James Byrne – OneReadingNurse.com

Deadlock by James Byrne (ARC Review)

I was psyched when Minotaur Books reached out about the second Dez Limerick novel! Last summer, I wrote this about The Gatekeeper:

This is what I like in a summer read – nonstop action, banter, entertaining main characters, over the top fighting scenes, a few laughs thrown in, and a plot that is easy enough to follow without burning all the brain cells trying to keep up. Plausible, nah, but entertaining as heck – 100%.

I can’t agree with myself more and actually found Deadlock to be an even better read. I liked the plot more and Dez is an extremely likeable character. This book was another wild ride and just everything I want in a summer thriller!

Bookish Quick Facts:

Title: Deadlock
Series: Dez Limerick #2
Author: James Byrne
Publisher & Release: Minotaur Books, 08/08/2023
Length: 368 pages
Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for fans of thrillers and action books with quirkier character elements

Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:

In this sequel to the highly praised The Gatekeeper, Dez Limerick, one of the best new thriller heroes returns.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. Now retired from his previous life, Dez is just a bloke with a winning smile, a bass guitar, and bullet wounds that paint a road map of past lives.

Jaleh Swann, a business journalist hot on the trail of an auditor who was mugged and killed, lands in the hospital just one day after her Portland apartment is ransacked. When Jaleh’s sister, Raziah, reaches out to an old friend for help, Dez has no choice but to answer. The Swann sisters have been pulled into a dizzying web of cover-ups and danger. At the center lies an insidious Oregon-based tech corporation, Clockjack, which has enough money and hired guns to silence just about anyone―including this rag-tag trio. Luckily, Dez’s speciality is not just to open doors, but keep them open―and protect those working to expose Clockjack’s secrets

My thoughts:

Most of what I think can be summarized by saying: this is everything I want in a summer thriller. Some characters from book one make guest appearances and provide some continuity to the storyline, although these can totally be read as standalones.

Between the character stories and the action things are happening nonstop. I flew through this book and even though it’s not out until August I had wanted to check it out asap!

The stakes are high and Dez is back with his bag of tricks. He starts out just trying to protect his friend and ends up stumbling into an international conspiracy that of course, he is in a unique position to stop. With some help from MI6 and the U.S. Marshalls. Overall it was exciting and easy to follow: AKA a perfect summer read.

It has some darker elements too as we got some history of Dez and his soldiering days. He’s funny with this happy go lucky persona, but Byrne didn’t let us forget that the guy tends to leave a wake of corpses behind and some are innocent.

Brits trying to make sense of America (and vice versa) was another fun element. I stopped trying to we understand them too. Plus all the American carbs ha ha it’s true. Like you know while reading that it is an American author but he’s spot on sometimes.

Overall:

Totally recommend for fans of action books that don’t take themselves too seriously. I learned a lot looking up words and phrases as I went so I felt like I got something educational out of it too.

The surprising end sets the tone for book three – like what! I can’t wait until hopefully next year when it comes out. I have a feeling that I’ll be reading this series for as many books as Byrne writes

Thanks for checking out my early book review of Deadlock by James Byrne. I received a free digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and as always, all opinions are my own ♥️

The Gatekeeper by James Byrne (ALC/ARC review)

My last read of May was The Gatekeeper by James Byrne! Thanks so much to Minotaur Books for the ARC, and I also received an advanced listening copy so I will be reviewing both here! All opinions are my own!

This is what I like in a summer read – nonstop action, banter, entertaining main characters, over the top fight scenes, a few laughs thrown in, and a plot that is easy enough to follow without burning all the brain cells trying to keep up. Plausible, nah, but entertaining as heck – 100%.

Bookish Quick Facts:

Title: The Gatekeeper
Series: Dez Limerick, #1
Author: James Byrne
Publisher & Release: Minotaur Books, June-07-2022
Length: 336 pages
Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ for anyone who likes thrillers like Evanovich or Orphan X

Here’s the synopsis from GoodReads:

James Byrne’s The Gatekeeper introduces Dez Limerick in the most anticipated new thriller in years.

A highly trained team of mercenaries launches a well-planned, coordinated attack on a well-guarded military contractor – but they didn’t count on one thing, the right man being in the wrong place at the right time.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to all) is a retired mercenary, and enthusiastic amateur musician, currently in Southern California, enjoying the sun and sitting in on the occasional gig, when the hotel he’s at falls under attack. A skilled team attempts to kidnap the Chief legal counsel of Triton Expeditors, a major military contractor – in fact, Petra Alexandris is the daughter of the CEO – but their meticulously-planned, seamlessly executed scheme runs into the figurative ‘spanner-in-the-works,’ Dez himself.

After foiling the attack, and with nothing better to do, Dez agrees to help Alexandris with another problem she’s having – someone has embezzled more than a billion dollars from her company and left very few tracks behind. But Dez is a gatekeeper – one who opens doors and keeps them open – and this is just a door of another kind. And the door he opens leads to a dangerous conspiracy involving media manipulation, militias, an armed coup, and an attempt to fracture the United States themselves. There’s only one obstacle between the conspirators and success – and that is Dez, The Gatekeeper.

My Thoughts:

The book introduces Dez Limerick in a mercenary operation that is apparently his last. Retiring to California, he coincidentally ends up in a hotel where he foils a kidnapping plot that is only the tip of the iceberg of issues he is about discover.

The plot is definitely not plausible and at no point did I think that the bad guys were going to win, but it was certainly entertaining to get there. America at this time can definitely relate to white supremacy and big money companies with big egos so I don’t think it’s too far off from reality. I got immense satisfaction out of Dez making quite a few of these people look like complete idiots.

Dez is never fleshed out but he’s by far the highlight of the book. A tactically well rounded character, he can hack and set traps and fight, among many other talents. He is built like a truck, funny, and absolutely kick ass. I loved his Brit/Scottish accent and all his quirks.

Petra is the female lead, a force of nature as well. I loved seeing her dress down her father and the other power players. There are a few other female characters that are brave and badass too, in unconventional ways. Another favorite side character was a personal assistant named Alonzo!

I think the place where I docked half a star was that some of the descriptions of both Dez and Petra became repetitive without telling us anything new. I don’t come to thrillers for character development but it would have been good to have some indication of where Dez came from, although I appreciate the mystery as well.

I also had a chance to hear John Keating narrate the audio! I read and listened about 50/50 to review both fairly and I think he did a phenomenal job, especially with Dez and his cutaway “sorry!”. Sometimes accents are hard or make it difficult to understand but I found everything to be clear and he is consistent in all voices. I did have to raise the speed to 1.5 in order to make it sound like a human but I am totally okay with a narrator speaking slowly in order to enunciate.

The end left it open for more Gatekeeper books too so – hopefully! I definitely recommend this one for people who enjoy fast-paced action-packed thrillers that don’t take themselves too seriously!