A Deadly Distance (Jack Noble #2)

I confess I have not read Jack Noble #1, so with this 2nd book, it is my complete introduction to the Jack Noble Mysteries. I love this book! From page one it grabs your interest, and it keep your interests throughout the entire book. I found the story to be believable and well written. I found the characters to be believable as well. The character of Jack is so well written that you can relate to him right off.Story starts out in Washington, D.C. where a man waiting for a bus is being watched by 2 government operatives who are just waiting for this man to make a move. Unexpectedly the man takes off running and goes to an empty warehouse. Jack and his partner Frank believe this man is running a smuggling ring. They think he is smuggling guns, drugs and men into the US. Turns out their ring is more into exporting than importing. What they are exporting is a crime so evil and hits lots closer to home than they originally imagined.As the story unfolds, the man behind it all reaches out to Jack with a message.... 37 hours.... and this message was given using a voice synthesizer to hide his true voice.As the story unfolds, you will get to see sides of Jack that are lethal and caring at different times.For those of you who hate blood and guts, there is nothing like that. Guy gets shot, they don't elaborate on the gore details. There is also no sex scenes for those of you who do not like those. This is a great mystery with great writing. Authors like this one don't need that other stuff to make a good story.I recommend this book highly.

This is the second (or third if you count the prequel) in the Jake Noble series. It picks up two years after the conclusion of the first book. Jake is now working for the SIS, a super secret, obscure government agency that reports to only a few and accomplishes its tasks without being bound by red tape. The SIS consists of highly trained, incredibly competent people who take on jobs that are beyond the reach of mainline government agencies because of their sensitivity or risk.The book starts with Jake and his partner Skinner confronting and capturing a suspect named Pablo, then interrogating him to learn of the existence of a criminal organization. This organization is presumed to be a multinational group concerned with smuggling drugs, arms, and soldiers. However, after further investigation, they learn that the organization’s purpose is much, much darker.Their mission takes them to the group’s safe house as revealed by Pablo, where they engage the enemy, and after a gunfight, a fire, personal injury, and some death, they become reluctant heroes. However, their accomplishment only serves to expose them, and Jake in particular, to the wrath of the group’s leader. Following a gathering to celebrate their victory, Jake is contacted by the leader and told he has 37 hours until something terrible happens.Following directions issued via cell phone, Jake and Skinner travel to various locations on the east coast, seemingly at the whim of “Unknown Caller”, and finally end up in Florida. Along the way Jake meets a beautiful girl who gets roped into going with them. Once in Florida: the good guys get captured, the good guys escape, the good guys kill the bad guys, and it mostly turns out all right. Mostly cookie cutter thriller stuff, although there are some hidden twists that will honestly surprise you. For instance, guess who the leader of the bad guys turns out to be?In my review of book one, Noble Beginnings, I praised the author for creating a character who had more depth than some of the others out there. I was also pleased with the way he wrote the story, and looked forward to reading the next one. Book two, however, doesn’t leave me glowing inside the same way. Instead of a good story, with character development, vivid details, insight into the characters’ thought processes – all the things that capture your imagination and leave you feeling satisfied – this book reads more like a narrative, or an after action report. The most minute actions are recorded as if by a NASA launch controller – accurate without emotion – but where is the thought behind the words? I would call this really good writing, technically, without being a really good story. And the ending – it just sort of stops once the bad guys are dealt with. And I’m not really sure if the 37 hour thing was ever explained. Not satisfying.I give this book four stars (more like 3.6) – it isn’t terrible, and it’s good enough to make me want to read the next one, but of the three I have read, it’s in last place.

This book qualifies for a Hollywood movie ... Lots of action and just enough mystery to keep you turning pages. An excellent Story with believable characters and plenty of surprises.

This book was free at the time I got it, which is why I got it in the first place. I like action/thrillers so I figured I'd give it a try. I gave it 3 stars because it was just OK...falling a bit short in practically everything I look for in this type of book. It started out in the thick of things but quickly fizzled out. It stayed that way for a dozen chapters or more before it finally took off. The rest of the story was pretty much stop-and-go till the end...almost becoming a real page-turner but always falling short. Like I said, it was a good read, and I enjoyed it over all, but there were lots of annoying stuff!First off, the book is short, more of a novella than a full novel. Second, the writing style seems stilted and forced, sometimes painful to read...full of typos, poorly constructed sentences and some that just didn't make any sense at all. Rather than just enjoying the story I constantly found myself struggling over the errors instead, to the point of flagging them and sending them to the editor for review! Many times it was difficult to tell who was talking. Finally, the whole premise was more than a little far-fetched. If there really are secret government organizations like SIS, we're in deep trouble.I'm not giving up though. After doing a little research I've gotten the Jack Nobel short story, season 1 of the serial, the first Jack Nobel novel and another that was in a .99 collection of thrillers. We'll see what happens. I think Ryan has the right idea. He just needs polish and a better editor/proofreader.

Tres, tres bon!

Had to go back and begin the series to figure out where Jack was in his life to really enjoy this book. His relationship with Bear and where they’d left off was an important piece of the puzzle .The descriptive fights and scenes are reminiscent of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher but more ‘real’ in some way.Looking forward to reading more about Jack Nobles adventures with Bear soon.

Habe mit der Serie begonnen, aber leider in der falschen Reihenfolge. Ganz vom Sockel haut sie mich aber leider nicht. 3 Sterne reichen. Unterhaltsam aber etwas gar "over the top".

I really enjoyed the book. Will definitely be continuing with the series. It was a great read. Best to read in series

slow...but a great story