Robert Liparulo's Deadlock ~ Reviewed

Deadlock (A John Hutchinson Novel) (Hardcover)
by Robert Liparulo (Author)
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 31, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595541667

Book Description:

John Hutchinson thinks it's no coincidence that Brendan Page runs this modern Praetorian Guard, and that the billionaire military industrialist must have had something to do with the atrocities his son Declan committed in Canada. The Canadian and U.S. Justice departments disagree, but Hutch has been digging for dirt ever since.

Brendan Page has some dirty not-so-little secrets. he's built an empire on supplying futuristic weapons and highly trained soldiers to the world's most powerful armies. But he's saved his most destructive weapons for himself.

When Hutch discovers the secret of Page's success, Page decides to teach him a lesson. But the operation goes terribly wrong, and Hutch's son is kidnapped. While a lone man stands little chance against the best black op soldiers ever issued M-16s, Hutch manages to survive longer than Page anticipated. As far as Hutch is concerned, high-tech helmets, machine guns, and hand grenades are nothing compared to a man determined to save his son. It's a lesson he sets out to teach Page-and one that he can only hope works as well in the real world as it does in his heart.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Deadlock, go HERE.

Review:

Deadlock follows John Hutchinson (Hutch) and his family as he puts his life back together after his harrowing nightmare as detailed in Deadfall. Dillon and Laura have come to Denver for a visit. Life is calm, a little boring, even, except for Hutch's growing obsession with Brendan Page, the billionaire father of Declan. Declan, the young man who nearly killed Hutch, Laura and Dillon and did kill several people near and dear to them paid the ultimate price, but, it seems Brendan Page's money is keeping him safely out of the reach of the law and free to dabble in war games.

After a warning that ends up turning deadly and into a kidnapping, war breaks out between Page and his sophisticated killing forces and Hutch and a rag-tag band of kids and a woman.

Deadlock is a page-turning story that had me rooting for Hutch, not just to take care of the bad guys, but to discover the children who love and need his time and attention. Other than some intense scenes complete with gore, I found Deadlock to be a very good and satisfying novel. The characters are solid and likable, the action is twist and turn complex, the writing continues to satisfy even though Liparulo has several irons in the fire. Action and adventure lovers, gamers, guys, suspense hounds and character collectors might want to look a little deeper.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer