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Jack Keller #6
Won’t Back Down
Jack Keller’s violent past is very much with him these days, despite his efforts to leave it behind. He’s back in rural North Carolina, looking for steady work, and trying to establish a relationship with Francis, the son he never knew. But the boy’s heard too much about Keller, particularly from Ben Jones, his half-brother and the son of Marie, the woman Keller loves. Ben’s alienated, angry, and headed for trouble, and Keller’s living with the guilt of knowing that much of Ben’s turmoil stems from that fateful day of blood and madness on a burning mountainside when Keller saved Ben’s life and that of his mother. But it came at a terrible price. Keller’s intervention on behalf of a bullied refugee girl and her family draws him into a confrontation with people from that family’s own dark past, including a trio of vicious and sadistic female assassins--with Ben, Marie and Francis destined to end up in the crosshairs as well. Jack Keller’s never been one to back down, and once again, he’ll be forced to pick up the gun to defend the people he loves. This time, however, he won’t be alone, and Jack will find out that the debts of his past may never be paid in full.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
About the author
J.D. Rhoades
25 books185 followersJ.D. Rhoades is America's foremost writer of the genre known as "Redneck noir," and his biography reads like "Tobacco Road" as written by Hunter S. Thompson.
Rhoades never knew his parents; he was found abandoned on the steps of a cut-rate Filipino tax preparation service in Slidell, La. As a child, he was bounced around between a series of orphanages, reformatories and opium dens. His first brush with the law came when he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. He was seven years old at the time.
Rhoades first turned to drugs at the age of five, when he discovered you could get high by snorting Nestle’s Quik through a rolled up copy of Highlights magazine. Since then, he claims to have ingested marijuana, peyote, heroin, psilocybin, uppers, downers, screamers, laughers, dried banana peels, glue, paste, mucilage, LSD, DMT, STP, ABC, CNN, TLC, Sterno, Drano, Bondo, Ketamine, Dopamine, glucosamine, Ovaltine, and Krispy Kreme.
He hit rock bottom when he did all of them in the same night and woke up two weeks later, hanging upside down by his knees from a tree limb in Duluth, Minn., and singing an aria from “Die Fledermaus.” In German, a language that he does not speak.
Rhoades is rumored to have once killed a stripper with a fondue fork and disposed of the body using an electric pencil sharpener over a period of 14 hours.
Ii is not known whether the rumors are true that Rhoades kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby, nor can reports that he was the shooter on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot be confirmed. He does, however, know Tom DeLay personally.
-Biography contributed by James Frey
Rhoades never knew his parents; he was found abandoned on the steps of a cut-rate Filipino tax preparation service in Slidell, La. As a child, he was bounced around between a series of orphanages, reformatories and opium dens. His first brush with the law came when he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. He was seven years old at the time.
Rhoades first turned to drugs at the age of five, when he discovered you could get high by snorting Nestle’s Quik through a rolled up copy of Highlights magazine. Since then, he claims to have ingested marijuana, peyote, heroin, psilocybin, uppers, downers, screamers, laughers, dried banana peels, glue, paste, mucilage, LSD, DMT, STP, ABC, CNN, TLC, Sterno, Drano, Bondo, Ketamine, Dopamine, glucosamine, Ovaltine, and Krispy Kreme.
He hit rock bottom when he did all of them in the same night and woke up two weeks later, hanging upside down by his knees from a tree limb in Duluth, Minn., and singing an aria from “Die Fledermaus.” In German, a language that he does not speak.
Rhoades is rumored to have once killed a stripper with a fondue fork and disposed of the body using an electric pencil sharpener over a period of 14 hours.
Ii is not known whether the rumors are true that Rhoades kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby, nor can reports that he was the shooter on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot be confirmed. He does, however, know Tom DeLay personally.
-Biography contributed by James Frey
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 11, 2019
J.D. Rhoades is an author who should be a household name. He is seemingly incapable of writing poorly, which he has demonstrated over the course of his Jack Keller series and a handful of stand-alone novels. All of his books successfully meld capers that go awry with flawed yet appealing protagonists and antagonists who are clever but not smart. The result is an explosive slice of southern noir that is guaranteed to be unforgettable.
Rhoades’ newly published WON’T BACK DOWN, his latest Jack Keller thriller, is a parable of sorts, demonstrating that the consequences of avaricious actions adversely radiate far beyond ground zero of the intentions. Keller is back in rural North Carolina, trying to connect with Francis (“call me Frank”), the young son he only recently discovered he had, and possibly with Frank’s mother, Marie. There are complications connected with him doing this that go somewhat beyond those that readily come to mind, primarily the violence that informs his past and seems to follow him (despite his best intentions) wherever he goes. There is also his past relationship with Ben, Marie’s other son and Frank’s older half-brother, which is convoluted at best.
