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John Rader #1
John Rader
Who would mess with a man like John Rader?
When tough-as-nails PI John Rader walks away from a car wreck, leaving behind a dead blond, a lot of bullet holes, and most of his memory, he sets out to discover who wanted him dead, and why. In a place like Brink City, and with a man like Rader, that could be a long list. Then he hears the name Max Dressler – an ex-con with his own underworld empire – and his gut tells him it’s right. Removing Dressler alone won’t do it, though – not if Rader wants to walk these streets again. He needs to wipe out his whole damn crew.
But Rader is working at several disadvantages. First, he doesn’t know what they look like, while they know him. And second, all he has are the dollars in his wallet. Dressler has real money, he has powerful friends, and he has muscle. Good thing Rader’s not interested in the odds.
Only the corrupt local police chief, Gertz, takes Rader’s threat seriously from the start. He damn well better.
(This novel is a raw, dark thriller and contains strong language, violence and sex references.)
When tough-as-nails PI John Rader walks away from a car wreck, leaving behind a dead blond, a lot of bullet holes, and most of his memory, he sets out to discover who wanted him dead, and why. In a place like Brink City, and with a man like Rader, that could be a long list. Then he hears the name Max Dressler – an ex-con with his own underworld empire – and his gut tells him it’s right. Removing Dressler alone won’t do it, though – not if Rader wants to walk these streets again. He needs to wipe out his whole damn crew.
But Rader is working at several disadvantages. First, he doesn’t know what they look like, while they know him. And second, all he has are the dollars in his wallet. Dressler has real money, he has powerful friends, and he has muscle. Good thing Rader’s not interested in the odds.
Only the corrupt local police chief, Gertz, takes Rader’s threat seriously from the start. He damn well better.
(This novel is a raw, dark thriller and contains strong language, violence and sex references.)
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 16, 2020
89 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 17, 2020
If this is your introduction to Ian Quarry you are in for a treat. I now have a new favorite book of his. This is the first book in a new series and will leave you impatient for the next. If you read Ian’s Rat Pack series you already will be familiar with the setting but if haven’t, don’t worry you’ll get a feel for the city rather quickly.
John Rader is a dark thriller, it will keep you on the edge of your seat while you try and unravel what’s happening. John is a gritty, no nonsense character. He plays by his own set of rules and you can’t really fault him for doing what he does. The city and people will come to life around you.
I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for John.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the author and am leaving a voluntary honest review.
John Rader is a dark thriller, it will keep you on the edge of your seat while you try and unravel what’s happening. John is a gritty, no nonsense character. He plays by his own set of rules and you can’t really fault him for doing what he does. The city and people will come to life around you.
I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for John.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the author and am leaving a voluntary honest review.
January 17, 2020
John Rader is the first book in the John Rader Thrillers series.
PI John Rader is a well-developed character, dark and dangerous. This is an action-packed thriller that captured my interest from beginning to end, with danger, suspense, intrigue, action, violence, and twists and turns.
I'm looking forward to reading more books in this new series.
I read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book with no obligation.
PI John Rader is a well-developed character, dark and dangerous. This is an action-packed thriller that captured my interest from beginning to end, with danger, suspense, intrigue, action, violence, and twists and turns.
I'm looking forward to reading more books in this new series.
I read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book with no obligation.
January 26, 2020
He comes to behind the wheel of a wrecked Porsche which is nose down a snowy slope head first against a tree. The blonde woman in the passenger seat is dead from a gunshot wound, and he cannot remember a thing – about himself, about her, about anything. He climbs out of the wreckage and makes his way to a roadway and a truck ride to the address he finds on the ID in his wallet.
And so begins the exciting and desperate story of John Rader. As Rader follows the clues to his identity, familiar places and familiar faces fill in the past he’s lost and gives him a direction to gain justice for the dead woman he left behind in the car.
