Jack and Phin are having major marriage problems and go on vacation to reconcile their differences. Staying at McGlade's off the grid "cabin" they are targeted by an escaped killer who was one of Jack's first undercover gang collars. T-Nail will stop at nothing to kill Jack for busting him to prison on a 20 year sentence and paralyzing him. Gathering his gang & other colors to help out he raises an army to kill Jack & Phin. Luckily NcGlade's over the top vacation getaway is an actual fortress for war. Meanwhile, McGlade & Herb team up to help them by making a road trip in the crimebago. A meth addicted parrot, gun toting thugs, & help from old friends brings a full circle to help Jack. Fast & humorous and a little over the top but that's what is expected when McGlade is on the case ( )

Firepower Overload!

Backstory:

Jack needs a vacation and some alone time with Phin so Harry McGlade tells them that they can use his cabin up in the woods of Wisconsin as he has a private place with no one around for miles as Jack and Phin need to work things out in their marriage. After dropping their daughter off to a friends house they head on up there hoping to rekindle their love for each other.

What neither of them know though is that a killer that Jack put away 20 years before has escaped prison (T-Nail) and all he can think about is revenge and he is willing to bring a war to her door for putting him away years ago. But what T-Nail doesn't know is that the "cabin" is really a fortress that McGlade has fixed up for extra security and it will take all kinds of firepower to bring it down!

That is about all I can give on a backstory without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more then you will just need to read the book!

Thoughts:

The first half of the book was mostly Jack and Phin heading to the cabin along with a little background on T-Nail and his old gang with them making their way up to the cabin, but the last half of the book is where all the action/guns takes place and where the tension/suspense hits the high notes.

Jack's friends are once again in this story (Harry and Herb) and there was some more of the humorous quips between Harry and Herb which gave me the chuckles. This time though there is a parrot that talks and though sometimes that was a little bit too much I just overlooked the parrot squawking and kept reading as that was just a minor annoyance.

The only thing that was a little odd in the book - there is a chapter about mobile gaming and as much as I like gaming stuff I couldn't figure out what the use for it was in this book. Maybe a filler for some reason? Not sure. But I basically just skipped that whole chapter as there was nothing in there that pertained to the actual story so I figured I wasn't missing much.

Other than that with the parrot and gaming the book actually rocked along with lots of cool weapons and lots of gun fighting. There is even a flame thrower tossed in for good measure!

I was happy with another "fight to survive" thriller featuring Jack Daniels and as always with this series I was entertained which that is what it is all about anyway. Looking forward to the next installment which is Last Call. Giving this book five Chiller Thriller stars! ( )

One of my favorites so far in the Jack Daniel's series. Fast paced, humorous and doesn't have the violence that some of the entries in the series contain. Win in my book! ( )

Twenty years have passed since Jack Daniels was instrumental in puting away criminal T-Nail. Now he wants revenge. Meanwhile Jack has retired, had a baby and got married to Phineas Troutt.
A fast paced thriller ( )

Idiot criminals-v-idiot cops, Rum Runner is a humorous, tongue-in-cheek satire intertwining the dysfunctional marriage of former Chicago cop, Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels, with the revenge obsession of street gang leader, T-Nail, who Jack had imprisoned for twenty years, the politics of returning to leadership of a gang after a twenty year absence, and the waste of human talent and creativity inherent in criminal gangs. It pokes fun without discrimination at both the good guys and the bad guys while driving home the quotation often attributed to Confucius “Before embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” It also points out that a trial by fire often makes or breaks a marriage. In the scenario proposed by Mr. Konrath, Jack Daniels’ marriage is definitely seared in a trial by fire.

The characters were consistent with this type of slapstick story. None are particularly deep but I had no problems conjuring up empathy for Jack, and a little for Phin as well. Nothing about Jack’s friends led me to believe they could provide any meaningful help. Del provided an interesting twist toward the end, but the waste of his talent in the gang was criminal in itself.

If you want non-stop action, even if it’s far-fetched, violent and a bit bizarre, by all means buy a copy of Rum Runner. It’s well worth the read. ( )