Line of Fire by Taylor S. Newport 

This spy thriller doesn’t quite hit any of my tags. Justice is not served. There’s the beginning of redemption, but not there yet. And it’s not really about vengeance. The bad guys are power-hungry. The good guys are in it for cash and honor.

This is the first of the Dauntless Defenders series. I’m assuming the two main characters, Tyler Reid and I’ll call her Alex, as her name changes a couple times, are the two that will carry on. The story is a group of clandestine good guys against a rogue group of clandestine bad guys. The rogue group is a splinter group within the CIA.

Tyler Reid is a former Australian military man who has become a mercenary. The typical lone wolf male hero. Can’t get involved with anyone because when he does, they end up hurt or dead. He’s sent to New York to protect a scientist working on a special wonder-drug that several groups want to get a hold of.

The best way to describe this book is over-the-top. Non-stop action. Lots of gun battles, fisticuffs, and chases. If you like that kind of thing, check it out. It’s sort of Mission Impossible in print. Not much breathing room.

The writing is okay, not memorable. There are several technical and continuity errors that being a writer jumped out at me. I don’t think the average reader that enjoys this type of action novel will notice or care.

What I didn’t like was the ending. It didn’t end. I sharply criticized Lisa Jackson for that this year because she used the same reader-manipulation technique to try and force the reader to buy the next book to find out the ending. I’m not a fan of this technique. So much so I’ll probably not read another in the series. Since I write crime fiction and primarily PI novels, one rule is justice is served and the case is solved. Even in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series where S.P.E.C.T.R.E. was ever present, each book had a satisfying ending. Mission accomplished. Bond got the girl. Readers are happy.

The book is clean. Lots of violence, but nothing gratuitous or gross. No profanity and no on page sex. There are some mentions of some of the character’s faith. Not enough to put off a non-Christian reader. I’ll rank this one thirteenth for this year. I’ll end with this. It was a fun read, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen.

1. Love’s True Calling by Lori DeJong
2. Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt
3. The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron Ross
4. With Mercy’s Eyes by D.T. Powell
5. Justice by Jeff Hill
6. Already in the Kudzu by Hannah Hood Lucero
7. The Misadventures of Itchy Izzy by N.Y. Dunlap
8. Ranch Showdown by Tina Wheeler
9. The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush
10. Daughter of Darkness by Ed Gorman
11. Burning Angel by James Lee Burke
12. Irresistible Impulse by Robert K. Tanenbaum
13. Line of Fire by Taylor S. Newport
14. The Longest Day by Terry Toler
15. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

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