Vigilante Assassin
Jake Wolfe Book 2
by Mark Nolan
Genre: Thriller
Every marriage has a secret, but this one is deadly. Lauren Stephens wakes up to find her husband, Gene, has vanished during the night. His phone is dead. Desperate, she hires Jake Wolfe and his war dog, Cody. They search the house and discover something so disturbing that Jake won’t allow Lauren near it. “No, if you see this, there is no unseeing it.”
Lauren thought she had it all: a loving partner, two great kids, a successful business, and a beautiful home in the San Francisco hills. But all of that is about to come crashing down, due to a missing husband, a hidden past, and a frightening secret that will shock a trusting wife to the core. Gene has enemies, and now they want something from Lauren.
Jake Wolfe is a flawed man who has a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wants to leave his secret, violent past behind him, but when Lauren and her children are threatened, his protective instinct takes command. Jake soon finds himself involved in a dangerous conspiracy, targeted for death, and engaged in battle with a powerful, unseen group who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Jake’s going to have to think fast and fight hard to protect Cody, Lauren and her kids.
Vigilante Assassin is “Jake Wolfe book two” in the ongoing series. It can be read as a stand-alone, or you can start with book one, titled: Dead Lawyers Don’t Lie.
Both of these Kindle Unlimited books in the Jake Wolfe mystery thriller novel series are available to read for free with your subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Dead Lawyers Don't Lie
Jake Wolfe Book 1
A mysterious killer who calls himself The Artist is assassinating wealthy lawyers in San Francisco. When war veteran Jake Wolfe accidentally takes his picture during a murder, The Artist adds Jake to his kill list and he becomes a target in a deadly game of cat and mouse that only one of them can survive. How far would you go to protect your loved ones from a killer? Jake wants to leave his top secret, violent past life behind him. But the reluctant, flawed hero can't ignore his duty and his personal moral compass.
This gripping thriller is full of suspense, plot twists and surprises. It features a cast of interesting characters, including several strong-willed women, two wise-cracking San Francisco Police Homicide Inspectors, one highly intelligent dog, and a philosophical killer who shares Jake's admiration for Van Gogh paintings but still plans to kill him anyway. As Jake gets closer to unraveling a merciless conspiracy, his life gets turned upside down and the danger level increases, adding to the growing suspense. This entertaining page-turner starts out as a murder mystery and then shifts gears into a high-speed action thriller that takes you on a roller-coaster ride to the riveting ending. A good read for those who enjoy mysteries, suspense, action and adventure, vigilante justice, unique characters, witty dialogue and a little romance too. Now on sale in over a dozen countries around the world. Be the first among your friends to read it.
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The Jake Wolfe series by Mark Nolan is this author’s first published work releasing in 2016. The series, named after the main character, Jake Wolfe, is a thriller, suspenseful, action series. The story is told mostly from Jake’s POV but there are lots of other POV’s to keep the reader involved in the many different storylines happening. I would highly recommend reading these books in the appropriate order as they follow the same characters and recurring storylines happen.
The first book, Dead Lawyers Don’t Lie, introduces us to Jake and his life, and it’s not a simple life. At first, this story starts off with just a man doing his job but we learn Jake is a lot more than a photographer on assignment. When the subject he’s following is killed, Jake has the skill and experience to save himself and get a picture of the man who killed the lawyer. Jake is then on the assassin's radar and what starts as an intriguing, engaging, murder mystery travels far off that path to an action-packed story you’d expect to see in the movie theatre.
I really liked Jake, he was a nice guy. He had a horrible fiancée, and even when he could have been a jerk, he wasn’t. Jake was a man of many skills and successful at everything he did. He treated women with respect, and was always trying to be the hero rescuing them. He was mostly a good friend, though his best friend may have disagreed. He loved animals and was compassionate and rescued a military dog after a friend’s death. Jake takes responsibility for everything and everyone. He’s smart and does a great job at hunting down clues and unraveling a mystery. And he is sarcastic and witty, which I absolutely loved.
There were times that I rolled my eyes at something that happened and I needed to remind myself that this is fiction. The number of explosions, gunfights, car chases isn’t going to happen in real life without a lot of problems. And, in this book, it was just another day, no big deal. These were the items that made it seem more like it an action movie. And, because I loved the mystery angle, I felt that this wasted time from that storyline. And, this is a long book, 602 pages. It’s a commitment! I was 51% in and was exhausted and ready to be done despite loving the story. A lot happened in the first half of the book and I just thought I can’t take another 300 pages of this. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the writing and the story, but I could have done without some of the over the top, unbelievable action sequences cut out. It just felt like the author was adding every conceivable storyline, plot, car chase, bombs, and gunfight to the story just to have it.
The dialogue between the characters was engaging, amusing and really brought the characters to life! This book is a lot of dialogue, which in my opinion, is what made it so interesting. I loved the author’s writing style, he really brought this book to life. The storyline regarding the murders the assassin has been hired to commit was interesting and intriguing. The author gave us just enough of a glimpse of the targets to make readers (or me at least) not sad to see them get what’s coming to them.
Rating: 4 stars
The second book, Vigilante Assassin, carries on from the first book. Jake had a lot of changes to his life in the first book but some things don’t change. This story starts with a threat against Jake, and just another normal explosion. Jake’s need to rescue women is the focus as he and Cody are brought in to help with a missing person case. Jake and Cody quickly solve it by finding a body, but things go big from there. Just as with the first book, there are many storylines happening in this one. Jake has made a name for himself and everyone wants him. The Secret Service and the President want him to handle issues for them, the private company wants him on their payroll, lots of bad guys want him, and Jake is trying to figure out what’s best for his life.
This book was not as long as the previous book, which I appreciated. There was a whole world set up in the first one, so it was easier to just get into all the craziness immediately of Jake’s life without the build up. Jake and Cody make a great team and this book really showed the partnership between them. This book really builds upon the first one, and I liked Jake even more. He struggles with his past and what the government is asking him to do. He’s a man strong in his convictions and his need to serve the government, despite the damage it’s doing to him.
Something I always look for in books I read are strong, multi-dimensional females and I think this author has done a great job writing them. I did have some concerns in the first book at first, but that opinion changed as I went through the book. He has a couple of great, kick-ass female characters who don’t need anyone to save them. I loved Sarah from her first introduction in book one and I’m happy that she’s still around. She may look like a sweet little veterinarian, but she proves otherwise.
I will absolutely be reading the next book in the series, and can’t wait to see what craziness awaits Jake and Cody. If you enjoy action, thriller, suspense, and mysteries you really need to read this series!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Mark Nolan is the author of Dead Lawyers Don't Lie, and the sequel, Vigilante Assassin. Right now he's busy writing Jake Wolfe Book 3. He also tries to make time every day to answer emails from readers. You can reach him and subscribe to his newsletter at marknolan.com.
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The series sounds good.
ReplyDeleteGreat cover!
Deletethe cover really caught my attention
ReplyDeletestark covers...love them!
ReplyDelete