Keller’s violent background and legal difficulties keep him unemployed and basically a quiet pariah in the area. However, his luck changes when, after intervening in an incident involving the schoolyard bullying of a pair of siblings, Keller is hired as a babysitter/chauffeur/bodyguard to the high school-aged brother and sister. Adnan Khoury, the children’s father, is an enigma of his own making. He ostensibly is a refugee from Iraq and is supposedly in danger due to his actions in aiding United States forces against Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War. But the whole truth is much more complicated. There are a number of players who are after Khoury, and their appearances on the scene quickly endanger Keller, who must protect not only Khoury’s children but his own loved ones as well.
The McGuffin here (as it is so often) is stolen money and a lot of it, or at least the rumor of it. Rural North Carolina isn’t always exactly quiet, but what peace there might be is violently disturbed as alliances are forged and then rent asunder by various parties attempting to locate Khoury and determine the whereabouts of the money he supposedly has. None of them are above (or below) using Khoury’s children as an incentive to reveal his secrets, and it is up to Keller --- as well as some occasional, accidental and reluctant allies --- to stand between the kids and the bad guys. There is quite a body count, and the book twists and turns to a satisfying, if not neat and tidy, ending. Not everyone makes it to the finish line.
The plot of WON’T BACK DOWN is just complex enough to be intriguing, even as it introduces and jettisons with equal aplomb fascinating characters in the final pages. Rhoades does an excellent job of bringing newcomers into the Keller fold so that thriller fans have no reason to ignore this memorable tale, which is one of the author’s (and this year’s) best works.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rhoades’ newly published WON’T BACK DOWN, his latest Jack Keller thriller, is a parable of sorts, demonstrating that the consequences of avaricious actions adversely radiate far beyond ground zero of the intentions. Keller is back in rural North Carolina, trying to connect with Francis (“call me Frank”), the young son he only recently discovered he had, and possibly with Frank’s mother, Marie. There are complications connected with him doing this that go somewhat beyond those that readily come to mind, primarily the violence that informs his past and seems to follow him (despite his best intentions) wherever he goes. There is also his past relationship with Ben, Marie’s other son and Frank’s older half-brother, which is convoluted at best.
Keller’s violent background and legal difficulties keep him unemployed and basically a quiet pariah in the area. However, his luck changes when, after intervening in an incident involving the schoolyard bullying of a pair of siblings, Keller is hired as a babysitter/chauffeur/bodyguard to the high school-aged brother and sister. Adnan Khoury, the children’s father, is an enigma of his own making. He ostensibly is a refugee from Iraq and is supposedly in danger due to his actions in aiding United States forces against Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War. But the whole truth is much more complicated. There are a number of players who are after Khoury, and their appearances on the scene quickly endanger Keller, who must protect not only Khoury’s children but his own loved ones as well.
The McGuffin here (as it is so often) is stolen money and a lot of it, or at least the rumor of it. Rural North Carolina isn’t always exactly quiet, but what peace there might be is violently disturbed as alliances are forged and then rent asunder by various parties attempting to locate Khoury and determine the whereabouts of the money he supposedly has. None of them are above (or below) using Khoury’s children as an incentive to reveal his secrets, and it is up to Keller --- as well as some occasional, accidental and reluctant allies --- to stand between the kids and the bad guys. There is quite a body count, and the book twists and turns to a satisfying, if not neat and tidy, ending. Not everyone makes it to the finish line.
The plot of WON’T BACK DOWN is just complex enough to be intriguing, even as it introduces and jettisons with equal aplomb fascinating characters in the final pages. Rhoades does an excellent job of bringing newcomers into the Keller fold so that thriller fans have no reason to ignore this memorable tale, which is one of the author’s (and this year’s) best works.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
December 31, 2019
My first JD Rhoades/Jack Keller novel and I am hooked! Looking to start from the beginning and read through this outstanding and well written series!!
September 28, 2025
A great action packed read from start to finish. I have really enjoyed this series. Fingers crossed for another book…..please. A big thank you to J D Rhoades, I really appreciate the books and all your hard work and imagination in putting them together. From me, another well deserved 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 8, 2020
Outstanding; Continuing character: Jack Keller; two Arab teenagers require Keller's assistance, but he has no idea what he's getting into as three sets of violent killers are after loot their father brought from Iraq and Keller's family, friends and others in the community are all at risk
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews