The Shop [Paperback]

J. Carson Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2012

In Aspen, Colorado, a pop star and her entourage are brutally murdered in their luxury chalet. The lead assassin, ex-Navy SEAL Cyril Landry, has no qualms about carrying out his mission until the instant before he kills the young star—an intense, shared moment that will ultimately drive him to find out why these people had to die. Landry transforms from mercenary to hunter as he delves into the depths of The Shop, the shadowy organization that has hired him to execute people across the country.

Thousands of miles away, in a seedy motel in Gardenia, Florida, a local police chief is found shot to death. The scene has all the signs of a romantic rendezvous gone wrong, but Detective Jolie Burke isn’t so sure. As she digs for clues, the tangled threads of evidence lead to a disturbing place: Indigo, the lush tropical estate of the powerful Haddox clan and home of US Attorney General Franklin Haddox. As Jolie continues to pursue the truth, she quickly discovers that Haddox will do anything to protect his country’s ugly secrets—even kill.

Landry’s quest to uncover The Shop’s motives throws him into the dark currents of Jolie’s investigation, and they find themselves working together as an unlikely duo: a cop and a killer, joining forces to expose a shocking conspiracy that ascends to the highest offices in the land.

Intricate and fast-paced, The Shop is a breathtaking thriller in the vein of Nelson DeMille and David Baldacci.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Q&A with J. Carson Black

Question: What was your inspiration for the shadowy conspiratorial organization that your book The Shop is named for?

J. Carson Black: There has always been speculation--especially in thrillers--that secretive organizations have existed within the federal government--that there are black bag operations, often carried out in other countries.

Human nature being what it is, it’s easy for me to picture people in power at the highest level planning all sorts of operations. Power corrupts, and if the resources are available, I have no doubt that something like The Shop could exist. All it would take would be people who are powerful enough to put it in place, and the operations could go as far as their imaginations would let them go. Throughout history, powerful people have made enormous mistakes, and have corrupted power to their own needs. I can picture the rich and powerful--the people who can command just about anything--coming up with the most hair-brained of schemes--and getting away with it. It’s more about human nature than anything else.

Q: Do you think it's possible an organization like The Shop could really exist?

JCB: I think it can. Recently, it has come to light that the secretive clandestine operations team "JSOC", Joint Special Operations Command, has an assassination squad operating with impunity in other countries.

Q: Jolie Burke and Cyril Landry couldn’t be more different and make for a very unlikely duo. Can you tell us more about how you developed these characters? Do you have a favorite?

JCB: I like them both. I didn’t expect to like Landry, since he’s a killer, but he sort of evolved for me. For one thing, he and I both have a passion for horse racing. As I wrote my way along, he kept showing new facets of himself. He has a wife and daughter. He has a code, although it’s a bit relaxed compared to those of normal people. He was trained to be a warrior and a killer, as people in the armed services are, and these are the skills he depends on to make a living. Having been a Navy SEAL, he has extraordinary talents and abilities. And he thinks he is killing in the name of his country.

Jolie is my idea of what a homicide cop should be. She’s strong and reasonable, capable and calm. And Jolie has to deal with plenty of red tape and departmental b.s. She’s thorough and cares about what she is doing. She cares about the young man whose death is at the center of her investigation. The young man is gay, and she doesn’t want his death to go unremarked. She wants justice for him.

Review

“The Shop is a hair-raising thriller from start to finish. With a complex plot and finely drawn characters, J. Carson Black draws the reader into a world where nothing is as it seems. This book is both spooky and convincing, just what a thriller should be.” ---T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author of The Jaguar

“I’m a big fan of J. Carson Black and The Shop is a truly original non-stop locomotive ride of a thriller. You won’t even think of putting this book down.” ---John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author of The Hunter

"Fresh and imaginative, J. Carson Black’s THE SHOP is a riveting read and a compelling tale of character. From FBI agents to local cops, from heroes to villains, The Shop is an exciting, sweeping thriller that will linger in your mind for a long time.” ---Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Spies

"Infused with an original voice and packed with compelling characters, J. Carson Black’s The Shop is a thriller to pay attention to." ---David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of The Brotherhood of the Rose

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: Thomas & Mercer; Unabridged edition (February 6, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1612182690
• ISBN-13: 978-1612182698
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As witness to the ongoing changes in publishing, J. Carson Black knew she had to raise her game. She'd always read and studied the best authors in her genre, but to survive, Black knew she must grow. And so she determined to expand beyond her comfort zone and write a big thriller.

