I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dead Money Run
by J. Frank James
Series: Lou Malloy Crime #1
Series Rating:
Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on August 26th 2013
Genres: Crime Thriller
Pages: 280
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
Lou Malloy has just maxed out on a fifteen year prison sentence for the theft of $15 million and just before leaving prison he learns that his sister is brutally killed. As he is leaving prison, he's told to keep his nose clean or he would soon be back. As far as Malloy is concerned all bets were off until he finds his sister's killer. In the meantime, he has to fight off predators trying to get their hands on the money he stole and keep from being sent back to prison trying to protect those dear to him. He catches a break when he meets up with Hilary Kelly, a private investigator with an agenda of her own, She has been hired by the insurance company that paid on the theft claim of the money stolen from the casino by Malloy. In the course of events, Malloy and Kelly become more than just friends and Kelly decides to throw in with Malloy. Together they work to uncover exactly what happened to Malloy's sister and why. Their search involves a vicious gang led by a vengeful old man and his crazy son who has his own problems keeping his hands off other women. To make matters worse, Malloy and Kelly's search is complicated by the fact that Malloy's sister was really a special agent with the Department of Home Land Security and she was working undercover when she was killed trying to locate the whereabouts of special plates to produce counterfeit currency that if the plates ended up in the wrong hands, whole banking systems of major foreign countries could collapse overnight. As Malloy and Kelly race to find the killer of Malloy's sister, they enlist the help of Crusher, a pro wrestler who served in the cell next to Malloy at the Atlanta Penitentiary. The decision is made for Malloy and company to hit the same casino again that Malloy robbed fifteen years ago by a special ops unit of the Department of Homeland Security. The plan is complicated by the fact that the ops unit is phony setup led by a former agent turned rouge who is backed by another vicious gang with international contacts intent on getting their hands on the missing money plates. Malloy decides to go through with the heist of the casino a second time, but on a different schedule than planned. If they don't make it they have no way to return to the real world. They are in a make or break it race. Read as they race to the finish line and learn if this where the run ends or the run begins....
My take on this book: Dead Money Run by J. Frank James was not what I excepted it to be. Lou Malloy is quite the character as we start off the book with him in jail. Lou finds out that his sister was murdered and he wants to avenge his sister’s death.
Throughout the book we see it in Lou’s point-of-view until we start seeing it in third person point-of-view about some things that we wouldn’t be able to see in Lou’s point. Lou is in interesting character because he spent fifteen years in prison for a crime that he did commit but wouldn’t tell anyone anything about when they wanted to know. Lou also just wanted to be able to spend his time, not killing anyone, with his sister and spending the money. That changed when he found out that someone killed his sister and he wanted revenge.
Throughout Lou’s journey in the book he does a lot (like really a lot) of killing, he finds someone to care about (something he never thought would happen to him), he discovered a lot about his sister’s life in the past fifteen years, and he kind-of-sort-of has a job now.
This is the first book in the Lou Malloy series. I didn’t excepted so many killings to happen, or there to be so many details about it. I did figure out who killed his sister, I think, a little bit before Lou did which is kind of cool. Or at least I suspected who had a hand in it.
I am giving this book a four star rating. Dead Money Run by J. Frank James was a good book. However, it is totally different from what I normally read. I enjoyed reading out of my typical genres for this story. So, if you like action, and don’t mind a little gore this is a good book for you.
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About J. Frank James
Frank James is the author of crime thriller novels. His crime fiction books are gripping and suspenseful with readers being unable to put them down once they get into them. Jim has a passion for writing, and he certainly has the knowledge and experience to write realistic crime thriller novels, thanks to his extensive background in law. Jim attended law school, where he was a member of the law review. He even went on to pass the state bar and started his own law practice that specialized in complex litigation.
Jim’s experience in law helps lend credibility to his crime fiction books. Not only that, Jim has traveled extensively and gains inspiration for his crime thriller novels from his travels. Some of the countries that Jim has visited include Peru, Brazil, Italy, Greece and countless others. From observing other cultures and gaining new experiences, Jim is able to infuse new life into his books and develop believable characters that readers can identify with.
At present, Jim has published four crime thriller novels. All four of his novels have the elements necessary of good crime novels that keep readers glued to the pages from start to finish. Although Jim’s crime novels are fiction works, they are exciting to read because of their authentic nature. They are written with the backing of Jim’s experience in law, so they are believable situations that have the readers wanting to find out what happens next just like they would in any crime situation.
They offer the readers just enough information to keep them guessing and trying to solve the crimes until the end of the books when they are actually revealed. Jim’s books are also fresh and unique takes on crime as well, though. They are not the same whodunit type books that have been done over and over again. By infusing his personal travels into his books, Jim creates characters and atmospheres based on just enough truth to be relatable.
Plus, Jim’s books have everything in them from robbery to prison to family. They have hard and soft elements simultaneously to really capture the life of a hardened criminal who is still very human and struggles with the same human emotions as the rest of society. At the same time, Jim gives the reader perspectives from private investigators to balance out the story.
Jim’s books even have a hit of romance when his characters come to care for each other as more than just friends. Then, crime and love mixes to create a dynamic atmosphere that is even more complicated than ever before since characters care not only for each other but for their other family members as well. Jim has an amazing way of incorporating various elements into his latest crime novels to create thrillers that readers cannot get enough of, which is perhaps why all four of his books so far carry on one from the other to continue the same story concerning the hardened criminal who did 15 years in prison, Lou Malloy and who comes to be his partner, private investigator, Hilary Kelly. The two of them go it together to create gripping stories that keep readers coming back for more.
