- Paperback: 287 pages
- Publisher: Potter Style (17 Jun 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307382796
- ISBN-13: 978-0307382795
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,998,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Evil That Men Do
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Even generations later, you can't escape. . .the evil that men do.
Stripped of his private investigator’s license and slumming it as a night security guard at a Jersey storage facility, Jackson Donne thinks he’s finally hit rock bottom. Then the bottom really falls out: The sister he hasn’t seen in years shows up, needing help.
Turns out Donne’s Alzheimer’s-stricken mother has begun hinting at long-buried family secrets from her hospital bed, suggesting a sinister–even murderous–past. Meanwhile, Donne’s relatives are suddenly being greeted by blackmail, car bombs, and bullets to the back of the skull.
All Donne wants is to disappear–preferably into a nice frosty pint glass–but he soon realizes that his only chance at saving his family, and himself, is by solving a mystery more than sixty years old. Now he needs to figure out how a hit man, crooked cops, corrupt politics, a kidnapping, and the city of Bayonne all fit together. He’ll discover that old family secrets still have the power to kill in this razor-sharp PI story that makes classic noir new again.
Stripped of his private investigator’s license and slumming it as a night security guard at a Jersey storage facility, Jackson Donne thinks he’s finally hit rock bottom. Then the bottom really falls out: The sister he hasn’t seen in years shows up, needing help.
Turns out Donne’s Alzheimer’s-stricken mother has begun hinting at long-buried family secrets from her hospital bed, suggesting a sinister–even murderous–past. Meanwhile, Donne’s relatives are suddenly being greeted by blackmail, car bombs, and bullets to the back of the skull.
All Donne wants is to disappear–preferably into a nice frosty pint glass–but he soon realizes that his only chance at saving his family, and himself, is by solving a mystery more than sixty years old. Now he needs to figure out how a hit man, crooked cops, corrupt politics, a kidnapping, and the city of Bayonne all fit together. He’ll discover that old family secrets still have the power to kill in this razor-sharp PI story that makes classic noir new again.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Dave White is a relatively new author, and his Jackson Donne series is swiftly shaping up to be one worth watching. With a switch from his debut novel's first-person/third person to narration to a straight third person, White creates a more coherent narrative. Yes, its all a little over the top, but utterly in the style of American thrillers by the likes of Deaver with a more personal undercurrent running through the narrative. A blend of old school noir and modern thriller from an author who should have a bright future ahead of him.
Format:Paperback
First Sentence: Joe Tenant tied the barge to the dock.
Ex-cop Jackson Donne has now been stripped of his PI license and has estranged himself from his family, including his mother with Alzheimer's.
His sister, Susan, shows up asking him to visit their mother as she has been rambling about incidents that happened to their family in 1938. Events escalate when her husband is kidnapped for ransom.
I had a hard time getting through this. At the beginning, it is very heavy on product placement--Molson beer, Coach bag, Ryder truck, Verison--which I found distracting.
As it went on, I realized there was no real character development or growth to the characters, so I had no real empathy for any of them. I tried to remind myself that the protagonist was fairly young, but he made an incredibly dumb decision at one point that nearly stopped me.
The plot is over the top. At one point, the protagonist exclaimed he found the villain's motive insane. So did I and, again, it made me want to stop reading.
The best thing about the book, for me, was the twist at the end--and that I was at the end.
Ex-cop Jackson Donne has now been stripped of his PI license and has estranged himself from his family, including his mother with Alzheimer's.
His sister, Susan, shows up asking him to visit their mother as she has been rambling about incidents that happened to their family in 1938. Events escalate when her husband is kidnapped for ransom.
I had a hard time getting through this. At the beginning, it is very heavy on product placement--Molson beer, Coach bag, Ryder truck, Verison--which I found distracting.
As it went on, I realized there was no real character development or growth to the characters, so I had no real empathy for any of them. I tried to remind myself that the protagonist was fairly young, but he made an incredibly dumb decision at one point that nearly stopped me.
The plot is over the top. At one point, the protagonist exclaimed he found the villain's motive insane. So did I and, again, it made me want to stop reading.
The best thing about the book, for me, was the twist at the end--and that I was at the end.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Truly a 5-star read
27 Jun 2008
Format:Paperback
Jackson Donne is not a happy man. He has suffered through losing his job at the police department, drug abuse and rehab. His fiancée was killed. He has lost his PI License and is working as a night security guard. Jackson is trying to rebuild his life and attend Rutgers University.
Now his sister Susan is begging him to visit his mother in the nursing home. She wants Jackson to find out more about their grandfather. Jackson and Susan's mother is suffering from Alzheimer's and keeps reliving times when she was little. She talks about her father killing a man. Jackson hasn't seen his sister in years and only wants to try to rebuild his own life and isn't interested in the past. Finally after a visit from his brother-in-law Franklin Carter, Jackson agrees to at least look into the matter.
Soon Jackson is forced to solve a mystery that occurred before he was even born in order to save what is left of his family. Susan and her husband, Franklin Carter, are both in grave danger and only answers from the past can help save them. Car bombs, blackmail and more all enter the picture.
Dave White's novels are exciting and keep you on edge all the way. I enjoyed the first Jackson Donne novel When One Man Dies, and this one tops the first.
