Set in Pelican Bay High Security Prison, a high concept race-against-time thriller featuring elite bodyguard Ryan Lock. His mission should have been straightforward: to keep one man alive for one week.
ONE PRISONER Super-intelligent and brutally violent, Frank 'Reaper' Hays is a leading member of America's most powerful white supremacists prison gang.
ONE BODYGUARD Ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock has been hired to protect him. His mission is to keep Reaper alive for a week until he can be brought to trial.
ONE WEEK TO STAY ALIVE But Lock soon realises that he faces the toughest assignment of his career -- just to survive.
I write the Ryan Lock series of thrillers, which feature ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock and his partner, former Marine, Ty Johnson. The first two books in the series, Lockdown and Deadlock, hit the Official UK Top 50 Bestseller Chart, and the third, Gridlock, has just been released in hardback. They have have also been translated into Dutch, German, and Russian.
I'm a firm believer in hands-on research, also known as 'any excuse to get out of the house', so before I wrote Lockdown, I trained for a month with former members of the Royal Military Police's specialist close protection unit. That turned out to be great preparation for Deadlock, which I researched by spending time inside Pelican Bay Supermax in California (see the TV interview on my author page). I recently completed a desert survival course in Arizona and ventured into the tunnels under Las Vegas, all as preparation for a new standalone thriller I will begin work on once I have completed the fourth Ryan Lock book.
Before I became a full-time novelist, I taught college and wrote television drama. I'm an Oxbridge and Ivy League graduate – try not to hold that against me.
Another 5***** from Sean Black! Ryan Lock is one of toughest guys in the thriller genre.His exploits keep you riveted from start to finish.If you are a fan of Thrillers,this series is a MUST READ!
I was not expecting much to be honest when I picked up the book but by page three I had changed my mind. This is a real page turner, and it kept me riveted to the end. The only reason I did not give it a full five stars is that I felt the ending was a little rushed. If the author had just spend a few more pages filling this out it would be five with a bullet.
This was my first book by Sean Black, I purchased it a while ago and just got round to reading it, it isn't usually the sort of book i would read. I kept picking it up and flicking through a couple of pages and kept putting it back on the shelf. Until this time I thought no im going to read it! And I'm so glad I did. I could not put the book down! I loved the pace of the book it all moved very quickly as sometimes with these sorts of books you can get huge dialogue sections or huge chunks of background story which I personally find very boring. Loved all the twists that kept popping up especially the ones towards the end. By the end I was glued to the book and literally only put the book down for toilet breaks and even then I didn't want to put it down! All I can say is a big well done to Mr Black as this is only his second novel and I feel it was a big sucess on his part, the writing throughout the book is rather good and it has a way of always keeping you interested. I'm pretty sure I will reading his other work Lockdown and his newest one Gridlock. And I look forward to reading them!
It's not often that a writer can capture my attention and hold it all the way through a book, but Sean Black is one such writer. I have just finished "Deadlock" (the second book in the Ryan Lock series) and once again I was not left disappointed. Having started reading the series a few books in I am currently on a "catch up" mission to read his earlier works, and enjoying every page of this quest.
I read Sean Blacks first book and absolutely loved it. Ryan Lock is an ex-military bodyguard who has worked private security and has now set up his own company that can be called upon for any type of job. He has a partner Ty Johnson who is an ex-marine who Ryan met whilst in Iraq. Together they make a formidable team and seem unafraid to take on any type of work.
Their latest task at first seems to be quite straightforward. All they have to do is keep a prisoner by the name of Frank ‘Reaper’ Hays alive for a week. He is a very important witness for the states prosecution against the white supremacist gang the ‘Aryan Brotherhood’. What they soon realise is that the job is a little more difficult than they first realised. Frank Hays is a prisoner inside Pelican Bay Super Max prison. For them to protect him, they need to do it from the inside.
They enter Pelican Bay as supposed convicted felons that have been sentenced to twenty years. The only people that are aware of the truth are the FBI and the prison warden, or at least that’s what they hope. The Aryan Brotherhood is responsible for the killing of an undercover FBI agent and his family and the FBI are determined to see the group brought to justice. However, Hays is not a willing participant when he realises Ryan Lock has been assigned as his cell buddy and protector. It is soon very clear to both Ty and Ryan that looking after the prisoner was not their main problem in prison, it was staying alive themselves. The story itself was great as was the pace of the book. I loved the fact that we are now in the midst of a character series where the reader waits to find out what happens to the characters. However, as much as I enjoyed the book I only found myself grappling with one element. The character Chance is a woman that is involved in the plot and is very much on the side of the Aryan Brotherhood. I have no issues with the fact that this woman was running around killing people but the fact that she was heavily pregnant while doing it smacked of a certain ‘disbelief’ element. Aside from that, the rest of the book was as good if not better than his debut.
