HARD CASE IV (The John Harding Series # 4)

The gang's all back, including Ms. Torture on steroids, Lynn, and even the formidable dog Tonto; and they're tearing into the bad guys on every page, with little remorse, of course. The story begins with the most furious cage fight yet and ends with a rematch. In between there are many raging battles with plenty of weapons other than arms and legs. John retains his FBI connections; and I'm totally on board with with John's politics, as every patriot should be. Oh, and yea, Murderers' Row rescues a few more misfits from a life of crime. While this is a good stand-alone book, you'll surely want to go back and read the previous ones in this series if you haven't already. Finally, I really enjoy a story where true defenders of America shun the bureaucracy as necessary to give our mortal enemies a serious ass kicking, no holds barred.

The editing of this latest book in the series is much better, and the ragging has been thinned out. (Thank you!). One thing I particularly enjoy about DeLeo's writing is that he doesn't abruptly jerk you back and forth between the high-points of different subplots as so many authors do. There are scads of interrelated missions by John and the gang, and DeLeo integrates them seamlessly so that you're never cut off at the peak of some action or confused by being whipped around. But WARNING: Don't start reading this book late in the day if you work tomorrow.