BREAKING COVER
J. D. Rhoades
St. Martin’s Minotaur
Thriller
ISBN: 9780312371555
If you are not already familiar with J. D. Rhoades from his excellent Jack Keller series, then BREAKING COVER will hit you like a two-by-four between the eyes. Over the course of three novels, Rhoades has quickly established himself as a writer’s writer, with his work being textbook exhibits of how the job of writing the edge-of-the-seat thriller is properly done.
BREAKING COVER is a stand-alone work, taking place a step or two outside of the Keller mythos. Fans will not be disappointed by his absence, however temporary, as there are enough explosions, fisticuffs and general mayhem to fill three books.
The opening scene takes place in a convenience store, where gas is sold out front and just about everything you can reasonably think of is inside. Rhoades nails the setting right down to the last nuance, including a description of the cashier that is so dead-on as to be jaw-dropping. It is one of those heartbreaking homemade “Have You Seen Us?” posters on the side of the cash register, with a picture of two missing young brothers, that is the early tipping point for the book. For, indeed, shortly after buying gas, a customer sees one of the boys, apparently being held captive in a white van. He follows the vehicle and initiates the rescue; although he should be hailed as a hero, he bails.
The reason is that the rescuer is Tony Wolf, a former undercover FBI agent who dropped off the grid and out of sight several years before. Wolf has been presumed dead, not only by his former employers but also by his wife, Kendra, an FBI agent herself. When he fell off, Wolf was working undercover with a biker gang whose viciousness almost defies description; his self-initiated exit interview from the gang involved a fiery double-cross that left one of the gang leaders a paraplegic. Now that Wolfe has suddenly resurfaced, alive and well and on the run, he has both the FBI and a crew of gang members full of simmering revenge after him.
Wolf, however, has not spent the past few years assuming he was in the clear; instead, he has been preparing for the inevitable. And when the day of reckoning comes, Wolf is more than ready to dole out street justice to those who have it coming. There are some factors, though, that he cannot anticipate, including a dogged television reporter who keeps getting in the way; his wife, who insists upon being a part of the investigation; and a traitor within the FBI’s own ranks. The book has more than one surprising and explosive ending, and while you might guess one of them, it is doubtful you will anticipate them all.
Reading BREAKING COVER is one of the few times I’ve become short of breath from turning pages so quickly. I kid you not. You should get a note from your doctor that your cardiovascular system is in shape before you beginning reading this. But it’ll be worth every minute on the treadmill.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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