. The Gooch character is quite likable as are Whit and Claudia. I did not anticipate the ending. 🧐

[Patricia Cochrane · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great ending

[Jacy Carroll-Bussman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read some other books by this author and enjoyed them. This one, however, imho, was not up to par. I kept hoping the book would get better, but it really got worse. Sorry Mr. Abbott.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twists, turns and Whit's sarcastic moments, good thriller.

[Summer Zee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3

[AJ Alburo · Rating 2 out of 5]

At last! after almost 4 months at my comfort Bookshelf I'm done with Jeff Abbott's "Black Jack Point".

"MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL'S"

This book is all about Murder/Suspense/Drama/Treasure Hunting book.
An emerald , a murdered old couple , pirates , a crazy treasure hunter and a judge.

Well, although this is a entertaining book to read, but for me I just don't get it. ( 3 main weak points about this book for me :) )

1. I'm not a big fan of Treasure Hunting, Emeralds, Golds, Pearls and other precious gems and stones takes hundreds and millions years to be formed. We dug up golds and emeralds, we swam the deepest seas for pearls why not let their beauties be in their natural place??.
2. The words that are used to this book are extremely difficult to understand!.
3.Easy money, being greedy and killing people are some lessons we can get in this book.

2 stars! for this book nothing more, nothing less :).

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one wore me out! Action-packed and always having that 'Well HUH...WOW!' factor going throughout the listen. It started with almost sex and digging for treasure and ended with swimming in the Gulf and there was a whole lotta intrigue, murder, bad guys, good guys in between. I like those books. I did figure out some twists early on, so it's a four beaner rating from me. A KISS GONE BAD remains my favorite of the two I've listened to and I will darn well listen to more of the series and maybe not in order since I'm not sure it matters.
Oh and I still have a crush on Gootch.....and L J Ganser rocks!
Four twist figured-outer beans......