Troubleshooter (Tim Rackley Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Gregg Hurwitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2006 | Series: Tim Rackley Novels

The maestro of pulse-pounding suspense delivers an explosive new white-knuckle thriller featuring deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley -- a lawman driven by honor, morality, and a thirst for justice. The leader of one of the country's most violent biker gangs, Den Laurey should have been behind bars. But thanks to a daring escape on an L.A. freeway, several deputy marshals are dead and Laurey is riding free. Rackley, back on the Service's warrant squad, is in hot pursuit of the outlaw and his ruthless gang -- with a media whirlwind and the entire Los Angeles law-enforcement community driving him.

Just when Laurey is within his grasp, circumstances force Rackley to let him go -- with devastating results. A few miles up the road, a sheriff's deputy is attacked: Tim's pregnant wife, Dray. Driven by guilt, Tim vows to hunt Laurey down -- a search that will lead him into a dark world of deception and lies, a world of criminals and undercover cops, drugs and mutilation. And the key to the violent puzzle lies in the discarded corpses of women -- women for whom Tim must seek justice when no one else will. With the stakes rising, Tim must unravel a horrifying secret and confront a deadly terror that reaches from the back alleys of Mexico to the poppy fields of Afghanistan ... and threatens to explode on the dark streets of L.A.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley, nicknamed "Troubleshooter" because he's usually in trouble and he shoots a lot of people, is back on the job after breaking up a mind-control cult in his second Hurwitz outing, The Program. Biker gang the Laughing Sinners kills a couple of Rackley's friends while busting them out of U.S. marshall custody, then go on a rampage and massacre 37 of their rivals in preparation for a drug deal involving a powerful new form of liquid heroin called "Allah's Tears." Readers will feel a lurch of unease early on when informed that Rackley's deputy sheriff wife, Dray, is eight month's pregnant. Rackley is still suffering from the loss (in The Kill Clause) of his daughter, Ginny, so when Dray tangles with the gang he comes close to losing it and screwing up the case. Hurwitz is a rock-solid writer, researcher and plotter, and readers will find him in top form putting Rackley through his procedural paces as he slowly closes in on and shuts down the spectacularly evil Laughing Sinners.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“THE KILL CLAUSE is a white knuckle thriller of the first order. Smart, with a little twist of the wicked.” (Joe R. Lansdale, author of The Bottoms and A Fine Dark Line )

“Grounded in character and believable detail, Hurwitz’s thriller engages on every level.” (Publishers Weekly )

“…the perfect blend of suspense, pacing, strong storyline, compelling characters, and a villain who will knock your socks off.” (Sue Grafton )

“…a terrifying and savage descent into the darkest corners of evil and madness.” (Jonathan Kellerman )

“Hurwitz again shows that he is a remarkable crime fiction writer, a solid member of the genre’s top echelon” (Mystery News )

“Hurwitz has been tapped as a younger, hipper Grisham…he certainly delivers in terms of pure, propulsive readability.” (Washington Post )

“Fascinating…intriguing…Filled with well-drawn characters, meticulous research and pulse-pounding action…easily one of the best thrillers of the year.” (Chicago Sun-Times )

“A cut above the usual thriller, with a cast of intriguing and complex characters who never fall into stereotype.” (Capital Times )

“Tough, true, well–written, and memorable as Hell. Dray and Tim Rackley are uniquely believable and sympathetic heroes.” (James Patterson )

“A white–knuckle journey…A compelling, riveting, dead–smart thriller…If you haven’t discovered Gregg Hurwitz yet, get to a bookstore!” (Janet Evanovich )

“A rip–roaring thrill ride… A stick to your fingers read by a novelist at the top of his game.” (Stephen J. Cannell )

“Compelling…Gregg Hurwitz is the heir apparent to Robin Cook.” (Book Browser )

“Engaging…Spier is an appealing character…Gregg Andrew Hurwitz can write. He has a bright future ahead of him.” (Cozies, Capers & Crimes )

“Extraordinarily satisfying...A gripping read from start to finish.” (Booklist )

“Gregg Hurwitz handcuffs you to his story and holds your emotions hostage. Once you enter THE PROGRAM, there’s no leaving.” (Ridley Pearson )

“Hurwitz is a brilliant storyteller…He has written a fast–paced plot with nicely defined characters.” (Library Journal )

“Enticing…a smoothly written, gripping fabric of believable incidents, ethical questions and changing relationships.” (Booklist )

“THE KILL CLAUSE is like a literary Law & Order, without the commercials. Bottom Line: Killer read.” (People )

“Likable and sympathetic…Hurwitz’ hero is fully realized…A shadowy operative named Ed Pinkerton is the most intriguing character in the book.” (Washington Post )

“In this adeptly researched, well–constructed tale about science gone awry…The action comes fast and steady.” (Publishers Weekly )

“…a spooky, surprising and unsettling thriller. Good character, a suspenseful plot and a shock of an ending.” (T. Jefferson Parker )

“…a gripping page–turner…that sticks in mind long after the last page is turned.” (Michael Connelly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060731451
• ISBN-13: 978-0060731458
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, They're Watching, and coming soon, You're Next. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, shortlisted for best novel of the year by International Thriller Writers, nominated for CWA's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as feature selections for all four major literary book clubs, honored as Book Sense Picks, and translated into twenty languages.

