Tom Rollins lives by a simple code. Rule number one – don’t mess with his friends.
When dark figures from Cindy Vaughan’s past track her down, she runs to the only person who can protect her – Tom Rollins.
Ten years ago, these men killed Cindy’s sister and now they’re coming for her. But with Tom at her side, she’s turning the tables and looking for justice.
The trail they follow leads to tech mogul, Cameron Brewer. A billionaire with unlimited resources at his disposal and a fortified house in the Hollywood Hills, he and his associates will not be easy to get to.
They have money. They have power. They have influence. They’re hard targets.
Tom will need every one of his lethal skills if he’s going to keep Cindy safe and take the bad guys down.
Paul Heatley is back with a new Tom Rollins story. In Hard Target he has to help a friend from the past. She is being targeted by an evil tech mogul that is trying to cover up that his business is not doing so well and the fact that he is behind the murder of her sister. This book is a wild ride and it has all the trademarks we now know from this great author. I stumbled on this series by an accident and I am glad I did it's great. I only miss one thing in this series and that is more involment with his family. for those out there that haven't tried this series or are afraid it's a Reacher clone, don't worry, it's not. I can really recommend these books and author. I also must thank Netgalley and Inkubator books for letting me read this book. Be sure to follow Paul Heatley and read his books.
Wow wow wow Paul does it again! Another book of Tom and god did this pack a punch! I was so worried for him at one point because I didn’t see how he would get out of some of the scrapes but I shouldn’t have worried, I mean come on this is Tom!
This was so intense! I still have a few books in the series to catch up on but I have to say I loved Cindy! She was awesome! Her story though was sad, and I was with her every step of the journey she took. Boy did she kick ass!
For me, Tom and this series is just so refreshing. Yes, it has Jack Reacher’s feels but here, he’s a man just trying to find peace and doesn’t interfere in things that have nothing to do with him. Instead, people want his help and to be honest, I would too if I was ever in that position. Plus, it helps I might just be a little bit in love with Tom…… Ahem….
This story had a few dark turns that I wasn’t expecting, but it made it great for hating Cameron and Hugh so much more. And Malcolm, shudder
My only concern is that Tom is rethinking his life and it makes me worry that there won’t be more books. I mean, I NEED more books! I hope I have just read too much into it. I mean after the end of this one, I need to know what the next chapter will be like.
Paul’s writing is like a dream, it flows quickly and additively and I struggled to put this down at any time! Just plain awesome!
This is book seven of the Tom Rollins Thriller series and sees Tom coming to the aid of a former acquaintance, Cindy Vaughan, who he hasn’t seen for years. Cindy has been in hiding ever since she escaped the clutches of Hugh and Lenny, and Hugh’s brother Cameron, who had been making her use her computer skills to steal money from people. Cameron used the money Hugh got her to steal, to fund his new business empire. When Cindy finally managed to make her escape, she ratted out Hugh and Lenny to the very people she was forced to steal money from, leaving Cameron having to send the two men to hide out in Europe until the heat went down. But what Cindy didn’t realise until too late, was that they would find her older sister Erica, who she owed everything to, having raised her alone after their own parents died in an accident, when she was only in her teens herself. Hugh and Lenny wanted to know where Cindy was and one or both of them took it too far, beating her to death! Tens years have passed since her sister was killed, but she has always vowed she would get justice for her sister somehow.
This has left Cindy living a hidden existence, covering herself with multiple computer and camera safety measures, to ensure Cameron and his goons can’t find her. But somehow they have found her and the only person she can turn to for help is Tom Rollins, who is currently working as a bouncer of sorts in a bar. It takes her a couple of weeks to travel to his location, thankfully having an escape route planned just in case something like this happened. Cameron’s tech business has expanded over the years and now he has the tech to find her, but is more worried about another woman close to his business that has disappeared without signing an NDA, Kylie Hood. Cameron sent Hugh and Lenny to go an deal with Cindy once he discovered her location, but they return two weeks later with nothing. Cindy managed to escape by sheer luck and made it here where Cameron’s home and business is, as well as where Tom is located. Cindy tries to get into Cameron’s security feeds for his home and business, Zeus Conglomerates, as well as Zeus Motors, but it will take some time, since it is heavily secured. Meanwhile they manage to follow Hugh and Lenny to a poor area of town, Los Tierras Bajas, where they see they threatening the residents, beating one of them before leaving. Tom follows up and visits the residents, only to find most won’t speak to him. When Cindy digs into why Hugh and co are there, she soon finds an article about Kylie Hood and finds everything about her has been wiped from the records everywhere. The only clue they have is the woman in the only article they found, standing next to Kylie and who looks like her friend, Catherine Massey.