The characters Ryan and Ty are explored a little more although I am looking forward to finding out a bit more about both of them in the next instalment. The end of the book wasn’t bad at all and the prison element of the story was first class. It shocked me to read at the end of the book that the author had actually ‘done time’ at Pelican Bay in the course of his research. Not only is he a brave man, but an incredibly clever one. The scenes in the prison were written by somebody that ‘really knew’ what it was like to be inside those walls. Overall a fantastic read that has made me look forward to his next book.
One thing I have learned over the years is that most books or TV series that go on long enough will start recycling tired old storylines that seem to be in some community pool somewhere that anyone can just pull out and use over and over again. One of those stale story lines (especially in crime and thriller genres) is the protagonist that has to fake being a criminal and go into a prison to accomplish some goal.
This storyline is one of the most noticeably ridiculous and annoying for a number of reasons:
1 - The base premise is completely unbelievable. I can't think of a single reason why this plan would ever be the best option that came out of a planning session. It is so obviously flawed I doubt anyone would even bring up the idea yet alone have people somehow decide to go along with it.
2 - Any protagonist dumb enough to go along with it deserves everything that's coming to them It's hard to empathise with characters that make obviously bad decisions that he/she should see coming a long way off. That sort of decision comes from forcing the protagonist to take actions to help the plot rather than staying true to character.
3 - It is so obvious what will happen that it becomes tedious to read Every time I have encountered this tired storyline it has only ever ended one way. The obviously flawed plan fails and the situation only gets ten times worse. When you know this is going to happen, you end up just going through the motions and waiting for the inevitable. This takes any interest out of the story.
The good news is that this storyline did not take up the whole book. Don't get me wrong, it was more than long enough for the main character to loose any credibility he had built in the last book, but at least it wasn't dragged out.
What followed was a thriller story in the same vein as the previous novel in this series. It's fast paced and interesting enough to keep you reading. Lock still exists in a world where he is either the only one able to deal with a problem or supposed professionals deliberately act incompetent so that he can be the hero of the story, but it's easy enough to look past this when the story gets going.
Overall this is an easy reading book and normally I would not be so critical of it. It is not meant to be true to life but instead just a bit of fun. My problem is that writers don't normally fall on such tired storylines until they are 5-10 books into a long running series and they are loosing steam. That this happens in the 2nd book is a little worrying.
Overall its 4 stars for enjoyment minus 1 for that prison story line. Its still good enough for me to keep reading this series, but the next novel has a bit of work to do to keep my interest in the Ryan Lock books.
When I first cast my eyes on “Deadlock” by Sean Black, I have to admit I was taken in hook, line and sinker by the cover. It’s one of the most atmospheric and demanding covers I’ve seen for some time. A black, dark cover, caged high fences and enough barbed wire to ensure no one escapes and a lone man looking towards a solitary blinding light. Welcome to Pelican Bay – Super Max prison!
I know one “cover” doesn’t make a summer but it heightened my anticipation tenfold and I was eager to see if the story could match the quality of the graphic art on display! Round one to the publishers, methinks it had the desired effect!
The tag line for the book “One prisoner, one bodyguard, and one week to stay alive” although enticing, doesn’t cover half the book; there’s so much more to this story. Ryan Lock is ex-army (special forces) and not a man to be messed with. In a similar vein to Jack Reacher (Lee Child) and Joe Hunter (Matt Hilton) – Lock is a security consultant who generally gets called in to do the jobs no one else can do.
Lock receives a call from assistant US attorney Jalicia Jones offering him a last minute protection job in California and along with Ty, his trusted partner, the pair are “convicted” and sent to the notorious Pelican Bay Super Max prison to babysit a man known only as “Reaper” a leading member of the Aryan brotherhood gang. Only the Warden knows their true identity.
ok, so i'm guess i'm locking on. gradually. extra points for the badass antagonist .
i expect i'm always going to encounter 'judder' and its derivatives.
the cover art of my copy somehow depicts a chainlink fence that has been installed incorrectly, haha.
p109: from now on in they'd be together.
p110: the gates were rolled open but the female patrol officer was stood stock still, staring directly to her left. worse, she was waving to her colleague inside the vehicle.
p129: "...remember to speak nice and clearly."
p148: dragging reaper towards the door with his left hand, he unholstered his sig sauer 226 with his right.
p148: the marshal in charge shrugged a 'go ahead' and the younger man handed over his glock 40 caliber.
p149: cowboy spun the helicopter back round and let loose a fusillade of .50-mil rounds towards a swat sniper position on the building opposite, which lay to his immediate right.
p150: "you have duct tape on you, right?" "somewhere," the cameraman said, digging into a bag slung over his shoulder and pulling out a thick roll of the silver insulating tape he normally used to secure cabling to the floor. lock took the roll and tore off a strip, cutting it away with his gerber.
