![Hard Target (OPSIG Team Black Series Book 2) by [Jacobson, Alan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51o2bYMfToL._SY346_.jpg)
OK, this book is really, really fast paced. In case you are unaware of how fast paced it is the author heads each "chapter?" with hours to go before a big conference.
Spoilers ahead:
I hated, HATED the death of the psychologist/psychiatrist. I don't think it added anything to the book or the plot or the character development.
Uzi, for someone who was, at one time. an undercover black op in the Mossad, is probably the dumbest most incredibly not paying attention to what is going on. I figured out the broad was a "plant" the first time he slept with her and then "discovered" the tracking device. And he could NOT figure out where it came from. The ONLY time he had his clothes off was when he was sleeping with her. DUH.
Uzi allows his past to totally disrupt everything he is doing. He spends so much time cranking around about whether or not this or that is "legal" or whether or not someone is going to be upset, that half the time I just want to slap him upside the head and yell "get over it."
Now having grumped about that, this book is really good. It isn't going to go where you think it is going. And the scenario that Jacobson sets forth is scary. That having been said, the comments about the "militias" are more like a "Democrat vision of how to justify more laws."
I started this book, evidently in the middle of this group's "adventures" and have now ordered all the other books.
Jacobson's writing is crisp, effective, fast [hold on] and almost believable. His characters are not Vince Flynn's type of agents. And Jacobson does spend too much time making it seem that people get things done in spite of themselves. but somehow they do manage to stumble into the right course of action.
So, if you like fast, fascinating, devious, and surprising then Jacobson is for you. These are books you read for fun. And they are a lot of fun.
I wonder if Jacobson is out of breath as he writes these books.
Review
“Hard Target is Alan Jacobson’s best work to date . . . Wow!” —New York Journal of Books
“Fast, hard, intelligent . . . this is a terrific thriller.” —Lee Child, New York Times–bestselling author
“Another rippin’ good ‘Alan Jacobson read’! Jacobson researches his books like a good newspaper reporter, and then pushes the envelope into reality more thoroughly than the typical crime novel would ever allow.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A . . . masterpiece . . . the inspiration for thriller writers in the years ahead.” —New York Journal of Books on Inmate 1577
“Fast, hard, intelligent . . . this is a terrific thriller.” —Lee Child, New York Times–bestselling author
“Another rippin’ good ‘Alan Jacobson read’! Jacobson researches his books like a good newspaper reporter, and then pushes the envelope into reality more thoroughly than the typical crime novel would ever allow.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A . . . masterpiece . . . the inspiration for thriller writers in the years ahead.” —New York Journal of Books on Inmate 1577
About the Author
My literary career has been marked by a number of events, none more significant than an accidental meeting 20 years ago while researching my first novel, "False Accusations," at the California Department of Justice's crime lab. I started chatting with FBI agent Mark Safarik, a profiler at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and Agent Safarik subsequently invited me out to Quantico to tour the Academy. My immersion in the world of serial killers, rapists, bombers, and arsonists was off to an eye-opening start. Over the course of seven years, I’d made numerous trips to the BAU, had countless hours of conversations with Agent Safarik and his partner, attended FBI training courses, shot submachine guns with the Academy’s head firearms instructor, edited four published FBI research papers on serial offenders, and parsed serial killer interviews with Agent Safarik. I was finally ready to write my third novel, the first featuring FBI Profiler Karen Vail—the national bestseller, "The 7th Victim." Oozing sharp wit and sarcasm, Vail means well but, like you and me, makes mistakes. Despite being a skilled profiler, she suffers unease about the decisions she makes because lives are on the line. Errors prove costly. Vail has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers because she's real. The head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers association described Karen Vail as “a cop you'd go through a door with"—a phrase used to describe a colleague with whom officers trust their lives when bullets are flying. Vail directs the action in "The 7th Victim,” “Crush," "Velocity," "Inmate 1577," and the short story “Fatal Twist.” She also has a meaty role in “Hard Target,” which brings back enigmatic covert operative Hector DeSantos (who debuted in my second novel, “The Hunted,” and who partnered with Vail in “Velocity”). My years of research and training with the FBI, DEA, US Marshals Service, Scotland Yard, and SWAT have shaped the stories I tell and the diverse characters that populate my novels. So sit back, crack the spine--or swipe the touchscreen--and immerse yourself in the gripping world of Alan Jacobson thrillers. Finally, FBI profiler Mark Safarik and I co-authored a 23-page personal safety booklet that’s available free on my website, AlanJacobson.com. It'll help you and your loved ones stay safe by avoiding the crosshairs of violent criminals. And be social--follow me on Facebook and Twitter. See you in cyberspace!