They visit Catherine, who at first is reluctant to talk to them, thinking they are part of Cameron’s heavies. She eventually believes them, but all she can give them is burner phone number for Kylie, who is in hiding for her life and has been trying to make public what Cameron has been doing. She used to work as a researcher at Zeus Conglomerates, looking for locations for rare earth minerals that were needed for his electric car business, Zeus Motors. It seems these rare earth minerals are normally only found in China and Cameron had been getting them to test locations in the USA, to find any other possible source for them, before he had to close down his car plant, losing hundreds of thousands every week! Kylie found a location, but what followed is not what she would ever have allowed to happen. Her friend Catherine was forced to sign an NDA and paid off, but Kylie ran. She tells Cindy and Tom as much as she can, but refuses to come out of hiding until the danger is gone or she manages to go public. Cameron has a lot of influential friends or at least powerful people willing to do things for large sums of money and has managed to get all of her attempts so far, silenced. Tom and Cindy intercept one of the attacks on the residents of Los Tierras Bajas, managing to grab Lenny, but Hugh uses him as much more than just a bodyguard and has a situation like this covered. Tom ends up captured, sacrificing himself to allow Cindy to escape, since she is the main target of Hugh and his brother.
Tom has been arrested, but he isn’t being taken to any normal police cell, instead to a warden of a small jail some way out of town, where the warden, Malcolm Graves, will do anything for money. Cameron tells him to make his death look like an accident, but thankfully, Tom is prepared for something like this happening and doesn’t succumb as Malcolm of Cameron would like! Cindy is left trying to crack Cameron’s security system for clues as to where Tom is being held and she ends up taking a desperate but very bold step, to get the information she needs. A final face off will be required between Cindy and Tom, against Cameron, Hugh, Lenny and the rest of his cronies, if anything is going to be done to stop what Cameron is doing and which his rich and powerful allies are allowing to take place. Will Cindy actually get the sense of justice she has long hoped for, or will another outcome provide a more fitting solution to their problems? Full of action throughout, but the ending just ramps it up even more, as Tom tries to keep Cindy safe against overwhelming odds and he will need every bit of his lethal skills and willpower, to battle through the targets placed in front of them by Cameron’s group. A very fitting ending which left you wondering how on earth they might get to the next hour, never mind face off against the bad guys. Two of them, against an armed army gang bangers and worse, and it will only be by pure luck and ingrained skills that either of them may survive. A cracking thriller and I can’t wait to see what might come next! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
This is the seventh in the Tom Rollins series and like the rest of the novels the pace just doesn’t let up for a minute. Cindy Vaughan has been in hiding from the men who murdered her sister but when eventually they catch up with her there is only one person she can turn too and that’s Tom Rollins. Rather than run, Tom and Cindy decide to confront the killers, who have money, power and influence on their side, in their own backyard of L.A. Despite being a bit formulaic, in that Tom almost always faces seemingly impossible odds to eventually triumph, I do enjoy these action novels. I must admit that I do tend to read them while on vacation,as they are for me perfect holiday reads but that’s not to put them down in any way. I am one novel behind in the series but hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m caught up as, ‘Last Stand’ is the next in the series.
Pros: Good plot and character development. Intense action and many twists. Can a rich and powerful family be brought to justice by a pair of rather gifted people?
Cons: Needs better editing. A few typos a grammatical errors would have been caught by a good editor.
If you're looking for a fast-paced action thriller, then this book and the whole series is for you. I love this series and it never fails to grab me immediately and I find it difficult to put the book down.
This time Rollins is united with Cindy when the killers of her sister years before somehow track her down. There is a link also to a businessman whose business is in trouble and who is trying to intimidate people from their homes after discovering the land their houses are built on is home to some badly needed mineral resources.
I really like Rollins and his sense of justice, and I loved seeing Cindy up close, suddenly being brought further into a world of violence. The characters of the Brewsters are downright nasty and make for decent villains. I wonder which road Tom takes at the end to bring him to his next adventure. Bring it on!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Cindy Vaughan couldn't stand the heat. That evening, she had gone out to buy Chinese food.
In the middle of her meal, her phone alarm rang: someone had broken into her apartment...
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This is the first novel by this author that I have read. I had some difficulty with his very detailed writing style. I often got lost in the story. Unfortunately, I never really managed to get into the plot.
I had trouble identifying who were the main characters in the novel: Tom, Cindy, Cameron, Hugh and Lenny?
I would have liked to know more about Tom as he is supposed to be the main character of the whole series.
The story is quite long to read, but is not unpleasant either. A rather mixed read for me. It's not what I expected.
"Hard Target," the seventh installment in Paul Heatley's action thriller series featuring ex-special forces operative Tom Rollins, is a gripping tale reminiscent of Jack Reacher's adventures. Tom, leading a nomadic post-retirement life, is drawn into a high-stakes mission when his hacker friend, Cindy, seeks revenge against businessmen Cameron and Hugh. The plot unfolds as they dismantle the brothers' illegal empire after the tragic loss of Cindy's sister. Heatley's trademark writing style, characterized by simplicity and a fast-paced narrative, makes "Hard Target" an engaging and accessible read for fans of the genre.
