Safe and Sound (Jack Keller Series) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Rhoades's solid third mystery to feature rugged bounty hunter Jack Keller (after 2006's Good Day in Hell) wastes no words. Keller loves his work: it keeps him from dwelling on the past. When a young girl goes missing, his suspicion first falls upon the child's father, David Lundgren, a member of Delta Force. Keller wades through military bureaucracy—dealing as best he can with his own ineradicable memories of what he saw during the first Gulf War and the way the army treated him afterward—to learn that Lundgren has also disappeared; Keller quickly begins to suspect that the actual story is more complicated than it first seemed. Soon he's proven horribly right. Crisp dialogue and the author's deft use of local color support a narrative driven as effectively by characters as by events. (July)
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From Booklist

No one is safe and sound in Rhoades' third thriller starring Arkansas bounty hunter and shell-shocked Gulf War vet Keller. This time he tangles with a stone-cold killer, South African mercenary DeGroot, who's trying to close the deal on a multimillion-dollar scam he and several Delta Force commandos set up in Afghanistan. But there are some messy details that need cleaning up, prompting DeGroot to kidnap the son of one of the commandos, whose wife hires Keller and his girlfriend, PI Marie Jones, to find the boy. Inevitably, the chase turns into a confrontation between Keller and DeGroot, and the collateral damage threatens everyone and everything Keller holds dear. Like James W. Hall's similarly one-named hero Thorn, Keller faces a soul-crushing catch-22: he must unleash his propensity for violence to protect his loved ones, but by doing so, he alienates himself from those he seeks to save. Rhoades explores this psychological conundrum thoroughly but never at the expense of the full-throttle narrative. Think of Keller as a similarly tortured, contemporary version of William Munny in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (July 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312354894
• ISBN-13: 978-0312354893
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,277,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harriet the Spy Did NOT Read this Book, July 21, 2007

By	David J. Forsmark "Book Reviewer" (Flushing, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anyone who can do basic math knows that Harriet Klausner can't possibly read all the books she "reviews." But for this one, she gets plot points wrong that are settled in chapter TWO, so there is no spoiler alert reason to give a red herring. She says Keller must rescue a little girl from her father, but the Delta Force dad is dead early in the book, in fact we see him being tortured by the bad guy in chapter ONE, so she couldn't have read much. She completely mischaracterizes his partners, too. And as for the political agenda she tries to impose on the story she doesn't know...

At least she got the star rating right. Dusty Rhoades is better than Lee Child, and could be as good as Stephen Hunter if he keeps this up. This is a can't catch your breath thriller with really good characters, so good in fact, that most of the good guys-- and guys trying to be good guys again-- are more interesting than the bloodthirsty killer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not necessarily Safe and Sound, July 12, 2007

By	George R. Johnson "Randy Johnson" (Eden, NC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The third Jack Keller novel ups the ante on all levels. Action, villains, relationships. The villain this time is a South African killer on the trail of a fortune that slipped through his fingers in Afghanistan. No one or anything will stand in his way. Except Jack Keller. The added plus of scenes along The Blue Ridge Parkway in the North Carolina mountains, an area I have familiarity with, makes for a satisfying novel of suspense. The ending was totally unexpected, but seemed appropriate. I liked the dropping of a number of suspense writers names as FBI agents. Try this one. You will enjoy it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Expecting More, January 13, 2009

By	M. Phillips (NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Safe and Sound (Jack Keller Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

There is one thing that really disappointed me about this book. I just couldn't feel the locations. Being a resident of North Carolina and having spent a generous amount of time in the locations used I expected more. I don't feel that Rhoades ever used the geography and scenery to its full extent.

Rhoades is a good writer. I just feel that he never pushes for his full potential in this book. He never introduces anything new or grows his characters. I honestly felt like there was nothing new here. To make matters worse, it seems like Rhoades cranks up the testosterone level to hide the lack of insight in to his characters.