Customer Reviews

Jack Wakes Up: A Novel

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I was lucky enough to be an advance reader for this shoot-em-up, and the book's sheer testosterone-steeped power corrupted my once-pristine morals.

Welcome to the seedy underbelly of San Francisco, where drug lords, ambitious gangsters, partyin' terrorists and imported hitmen rock the bars, trash the stripclubs and tear through the city streets in a tire-squealing cherry Fastback, guns-a-blazin and bystanders be damned.

There's no wasted words in this book. JACK WAKES UP reads like watching a .44 slug in slow-motion: rope-tight storytelling that's going to punch a big hole in whatever it hits. Harwood excels at character creation, making a pantheon of playas you want to simultaneously see live forever and/or get shot in the face at point-blank range.

Jack Palms is a washed-up ex-action star on the good side of a twelve-month dance with Narcanon. Jack is the everyman that stumbles into a frantic drug war, a believable person in an unbelievable situation. Drawn into the plot by a need for cash, kept in by loyalty, then trapped by new enemies and a lack of options, Jack tries to stay alive ... and stay clean and sober.

JACK WAKES UP is like a Tarantino film pulled off the screen, rolled in a John Woo zig-zag wrapper and sparked up with a vintage Miami Vice lighter. Buy it now and thank me later.

Seth Harwood has created an action-packed, crime noir novel, that never lets up. Jack Palms, washed up action hero, stumbles into the crime world of San Francisco drug trade,while trying to find the murderer of his friend. If that wasn't bad enough, he has self doubts about life, his addictions, his divorce and failed career, staying sober, all the while while trying to stay alive. Harwood's writing style quickly gets you hooked, and maintains a frantic pace throughout the story, while maintaining multiple characters and storylines. I found Jack Wakes Up very easy to get completely absorbed in, and very hard to put down. Full of action, and not everything is as it seems! I hope the sequel comes out soon afterward!

Seth Harwood's "Jack Wakes Up" doesn't just entertain ... it grabs you by the collar and drags you through a California crimescape so real, you'll wonder if you're actually reading fiction. Jack Palms, the story's unlikely hero, is brilliantly realized. You'll feel for the character -- and you'll feel the impact of Harwood's brass-knuckled plot twists, too. An excellent debut novel.

Seth Harwood brings the characters to life and makes the story grab you by the collar and drag you along on a roller-coaster ride of Jack Palms, the central character trying to keep his head above water in a situation where he's really out of his depth and learning as he goes along. It's hard-hitting crime noir, and it's really fantastic. Harwood's prose is easy to read, not too verbose, and yet is rich and conveys depth in settings, plots and character development. I have listened to the podcast audio book version of "Jack Wakes Up", and I will be getting the paperback as soon as it is released. Well worth reading. Well worth buying.

This book is a Crime Thrilla and Action Adventure. Seth grabs you with real life characters like Jack Palms who is trying to recover after a dirty 'Hollywood Style' divorce and a bad drug addiction. Clean, sober and looking to make a new life for himself - Jack hooks up with an old friend to make a drug deal to get some much needed cash. It all turns bad and spirals out of control. This is a must read book.

When you're a Big action hero like Jack Palms its easy to get off track, Very easy with endless parties, free drugs,booze and sundry bimbos. After getting pinched on Drug and domestic assault charges Jack finds himself out of work, out of love and out of luck. Several years pass, The drugs are a bad memory,the woman is is gone and all that is left is an endless cycle of workouts and introspection. A chance phone call from an old friend promises to get jack some much needed cash and even more needed excitement...But as Jack Wakes Up he finds that he may be over his head and out of his league, because no one seems to be able to separate him from his movie persona ...and it might just get him killed.

This is an excellent book. Highly reccommended for anyone who enjoys an action packed, locked and loaded, high caliber story filled with memorable characters and a compelling plot.
Buying this book isn't even a question for me, highly reccomended.

I credit Jack Wakes Up (and pretty much everything else by Seth Harwood) for getting me addicted to podcasts. Jack Wakes Up delivers the goods non-stop. Guns, drugs, fights, crime, intrigue, girls, cars... it's all good.

Harwood knows how to spin a tale. After this one, you'll be hooked and can then catch up on the other two Palms thrillers through his podcast. Good stuff indeed if you like it hard, boiled, and cracked with a two-by-four.

I have listened to the audio version of this story and it is fantastic. Please take a chance and buy this book, you won't be sorry.