A political junkie, J. Carson Black loved the cable TV news circus--the media's mad scramble to find sensational stories. So when a suspected child-killer's plane landed with all the pomp and circumstance of the space shuttle in Boulder, Colorado, Black took note. As it turned out, John Mark Karr did not kill JonBenet Ramsey; he'd merely played the media and fed their insatiable 24/7 appetite. This was the New American Way: celebrity for its own sake.

That seed grew into into J. Carson Black's thriller THE SHOP.

Using social media, Black has made friends who share her passions and interests. Some of these friends are experts in their fields: homicide detectives, retired military, military analysts, a computer forensic expert, and even a Navy SEAL. Over time, these friends grew to trust Black and gave her entree into their world, and THE SHOP is the better for it.

A Tucson, Arizona native, J. Carson Black is at work on ICON, a thriller set in the New West.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

195 of 199 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can Compete with the Top Sellers, March 26, 2011

By 

Maynard F. Allington "novelist" (Melbourne, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shop (Kindle Edition)

Today's thriller market has a number of franchise authors who consistently grind out "best sellers." Their plots are, for the most part, skillfully constructed, and they know how to tell a story. But their writing skills are often ordinary, even mundane, and rarely soar into that rarefied atmosphere of "style" that is the mark of a great writer. There was a time when stylists such as Eric Ambler and Graham Greene owned the thriller genre and lifted it to the level of literature. J. Carson Black is a throwback to that generation. She not only has the technical skills to shape a novel, but a gift for words that crosses into that exclusive literary terrain of art.

THE SHOP opens in a tense action sequence with the assassination in Aspen, Colorado of Brienne Cross, a well known actress/pop star. The hit is carried out with military precision by a lone assassin who vanishes from the scene, leaving no clue behind, least of all a motive.

The assassin is Cyril Landry, former SEAL and now a member of a black ops unit (known as "the shop") operating within a private security firm. The firm has been used on occasion by the government for missions requiring solutions outside the law. Landry is a man of contradictions - on the one hand devoted to his family, on the other capable of killing dispassionately. But the execution of Brienne Cross troubles him. For the first time, he finds himself drawn emotionally to a dead target. The years of mental programming that have conditioned him to kill, never questioning an order, are suddenly coming apart. In the course of this psychological dislocation, Landry will come to learn why Brienne's death was ordered, and will turn against the shop.

A second story line opens in a motel room on the gulf coast of Florida where a police chief has been found dead. Sheriff's homicide detective Jolie Burke is assigned to investigate. She suspects the suspicious death was a suicide, covered up by the victim's wife to protect his name. A tough, seasoned investigator, Jolie has some deep issues in her life, and a terrifying, repressed fear from early childhood.

Jolie's investigation will lead to a puzzling string of interrelated homicides that reach into the highest corridors of power. Eventually it will bring her into contact with Landry, on his own mission of vengeance against the shop, and a confrontation with the childhood memory she has blocked out. The life and death climax, when the antagonists finally clash on a private island off the Florida coast,is a masterpiece of narrative tension and suspense.

THE SHOP is original in concept, skillfully plotted and paced, with three dimensional characters, all of which make for an intriguing read.

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying thriller, March 24, 2011

By 

Ian K - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Shop (Kindle Edition)

Cyril Landry is a loving husband and father, a former SEAL, and now a killer working for The Shop. After his latest assignment -- a massacre in Aspen, Colorado -- Landry develops an emotional bond with one of his victims, a young and beautiful pop star. Feeling that something went wrong, Landry sets out to uncover the plot he's been part of. Meanwhile, homicide cop Jolie Burke is investigating a case that quickly goes out of control. As she untangles the mystery, the body count rises. When the subplots converge, Landry and Jolie find themselves facing a shocking conspiracy with an electrifying climax.
Anyone who enjoys a good thriller should check this one out. The Shop is full of intrigue, twists and turns. With such glowing blurb quotes from Gayle Lynds and David Morrell I knew I couldn't go wrong -- and I wasn't disappointed!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from the pen of J Carson Black, April 11, 2011

By 

Carol Davis Luce "Carol Davis Luce" (Sparks, Nevada USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shop (Kindle Edition)

So many thrillers nowadays seem to have the same premise, with nothing new to set it apart from the pack. Not so with J Carson Black's THE SHOP. Even the title hints at intrigue and something out of the ordinary. I've read all of this author's novels, and each one demonstrates her skill for the craft by way of extensive research, character development, prose that sings, and thought-provoking plots that stay with you long after you read The End. Black is truly a master at writing police procedurals and high-concept novels. They just get better and better. Once you've sampled one, you won't be able to stop there.