Customer Reviews

Leopards Kill

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

LEOPARDS KILL is a crackerjack thriller with more on its mind than just blowing things up. Jim DeFelice uses his Afghanistan setting as a metaphoric hell to put his new character, soldier of fortune Jack Pilgrim, through his paces. As Pilgrim advances further away from civilzation in his quest to find his missing partner Merc Conrad, his humanity dwindles away until finally all that is left is the essential urge to survive at any cost.
The book climaxes in a Shangri La of man-made hell that stayed with me through the long hours of the night.
Fred Rosen, author, There But For the Grace of God: Survivors of the 20th Century's Infamous Serial Killers

It seems that Jim DeFelice and I are old friends. I have never met the man, but I have read almost every piece of fiction he has ever been a part of. Needles to say, he is on my list of "must buy" authors.
Leopards Kill does not disappoint!
The opening paragraph pretty much lays out the state in life many men of my vintage seem to have reached and somehow , just don't feel that good about it. DeFelice's main character, aptly named Jack Pilgrim, sets out on a pilgrimage to find out what has happened to his close friend and business partner who has gone missing with all of their business funds as well as a lot of CIA government money into the wilds of the Afghanistan / Pakistan border region.
Pilgrim's search evokes Captain Willard's (Charlie Sheen) search for Colonel Kurtz ( Brando)in Coppla's 1979 classic Apocalypse Now. Pilgrim is slowly stripped of his carefully self constructed reality and becomes forced to deal with another world of hopeless and vicious individuals as he searches for what has happened to the man who has saved his life more than once. A well written, thought provoking read....

I have read Jim Deflice before, but as an author with Dale Brown. This is the first book I have read by him, and am enjoying it. The characters have a depth to them, and you can almost see the locations for the way he describes the places. He sometimes detours from the story line, to bring something out of the past, that at times can be a little hard to figure out why, but in giving it time, it will come to fruition.

I will get another book by this author, and enjoy it just as much.

Well written, spell binding adventure. There were a few slow moving flashbacks describing the main character's relationship with his wife, but all in all well worth the read. Reminded me somewhat of the search for Col.Kurtz (Played by Brando) in Apocalypse Now.

In Afghanistan, CIA agent Mercury "Merc" Conrad is on a black ops assignment when he suddenly vanishes off the radar screen. The CIA would ignore a lost agent because the brass believes in minimizing damage to avoid an international incident. Besides which those in the cold understand the risks they take. However Merc also has two million dollars that the agency wants back so they decide to send someone in.

Former Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim volunteers to rescue Merc as he owes the man for saving his life three times. Jack treks into the most dangerous part of Afghanistan where outsiders never venture in a quest to locate his buddy. Every step is filled with danger as no one welcomes the American intruder.

You don't know Jack if you are a thriller fan and pass on this action-packed tale that starts off at hyperspeed and never slows down until the final confrontation. Besides one harrowing incident after another that fully tests Jack's capabilities to survive, his occasional asides on his and Merc's mortality as he does not expect to survive this ordeal and his muses on divided loyalty add depth to him. However, LEOPARDS KILL is first, second, and nth action, action, and more action.

Harriet Klausner

Let's face it. Jim DeFelice never disappoints. But with LEOPARDS KILL, and protagonist Jack Pilgrim, Mr. DeFelice reaches new heights of action and suspense. While previous DeFelice novels have kept me on the edge of my seat, this one forced me to go out and buy a new chair. Not only is this writer a master story teller, he is among the best at creating characters who will live in our minds forever. (Personally, I think the characters Bozzone and Blitz deserve their own novel.) Buy this book. Then put aside some time, because you will not be able to put it down.

If I had known this was a remake of the remarkable movie, I wouldn't have bothered. Although the writing was good for the most part, the story was the same. I will give Mr. DeFelice another chance.

This is a good weekend book. Could use more action in it but it was a good book.

Who says thrillers can't be deep? This had me biting my nails and thinking at the same time.

Jack Pilgrim and his partner Merc Conrad has a security company. They
are both former Special Ops warriors. The name of thier company is Iron Rock Solutions. They do every kind of assignment in the world of security.
Pilgrim is in Las Vegas surveying a security job with some of the casinos.
He recieves an urgent call from the CIA to come back home for a meeting.
Upon arriving home he is informed that his partner Merc Conrad has
dissapeared taking with him all the company money as well as $2 million dollars of CIA money. He is told to find the money or go to prison. He
traces Merc to Afghanistan. Once there he discovers a program that is
named Leopard. He takes a journey into Afghanistan searching for his partner Merc Conrad. It gets scarier and scarier. It turned out to be an interesting story as Pilgrim searches for answers. Do not miss this one.