Customer Reviews

The Repo (Jack Merchant & Sarah Ballard Novels)

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

 

 

Boston writer Bill Eidson delivers a taut page-turner as former DEA agent Jack Merchant teams up with repo-woman Sarah Ballard to find a missing sailboat and its two deadbeat owners. Jack and Sarah are a rough match - both damaged by murder; she in the self-defense death of her abusive boyfriend, he in a Florida bust gone bad that killed another agent and ended his career - but it works. Their hesitations, withdrawals and unspoken longings, without being overdone, manage to give them a vulnerability to balance the requisite toughness. And it's a toughness that will be called upon more than once in the course of a story that builds into mayhem, greed and murder.

Living hand-to-mouth at a Charlestown dock on his 40-foot sloop "Lila," beset by enemies, both local and Floridian (relatives of the dead DEA agent), he readily agrees to help Sarah with the boat repo, despite a twinge of fellow feeling for the deadbeats. But these are rich debtors; young, with good jobs, a fancy house and no good reason to run. But following their trail up through Portsmouth and Portland, Me., it becomes clear that running is what they're doing. Eidson succeeds in bringing the pair to life during the investigation, without switching to their point of view (except for the prologue).

And as the mystery of their disappearance deepens, and the repo team closes in, Eidson introduces a real bad guy, a rich, twisted techno-geek with a disgusted, but avaricious protector. Between this tycoon's sick proclivities, and the murderous intentions of Jack's Florida and Boston enemies, and a few surprises along the way, the action gets fast, furious and bloody and stays that way until the very end when Eidson neatly ties up all the loose ends and sets things up for the next book in the series.

Jack and Sarah - prickly, difficult and talented - make a dynamic start in a series that should win Eidson new fans.

Finding a mystery novel that is based on a truly fresh and engaging premise is a little like winning the lottery: it's theoretically possible but the odds against success are astronomically high. Be that as it may, Bill Eidson has beaten those odds in his latest thriller, THE REPO. Ex-DEA Agent Jack Merchant, in forced retirement after a series of operations gone sour, is simply marking time aboard his boat('Lila')and staying one step ahead of the creditors, ex-cons and former law enforcement associates out for either the proverbial "pound of flesh" or just a little old fashioned payback.

One step ahead, that is, until his old flame Sarah Ballard drops by for a chat. It seems that Sarah is now running her daddy's boat repossession business and, guess what? One of Sarah's biggest clients (MassBank) "holds the paper" on Jack's boat. Behind on a few payments, Merchant can agree to help Sarah locate the Baylors - a husband and wife team with ties to MassBank who have skipped out with their yacht and an undisclosed sum of money - or lose the 'Lila'.

Intrigued by the possibility of doing something meaningful again, and more than a little interested in spending time with Sarah, Merchant agrees to help out. But while Merchant and Ballard comb the harbors and coastline from Boston to Maine looking for the Baylors, they soon discover that they are not the only ones in on the hunt for the missing couple. With twists and turns galore, the plot of THE REPO will keep you on your toes - not to mention clinging to your life-vest for all it's worth - from start to finish. While a few of the connections made in the story are about as murky as the water in a cove after a storm, Eidson generally keeps things sailing smoothly along and the reader will be so wrapped up in the action that he or she won't be bothered too much by the few stretches of rough water encountered along the way.

The real strength of this book lies in its cast of eccentric (and realistic) minor characters and, most especially, in its sensitive and mature portrayal of Jack Merchant and Sarah Ballard. The depiction of the relationship between these two eminently interesting characters is drawn with authenticity and restraint and, for the most part anyway, without the kind of sappy, self-indulgent melodrama that pervades this sort of thing in most lesser novels in the genre. The problems that the two have at the beginning of the novel are essentially the problems they have at its close. Those issues haven't miraculously disappeared in the course of the book's 312 pages. Thanks to Eidson's skillful handling of his material in this first offering, there are still more depths to be sounded here in subsequent books in the (projected) series. (James Clar - MYSTERY NEWS)

Forced into an early retirement, former DEA agent Jack Merchant wastes time passing aimlessly sailing in the waters off Charleston, Massachusetts. He is bored and knows he is stuck in a watery rut, but though he loathes what has become of him, Jack seems unable to do anything but languish in self-pity.

Repo woman Sarah Ballard offers Jack a deal that if he fails to accept he will lose his sloop the Lila as she possesses the past due bank notes. Sarah knows Jack from an encounter five years ago and uses his debt as a blackmail tool to obtain his help as her own business teeters on the brink of failure. In one week, MassBank demands she locate former Veep Paul Baylor and his wife, who apparently embezzled bank cash or else. Sarah and Jack begin the quest to find the Baylors, but soon end up in the same knotted mess that has engulfed their prey.

The sleuthing is well done and exciting and that alone should hook the audience, as the investigation is as complex as it gets because it seems so straightforward and simple. However, the key to this delightful maritime mystery is the cast. Not only do the lead duo and the vanished pair come across as genuine, especially THE REPO woman, but the support crew provides depth whether they are in Massachusetts or not. Bill Eidson writes a powerful tale and readers will demand more rough sailing from this talented author.

Harriet Klausner

Forced into an early retirement, former DEA agent Jack Merchant wastes time passing aimlessly sailing in the waters off Charleston, Massachusetts. He is bored and knows he is stuck in a watery rut, but though he loathes what has become of him, Jack seems unable to do anything but languish in self-pity.

Repo woman Sarah Ballard offers Jack a deal that if he fails to accept he will lose his sloop the Lila as she possesses the past due bank notes. Sarah knows Jack from an encounter five years ago and uses his debt as a blackmail tool to obtain his help as her own business teeters on the brink of failure. In one week, MassBank demands she locate former Veep Paul Baylor and his wife, who apparently embezzled bank cash or else. Sarah and Jack begin the quest to find the Baylors, but soon end up in the same knotted mess that has engulfed their prey.

