Deadlock (John Hutchinson) [Paperback]

A year has passed since Hutch, Laura, and Dillon survived the attack on Fiddler Falls. Hutch returned to his life in Denver and Laura and Dillon to theirs. However, Hutch's life has not returned to normal. His obsession with tying Declan's father, Brendan Page, to the attacks and other atrocities has led to tension with his kids. When Laura and Dillon visit Hutch in Denver, the plans are to have a nice week of play, but those plans are quickly changed when Hutch is finally granted the interview with Page he's been seeking. Leaving his kids with Laura and Dillon, he follows his obsession to Washington and finds himself in the midst of a trap that endangers not only his life, but those of the ones he loves.

Deadfall was a rare thriller and in my top 15 all time favorite books. It was brilliantly written with characters that really deserved to be seen again. So, Deadlock was a much anticipated book, which did not disappoint.

Deadlock starts out slower than other Liparulo books. We're filled in on the events of Deadfall and caught up on what has been happening in everyone's lives. While this is a follow up book, if you haven't read Deadfall, that's not a problem. You're not going to be lost and there are only a couple of minor Deadfall spoilers. As with all of Liparulo's books, though, once the action starts, it's breathtakingly fast.

All the subplots in Deadlock work well together. A few I wish would have had more time spent on them. I loved Julian in Deadfall. He was and still continued to be a kid who held onto what was right in the midst of evil. While he has an important roll, I really wanted it to be a larger role. I also would have liked to have seen more of Michael. Again, he was there and he served a nice role, but I wanted a bigger role for him.

One part of the story that was awesome, was the training of the soldiers and the blurring of the line between game and reality. It painted a powerful picture of transforming boys to killers through the use of games. Great storyline, that in and of itself could have been a whole book.

Though I'm not sure this was Liparulo's intention, I could very easily see Page representing Satan. He actively searched for boys and he converted them to killers. He took them from their families, locked them away, and trained them to be what he wanted them to be. He fed them half-truths and retrained their minds to focus on the game, not the consequences of their actions. He was evil to the core. Not sure that was what Liparulo was going for, but Page was, without a doubt purely evil.

Aside from the action and a great story, Deadlock offers some insight into relationships--those with our kids, our friends, and workers. It highlights the struggles between our focus and what our focus should be.

Even though Deadlock is 450+ pages, I was not ready for it to end. It was a great story that could have went on for another 500 pages and I would have been happy to keep reading. I loved it and hope that maybe one day we'll see some of these characters again.

This book was hard to put down. Just when I thought I'd figured out what might happen next, I got another surprise. The villain was truly villainous, and he seemed unstoppable. Not only did he seem to be above the law, but his main nemesis was a financially struggling newspaper columnist named John Hutchinson who was trying to restore his relationship with his children after his divorce. The situation was further complicated by John's growing relationship with a young widow and her son, a family he had become attached to because they had faced and conquered a life-and-death emergency together. This broken man must bring down the villain while protecting his family. A thoroughly satisfying read, right to the last page.

This was a great book that I read in three days. A real paget turner that I had a hard time putting down. I don't wantt o give away the story but this is a must read. Great Plot, great characters. I was sorry that it was over