Great, exciting story. A very good sequel, my only gripe is my own fault. I do enjoy an audiobook now and again, and I saw this on Google Play as an audiobook narrated by Google's Marcus AI. Thought I'd give it a go and see what Marcus could do. R.C. Bray, Jeff Harding, Ron McLarty...relax gentlemen, your income is not in danger! AI has come a long, however it hasn't reached the point of being convincing as a narrator yet. Every sentence is the same. It starts out flat, then the tone rises towards the end, and then drops to finish the sentence. Every sentence. Exactly the same. There's no emotion, no intonation, where a true narrator can read a scene like they are living it, Marcus is flat and emotionless. Also, we all know how to pronounce simple words like 'agape'. So back to school Marcus, it's not "...mouth hung agarpey"!!! Great book though, this sort of thriller is the type I usually listen to and not one I would read, but the next instalment is only available as another Marcus AI work of art!!! However, I have found the first two books in this series so captivating (despite Marcus's efforts on book 2) that I will gladly go out and buy myself a good old paperback version of book 3. Sean, if you want your books to sell as audiobooks...stick to paying Jeff Harding. He did a great job on the first book. And to everyone else, if you enjoy audiobooks, avoid autonarrated AI versions. They really can ruin a good story.
Pretty much devoured this one. High-paced, it makes for a nice page-turner. Black uses the same "start with a main plot and lead elsewhere from there" strategy, but more coherently and convincingly than in Lockdown. It suffers from the choice of making really obvious a few "misteries", convincing me that Black makes for a good fast-paced action thriller writer, rather than investigation-based storyteller. The lowest points are IMHO exactly the ones in which Lock switches to a Sherlock Holmes mode abandoning his pure action-based bodyguard role. Overall, a solid second book of the series, definitely better than the first chapter.
Good book. I was put off a couple of times "she approached her house, guarded as it was by a pitbull she won in an all night poker game" (really ??) but once you get past that, it's fast paced, moves from place to place and is a good thriller read. Won't win best literature prize but nor will it get the James Patterson 'sh*te of the week'. Kept me turning pages for a couple of hours which is a good sign.
The author tells a decent story, but too many times in the book intimates white Americans are racist. I'm new to this author and series, and I realize the book was written many years ago, but he also takes shots at Sarah Palin. Compared to the current VP she's a genius. It's safe to say that I won't continue reading this series. There are too many other less "woke" authors I like.
5 Sterne vergebe ich auch nicht oft. Ich habe das Buch an einem Tag durchgelesen...Das kommt bei mir zur Zeit eher selten vor, da mir meist nach weniger Zeit die Augen zufallen.....Aber hier....Das Buch war rasant geschrieben ohne langen Pausen dazwischen. Abwechslungsreich durch die unterschiedlichen Lokations....also mir hat es sehr gut gefallen.....Den Autor merke ich mir aufjeden Fall.....War ein spannender Tag gewesen....
Ryan Lock is a good guy, with a good conscience and great morals even if I really do not know his background. He is off to keep a murderer safe to testify for a trial. This should be a movie. Aryian brotherhood, prison, bombs, lots of blood and a psychopathic pregnant woman. I mean what's not to like. I am loving Ty. He is a great guy as well. This novel is better than the last.
Good Book, didn’t like Black’s lie about the plane not being able to go around. A plane can even touch down and take off again, does he think we are dumb? Another gaffe is “ out towards the Atlantic “ on the west coast? Besides the gaffs I liked the story line and give Black kudos for another great read
Holed from the first page. Lock and Ty have a strong friendship and have each others backs. A big job to go undercover inside a prison, to protect a white supremacist gets Ty injured, and Lock more focused than ever. The Reaper escapes, and Lock needs to end the plans he's making, to keep others safe. Well told, and well worth reading.
This novel has a story that is so unbelievable it could be fantasy, with characters that are so exaggerated they are caricatures rather than real people. I definitely would not read another book by this author. I finished the book right to the end, but feel I've wasted valuable time on something not worth the bother.
Well this is the second Sean Black book I've read and I was actually hooked after the first!!! You couldn't ask for more action-packed writing than this!!! Sean Black has been added to the list of my favorite authors!!!
My first Sean Black book. A good quick read, felt like the plot is written keeping the option of making a movie from it. The book held interest till the end, did not feel it getting unnecessarily dragged anywhere.
Liking this series. This book had an elaborate scheme to break someone out of prison, even though Ryan caught him and sent the other one to prison, in the next book, does she escape and finish the job???
Like the first book, book 2 continued the storyline from book 1. Several twists to the plot, betrayals. It made for quick reading because you wanted to know what would happen or would a third book be needed to resolve the adventure?
Makes characters do stupid things to drag out the story. Like not killing a woman trying to kill the president of the US because she was pregnant and then has him murder an in armed bad guy. A very slow agonizing read
As a Ryan Lock fan I have never been disappointed in the novels. This time is no exception. The twists and turns and non-stop suspense in these books is awesome.
A great page turner. Lock and Johnson keep you wanting the next clue. They moved thru a racist culture to stop a possible assassination of the U.S. President.