The sleuthing is well done and exciting and that alone should hook the audience, as the investigation is as complex as it gets because it seems so straightforward and simple. However, the key to this delightful maritime mystery is the cast. Not only do the lead duo and the vanished pair come across as genuine, especially THE REPO woman, but the support crew provides depth whether they are in Massachusetts or not. Bill Eidson writes a powerful tale and readers will demand more rough sailing from this talented author.

Harriet Klausner

It's great to find a new Author. He rates up there with some of the best so far. I enjoyed this book having spent time in the Boston area and also enjoyed the facts on repo of marine items. The story was quite suspensful and lead thru to a excellent completion. Plenty of suspense and loaded with action. I rate this up with Hunter,Parker, Cussler and those at the top of their game. Be sure to read this one. Your enjoyment is guarenteed.

John D. MacDonald? Not. But a real good read. I started and could not stop. Why not five stars? I don't enjoy reading about sexual perversion and it is not necessary in order to create a bad guy. The two main characters should be better developed. But the plot and the setting are near perfection. The pace will carry you right to the end and leave you wanting more.

It's an average mystery story with a fair plot and some well developed secondary characters. The irritant is the interaction between the two main characters. Their passive-aggressive, I love you, keep your distance relationship gets old the first time you read about the dynamic. By the eight time they go over the same ground the reader is really tired of their high school angst. Got it as a bargain book so I have no complaints about being overcharged for an ordinary read.

Eidson's a very good writer, and his protagonists are very sympathetic. He does a good job of drawing in their life stories so that we feel invested in them.

BUT...the bad guys are really awful, and violent, and in one case, sadistic, and too many of the pivotal scenes in the book involve the cliched good-guy-gets-into-trouble, turns-out-to-be-luckier-than-the-bad-guy-at-shooting-fighting-whatever scenario.

While I was reading it, I could almost see it being made into the kind of thriller movie that I really don't like, because I'd rather see the hero/heroine AVOID such situations in the first place, by using his brains, than get into them and then get lucky in the resulting bloodfest.

In other words, my personal preference is for SMART mysteries, rather than VIOLENT ones.

There is one scene in the book, close to the end, where the hero walks into a deadly situation, supposedly because he doesn't have a choice (there's a sniper pointing a gun at the head of someone he's trying to protect - if he calls the person and tells them, and the sniper sees the cell phone in the person's hand move up to his ear, he'll shoot).

I thought of a way he could have warned the person without using a phone, and he could have too.

Anyway, I'm interested in reading the next in the series, Mayday, but I hope it involves less mindless violence, and more of people using their wits.

This is the first book of a proposed series featuring Jack Merchant and Sarah Ballard, an intriguing couple of characters that I'll introduce you to shortly. Set largely up and down the New England coastline, but mainly in Boston, the much maligned occupation of the repo man (or woman, in this case) is spotlighted.

Jack Merchant is a former DEA agent now trying to scratch enough money together to make the repayments on the boat on which he lives. Sarah Ballard is a marine repo woman who knew and admired Jack when he was still working with the DEA.

Their paths cross many years after they first meet when Sarah shows up one day to repossess Jack's boat. Rather than carrying out the repossession she takes pity on him and makes him an alternative offer that would benefit them both. If Jack worked for her on her latest case he would earn enough to keep his boat and she would get a wealth of experience in return, not to mention the company of a man to whom she had always been attracted.

The case in question is the repossession of a boat that has gone missing, along with her owners, Paul and Julie Baylor. Both of the Baylors were well-to-do young professionals and their disappearance is very out of character. It doesn't take a genius to work out that there is a lot more going on than the simple recovery of a boat from some deadbeat who is behind on his payments. Sure enough, there is a lot more behind the story. In fact, the repo game has never been more dangerous.

Together, Jack and Sarah make a good team with Sarah providing a measure of world-weary cynicism, having worked in the repo game since she was a kid. As far as she's concerned everyone is a potential deadbeat upon whom she will have to ply her repossession skills. Jack's a bit more prepared to find the good side of people, showing more sympathy and a knack for gathering information. But both of them are haunted by their respective pasts, nightmares and memories of violence ensure that they sleep poorly and that they have some psychological healing to go through. You can tell it's going to be a tempestuous relationship now and in future books and the inevitable sexual tension lurks lazily within every quiet moment.

A good mix of in-depth character development and hard, fast action ensures that we care enough about the characters to get a sense of having a vested interest in their well-being. This not only applies to Merchant and Ballard but also to the minor characters, all of whom, the good the bad and the downright disgusting are given full and believable personalities.

I thought this was a marvellous opening book to a new series. The lead characters are both interesting, carrying just the right amount of baggage (you know, enough to give them depth but not so much that you're bored by their hang ups). The repo game hasn't been this enjoyable since Joe Gores' DKA Files series and a return visit to Boston Harbour holds the promise of further mean moments with Jack Merchant and Sarah Ballard.

the first half of this novel looked quite promising but then, the construction and the structure of the plot, writing and all the other parts gradually deteriorated into a very messy one. it's like a piece of american quilt with lots of blocks to be sewn together randomly and zigzagged to and fro. bill eidson is supposed to be a good writer but it seems that he just wrote the first half and then be completed by another lousy writer. i also noted that on one of the very front pages there is a line:
in memory of mary and bill eidson" what's going on? bill eidson and his wife got a boat accident or what? kinda worrys me a lot. tried to reach bill eidson's website to verify but his webpages are all outdated. what's going on? but this repo one is indeed a messy turned-out. i am loyal to eidson, so i just barely forced myself to finish it and just don't quite like it.