Jackstraw

Thomas Jackstraw, heir to a long family tradition of proud military men, was drummed out of West Point twenty years ago when he wouldn't denounce fellow cadets for cheating. In the two decades since, he has traveled the world as a highly paid mercenary, training Third World armies and guerrilla factions and sometimes leading them into battle. After his young bride dies in a suspicious car crash, he grows disillusioned and retreats from the world of emotion. His latest job takes him to a small backwater republic in South America, where he spends his nights drinking and his days trying to build an army from a ragtag group of rebels. So when Jackstraw, an excellent marksman, is offered a small fortune to fake the assassination of a U.S. vice-presidential candidate, things get really complicated--especially when he and the attractive, amoral politician, Rachel Valentine, meet and hit it off very, very well. Jackstraw suspects a double-cross, however, and plots an alternate escape route. But he's a step behind the trickery. When the staged shooting goes horribly awry, he barely survives and makes his way back to the U.S., where he becomes a fugitive hunted by every law enforcement agency in the nation. As he works his way across the country, he must use all his considerable skills to evade capture and turn the tables on the shadowy forces conspiring against him. From the jungles of South America and the peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the backrooms and bedrooms of a presidential campaign, Jackstraw is both a thrilling adventure story, and a tangled tale of redemption, greed, power--and even love.

About the Author :
RON FAUST is the author of fourteen previous thrillers. He has been praised for his "rare and remarkable talent" (Los Angeles Times), and several of his books have been optioned for films. Before he began writing, he played professional baseball and worked at newspapers in Colorado Springs, San Diego, and Key West. http: //www.turnerpublishing.com/RonFaust.aspx

Review :
From Publishers Weekly: In this sophisticated thriller, Faust (Sea of Bones) introduces readers to narrator Thomas Jackstraw, a mercenary killer on assignment in Latin America training would-be soldiers. Before long, operatives of the fledgling American Patriotic Party--an alternative to the traditional Democratic and Republican parties--offer Jackstraw both fortune and asylum to fake the assassination of its sexed-up female vice presidential candidate, Rachel Leah Valentine, unleashing a tangled plot that takes readers on a whirl-wind adventure spanning Third World jungles, seedy Chicago hotel rooms, and the storm-whipped Rocky Mountains. Jackstraw, a West Point expellee who comes from a long line of distinguished mili-tary men, realizes he's been set up after the staged shooting in a crowded Latin American public square backfires and the aging APP presidential candidate takes a fatal bullet. Jackstraw retreats to the United States and becomes the most wanted man in America while quietly plotting revenge on his double-crossers. Complicating matters is his steamy relationship with Valentine and an ambitious re-porter's quest to clear Jackstraw's name with a career-defining story. Snappy, realistic dialogue and Jackstraw's snark propel the narrative, and he emerges as a charismatic, though potentially polarizing, villain with traces of a conscience. Love him or hate him, Faust should give Jackstraw another starring role. (May) 05/27/2013 ""An expert marksman, Jackstraw also has a way with the ladies. Thrown out of West Point years ago in the midst of a scandal, he's surprised when asked to fake the assassination of a candidate for vice president of the U.S. His gut tells him to say no. But when he meets the woman he's supposed to shoot, he's smitten and agrees to the plan. Of course it goes awry. Double-cross after double-cross, with lots of bodies piling up. Soon Jackstraw is the most wanted man in the country. The events that unfold are a bit hard to swallow, but focusing on Jackstraw distracts the reader from the improbabilities. Faust is a skilled writer, and he gives the story line a nice noir edge uncommon in plot-driven thrillers. Jackstraw works because the protagonist is so different from other books in the Robert Ludlum style."" --Jeff Ayers, Booklist Online ""Faust writes well, with confidence and flair." --The New York Times ""A writer of rare and uncommon talent . . . resonant, sinewy prose."" --The Los Angeles Times "A wonderful writer with a firm grip on character, setting and pace." --The Washington Times "Faust writes beautifully . . . reminds you of Hemingway and Peter Matthiessen." --Booklist