Armchair Interviews says: Always great to find a story that is so well done.
Now his sister Susan is begging him to visit his mother in the nursing home. She wants Jackson to find out more about their grandfather. Jackson and Susan's mother is suffering from Alzheimer's and keeps reliving times when she was little. She talks about her father killing a man. Jackson hasn't seen his sister in years and only wants to try to rebuild his own life and isn't interested in the past. Finally after a visit from his brother-in-law Franklin Carter, Jackson agrees to at least look into the matter.
Soon Jackson is forced to solve a mystery that occurred before he was even born in order to save what is left of his family. Susan and her husband, Franklin Carter, are both in grave danger and only answers from the past can help save them. Car bombs, blackmail and more all enter the picture.
Dave White's novels are exciting and keep you on edge all the way. I enjoyed the first Jackson Donne novel When One Man Dies, and this one tops the first.
Armchair Interviews says: Always great to find a story that is so well done.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Where disbelief goes to die
9 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
This book doesn't require a suspension of disbelief, it requires that your disbelief be lobotomized.
The author tries to link a series of events that occurred in 1938 to a present day kidnapping, multiple murder, and bombing. An interesting notion that might have been plausible in more capable hands but here it just doesn't work.
Without giving away a key plot device, I'd note that the typical background check, even for a Top Secret security clearance, wouldn't delve into your genealogy and it is unlikely that your employer will tell you about your own past of which you are ignorant when 1) you're adopted, 2) from another country, and 3) when your last name is utterly mundane.
The hero of this story is angst ridden over the loss of his wife. We don't quite know why or how she died, I guess this is a teaser to get us to read the previous novels in this series, or why this matters.
The dialog is clunky and contrived. The characters are cardboard cutouts except when they act out of character -- in this book you will meet the only ex-drug dealer hit man in New Jersey who registers his firearm under his real name and address.
The unbelievable storyline and uninteresting characters are compounded by the author's unfamiliarity with his material. For instance, the recoil from a 9mm handgun will not knock down a 13 year old kid, when an airbag deploys upon impact it immediately deflates, ammonium nitrate doesn't explode - it is an ingredient in making a type of explosive, and on and on.
On the whole, Mr. White could have used a much stronger editor. If you feel compelled to read the book, check it out from your library.
The author tries to link a series of events that occurred in 1938 to a present day kidnapping, multiple murder, and bombing. An interesting notion that might have been plausible in more capable hands but here it just doesn't work.
Without giving away a key plot device, I'd note that the typical background check, even for a Top Secret security clearance, wouldn't delve into your genealogy and it is unlikely that your employer will tell you about your own past of which you are ignorant when 1) you're adopted, 2) from another country, and 3) when your last name is utterly mundane.
The hero of this story is angst ridden over the loss of his wife. We don't quite know why or how she died, I guess this is a teaser to get us to read the previous novels in this series, or why this matters.
The dialog is clunky and contrived. The characters are cardboard cutouts except when they act out of character -- in this book you will meet the only ex-drug dealer hit man in New Jersey who registers his firearm under his real name and address.
The unbelievable storyline and uninteresting characters are compounded by the author's unfamiliarity with his material. For instance, the recoil from a 9mm handgun will not knock down a 13 year old kid, when an airbag deploys upon impact it immediately deflates, ammonium nitrate doesn't explode - it is an ingredient in making a type of explosive, and on and on.
On the whole, Mr. White could have used a much stronger editor. If you feel compelled to read the book, check it out from your library.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Over-the-top plot, dumb decisions
8 Aug 2008
Format:Paperback
First Sentence: Joe Tenant tied the barge to the dock.
Ex-cop Jackson Donne has now been stripped of his PI license and has estranged himself from his family, including his mother with Alzheimer's.
His sister, Susan, shows up asking him to visit their mother as she has been rambling about incidents that happened to their family in 1938. Events escalate when her husband is kidnapped for ransom.
I had a hard time getting through this. At the beginning, it is very heavy on product placement--Molson beer, Coach bag, Ryder truck, Verison--which I found distracting.
As it went on, I realized there was no real character development or growth to the characters, so I had no real empathy for any of them. I tried to remind myself that the protagonist was fairly young, but he made an incredibly dumb decision at one point that nearly stopped me.
The plot is over the top. At one point, the protagonist exclaimed he found the villain's motive insane. So did I and, again, it made me want to stop reading.
The best thing about the book, for me, was the twist at the end--and that I was at the end.
Ex-cop Jackson Donne has now been stripped of his PI license and has estranged himself from his family, including his mother with Alzheimer's.
His sister, Susan, shows up asking him to visit their mother as she has been rambling about incidents that happened to their family in 1938. Events escalate when her husband is kidnapped for ransom.
I had a hard time getting through this. At the beginning, it is very heavy on product placement--Molson beer, Coach bag, Ryder truck, Verison--which I found distracting.
As it went on, I realized there was no real character development or growth to the characters, so I had no real empathy for any of them. I tried to remind myself that the protagonist was fairly young, but he made an incredibly dumb decision at one point that nearly stopped me.
The plot is over the top. At one point, the protagonist exclaimed he found the villain's motive insane. So did I and, again, it made me want to stop reading.
The best thing about the book, for me, was the twist at the end--and that I was at the end.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