This installment of the Tom Rollins series was not as good as earlier ones. Seems his hacker friend Cindy needs his help in getting her sister's killer(s). Cindy has been in hiding from them for years and they finally tracked her down but she had just left her apartment to pick up food.
He is not as free to be Tom as usual since he is helping Cindy (who has promised to listen to him) but doesn't and ends up getting Tom "arrested" by corrupt police. Then she has to help him escape.
They barely stay a step ahead of Hugh, Cameron and Lenny and all their tech cameras and paid off stooges. Tom is one man against a legion of gangbangers and skin heads hired by Cameron. It doesn't end well for them as it shouldn't.
This is the seventh book in this series, and when one of Tom’s friends needs his help is there for her. Candy is threated by her sisters’ killers from years before, and there is only one person who can help her and that is Tom. This is a good story which is fast paced, and action packed, with justice, violence, vengeance, corruption, and is an enjoyable page turner. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Tom Rollins receives a call from Cindy Vaughan someone from her past has found her and she needs his help. These people killed her sister and later as you get into the story you find out just how evil they are. With Tom’s help hopefully, Cindy will be taken care of, you think anything less you have not read the previous books. A fast-paced and full of action and suspense another great book to go with the series and very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley,com
From the first book in the series, Tom Rollins character reminded me Jack Reacher one as he is wandering across US and being involved in diferent situations; in this one, there is part of the action where everything reminded me John Wick films. I like when secondary characters from previous novels are upgraded to a main rol in the series and that allows us to know deeper about Cidy, the hacker who helped Tom in previous novels but, apart of that, not a different book from the previous ones
If you want to sit back and read a nice novel, this isn't it. This story is non-stop action. I've had to get up and walk away for a couple minutes. But I was back quickly. There is blood and gore for sure, but its mostly the bad guys. As I've read thro this series, Tom makes friends with some of the people he has helped and they show up occasionally in subsequent books. Its nice to have that continuity, along with the blood and gore. Haha
Oh man this is one phenomenal book !! It’s the first I’ve read by Paul and it definitely won’t be the last. If the first 6 books were anything like this then it’s been one magnificent series. I absolutely loved it. Action packed with vengeance/justice. I can’t wait to read more!!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A great action packed read. I have read all of the Tom Rollins books in order and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them. I very much look forward to the next book and I know the author Paul Heatley will continue to give us a treat. Another well deserved 5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ive enjoyed This series. Hard Target is another solid story. Its well written with a good balance of plot and action. The characters are well developed. I like hoe Heatley brings characters back from dried books. Good editing. Typos and grammatical errors bug me as they distract form the story.
Another fast paced story in this series. Rollins is again thrust into the thick of the action in his efforts to help a former contact in trouble with the people who murdered her sister. The action never lets up and Rollins never backs down, whatever the odds. Great characters.
It's an ok read for what is a pretty formulaic story. Nothing really new from this, that this author and others have not done before The only thing slightly different to most is that there aren't 1000s of rounds flying towards our hero and none of them hit. He gets beaten up a tad, but overall we don't get the usual inexcusable absence of injury
Helps a frend Cindy who is 1looking for a friend of her's that was caught up in a rare earth minerals discovery in the US. Cameron, a billionaire, is trying to get these people to move using force to get access to the underground minerals. Tom and Cindy face off against Cameron, his family and all his hired thugs. This was another very good book in this series, looking forward to the next one.
Story well spun! Love that alpha Tom makes moves swift and efficient, killing his adversaries with very few blows…think Hemingway would admire P. H.’s economical writing style?
If you like a book packed with fast action this is it. Murder the fight for justice corruption and just plain evil are side by side with a little insanity. Then this is the book for you so enjoy a good read
Another great Tom Rollins Thriller. The way he thinks, the composure, and then the attack. The book is very entertaining, but at times I thought it dragged slightly. I can't wait for Book #8 to to drop!
Don't cross Tom Rollins. If you do... you won't like the outcome. Just finished book 7 and I have to say the series has kept me riveted. No spoilers. All I can say is 10/10 for keeping me interested in the stories. Excellent look forward to reading more
I enjoy Paul Heat let's books with Tom as the main character. Tom has integrity and strength! He is constantly getting into trouble, yet he comes out alive. This was interesting because he pitted gang bangers against each other !
The action is non-stop. The plot develops continuously and builds nicely at every stage. The bad guys are really dislikable and the good guys are really committed to doing right, even with their flaws. A great read.
Ive enjoyed This series. Hard Target is another solid story. Its well written with a good balance of plot and action. The characters are well developed. I like hoe Heatley brings characters back from dried books. Good editing. Typos and grammatical errors bug me as they distract form the story.
Tom helped out a friend. Interestingly, most of the bodies that were lying around were not the cause of his blitz through the bad guys. Towards the end of this tale, you get the sense that Tom is trying to decide what is next for himself.