Currently a consulting producer on ABC's "V," he has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and ESPN, developed TV series for Warner Bros. and Lakeshore, written Wolverine, Punisher, and others for Marvel, and published numerous academic articles on Shakespeare. He has taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA, and for Harvard in the United States and around the world. In the course of researching his thrillers, he has sneaked onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALs, swam with sharks in the Galápagos, and gone undercover into mind-control cults.

Hurwitz grew up in the Bay Area. While completing a BA from Harvard ('95) and a master's from Trinity College, Oxford in Shakespearean tragedy ('96), he wrote his first novel. He was the undergraduate scholar-athlete of the year at Harvard for his pole-vaulting exploits, and played college soccer in England, where he was a Knox fellow. He now lives in L.A. where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself. Feel free to email him at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tim Rackley is back and still going strong!!, September 11, 2005

By 

Janet Slezak "book addict" (Stratford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Troubleshooter: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Hardcover)

After the great work he did breaking up the mind controlling cult in THE PROGRAM, deputy U. S. Marshall Tim Rackley is once again back on the job. This time around he's assigned as head of the task force formed to track down Den Laurey, leader of the violent biker gang the Laughing Sinners, who escapes custody while being transported to San Bernardino County Jail, leaving two U. S. Marshals dead. Laurey is known for his knife skills and was convicted of torture killing of three rival gang members in retaliation for the shooting of a Sinner. He's armed and dangerous, but not alone. With him is Lance Kaner, the gang's enforcer, and together the two are a lethal combination. With Bear and Guerrera again at his side, Rackley works day and night trying to find leads. At one point it seems as if he's got a good chance of apprehending them, but a situation arises that leaves him no choice but let them go, which results in the shooting of a sheriff's deputy not far from the scene. The wounded deputy turns out to be his wife Drey, who also happens to be eight months pregnant, which results in feelings of guilt and frustration. While still trying to deal with the loss of his daughter Ginny, who was murdered years ago, he must put his personal feelings aside and put an end to the violence, especially after the gang goes on a violent rampage in preparation for a drug deal of a new string of heroin which leads the marshals from Mexico to Afghanistan.

TROUBLESHOOTER is a great addition to the Rackley series! It's filled with so much action and suspense you just can't turn the pages fast enough. Gregg Hurwitz is one of my favorite authors, and in my opinion one of today's greatest suspense writers. He's got a style all his own and has never disappointed me yet, so if you haven't already discovered this great author I recommend you do so today!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-researched cat-and-mouse thriller, October 5, 2005

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Troubleshooter: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Hardcover)

If the year 2005 becomes known as "The Year of Hurwitz," TROUBLESHOOTER will be the reason why. Greg Hurwitz has written a number of fine books with nary a miss since THE TOWER, his debut novel. He began a new upward trajectory, however, with THE KILL CLAUSE, the first of his novels to feature U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley, and 2004's THE PROGRAM continued this trend. But neither will prepare you for the masterpiece that is TROUBLESHOOTER.

Any thriller, at its most basic level, needs a good, believable bogeyman that will scare the heck out of the reader. TROUBLESHOOTER has a whole group of them --- a biker gang known as the Laughing Sinners. The Sinners seem to run the streets of southern California with impunity, due to a combination of street smarts, mind-numbing violence, and the legal machinations of a cunning attorney. The book begins with the guarded transport of Den Laurey and Kaner, two members of the Sinners' nomad chapter --- so called because they have no fixed territory or home --- following their arrest for murder. Their brutal and daring escape leads to the formation of a task force charged with recapturing them, with whatever force it takes, and bringing the Sinners down.

Rackley, who is heading up the task force, almost recaptures Laurey but is outmanned and outgunned --- a situation that results in tragic personal consequences for Rackley mere minutes later when his pregnant wife Dray, herself a sheriff's deputy, is attacked and left for dead in the bikers' wake. Rackley must detach his personal grief and desire for revenge from his duties as task force director, even as these elements merge and intersect as the U.S. Marshal's Office and the Sinners play a continuous game of cat-and-mouse for the highest possible stakes. As the task force methodically pursues the gang, it learns that the activities of the Sinners have consequences that will affect not only southern California but also national security.

As always, Hurwitz's research is first-rate; combined with his considerable narrative talents, TROUBLESHOOTER gives the reader an over-the-shoulder view of a counterculture within a counterculture. The Sinners, self-styled "one-percenters" --- their name based upon the truism that 99 percent of bikers are law-abiding citizens --- are not merely societal nonconformists following a creed of "live and let live," but rather are outlaws at war with society, feeding off of it even as they provide vices such as sex and drugs so desired by some. The relationship, subtly but graphically demonstrated here, is more parasitic than symbiotic.

Hurwitz wisely refuses to blur the lines here, choosing instead to paint a clear picture of law enforcement and evil at their respective best and worst while providing a breakneck narrative that races to a conclusion --- two of them, actually --- that will satisfy everyone, on all counts. Ultimately, TROUBLESHOOTER is an undeniable winner.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast Read, August 6, 2007

By 

Timothy D. Rich "renaisance man" (Middletown, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Troubleshooter: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Hardcover)

At a little over 300 pages, this book was a fast read. There are a few things that make you have to stretch your imagination. First, Rackley's team is too good. It becomes invincible with the help from Pete Krindon.

Dray kind of grates on your nerves.