At first, the story seems clouded with confusion right along with the main character but much of that clears up as John follows his leads, and I felt this really set up an uneasy, and at times, desperate atmosphere. And since John is not quite himself, the bad guys have a difficult time tracking him down to finish the job that began in the Porsche and got Miranda, his companion and love interest, killed. There is a wide cast of characters presented in the book: villains, henchmen, crooked cops, a prostitute with tragic backstory. The reader doesn’t get a full, complete picture of who John Rader is in this first book, but for me, it was enough of a reveal to enjoy it and look forward to the next book in this new thriller series, John Rader Thrillers.I recommend this book for mystery/thriller readers that don’t mind an overt lack of back story information and those that like stories with an organized crime plot. I liked it!
January 19, 2020
This is an exciting story about a man who is hard as nails and not very likeable. The book begins with a crash, and much of what follows is the reader and Rader trying to figure out what is going on. The characters are a little one-dimensional, but that fits well in the scheme of things. I found the book tantalizing and enjoyable.
January 16, 2020
This is an action packed thriller. Although I had a bit of a problem with keeping the story straight, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of mystery and suspense. Probably a little more geared toward a male audience. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving this review
September 19, 2020
Started off with a decent premise. Guy is involved in an auto accident where the girl in the car with him has been shot. But he has no idea who he is or why he was in that town. But quickly deteriorated into just another poorly written thriller. Plenty of shoot 'em up. Lots of sophomoric dialogue. Certainly wouldn't recommend this one even as a no brainer read.
Kindle Unlimited.
Kindle Unlimited.
February 27, 2020
A good book.
January 23, 2020
This book starts with a car crash and a main character who, because of the accident, has no memory of who he is or what he was doing. There are a couple of links the character, John Rader, comes up with at the start, when he supposedly doesn’t even remember his name, which just threw the storyline and believability for me. The crash leaves behind a rich young blonde woman, dead by a gunshot, and John wondering what her connection was to him and why he was driving her car. We finally get to find out that he has recently moved to Brink City and that he is an unlicensed Private Investigator (PI). Unlicensed due to his list of crimes and unlawful investigating methods.
He finds out that a local gang boss called Max Dressler is the man behind the woman’s death, possibly due to her complaints against work he was trying to carry out nearby, or maybe he was the target and this woman was just in the way. He sets out to find out and this is where the story lost me. It was just too dense of different gangland characters, all looking for him and trying to kill him, while he just turns up at different locations he has heard are linked to this Dressler character, and lets loose, killing people left and right! It seems that all these criminals know him and what he looks like, but he has no clue what they look like, nor where some of the top men are based.
His way of engaging with the underworld characters is just constant violence and aimless driving about. The gang characters are just too numerous to try and keep track of and keep adding to their numbers, all to take down one man, just on their boss’s say so! There are also the usual corrupt cops, all the way to the police chief themselves. It seemed that there was no-one that was actually straight, including Rader! I very nearly gave up by half way through the book, but kept persevering, hoping it might get better, but it was just so much more of the same. I’m quite glad I hadn’t signed up for the second book in the series, as I won’t be reading anymore from this author. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
He finds out that a local gang boss called Max Dressler is the man behind the woman’s death, possibly due to her complaints against work he was trying to carry out nearby, or maybe he was the target and this woman was just in the way. He sets out to find out and this is where the story lost me. It was just too dense of different gangland characters, all looking for him and trying to kill him, while he just turns up at different locations he has heard are linked to this Dressler character, and lets loose, killing people left and right! It seems that all these criminals know him and what he looks like, but he has no clue what they look like, nor where some of the top men are based.
His way of engaging with the underworld characters is just constant violence and aimless driving about. The gang characters are just too numerous to try and keep track of and keep adding to their numbers, all to take down one man, just on their boss’s say so! There are also the usual corrupt cops, all the way to the police chief themselves. It seemed that there was no-one that was actually straight, including Rader! I very nearly gave up by half way through the book, but kept persevering, hoping it might get better, but it was just so much more of the same. I’m quite glad I hadn’t signed up for the second book in the series, as I won’t be reading anymore from this author. I received an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews