THE DAY OF THE DEAD

TITLE: THE DAY OF THE DEAD
AUTHOR: JOHN CREED
Pages: 246
Date: 11/12/2008
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 2 Jack Valentine Mystery
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After the events in book one, Jack Valentine is no longer working covert operations. And when an old friend asks him for help because his daughter has fallen in with a powerful heroin dealer in New York, it seems a straight forward enough request.
However, before they can even leave for New York Jack's friend, Paulo, is nearly killed in an attack, and Jack has some idea of what he's up against.
In New York Jack is reunited with Deirdre and Liam, and recruits some more help for his rescue mission. However, almost from the start it's clear that they are fighting someone far more powerful then they were lead to believe.
As the operation moves from New York to Mexico, Jack slowly realizes that once again he's been given at best half truths and incomplete information. And with the body count rising a happy ending seems unlikely.
These books keep on reminding me of the Jack Reacher stories, not least because of all the violence, but like Reacher, Valentine too has redeeming qualities. Right now I've only got one more title to look forward to in this series, but I can always hope for more.