The Shop: Cyril Landry Thriller

I recently finished reading the new Kindle book edition of The Shop by J. Carson Black (Thomas & Mercer, 2012). This was the first book I've read from this author and I am pleased to offer a glowing book review of the novel.This mystery thriller novel is set between Aspen, Colorado and the Florida Panhandle. The main characters are Cyril Landry, a paid 'government' assassin, and Jolie Burke, a Florida law enforcement deputy. After being assigned to a disturbing hit, Landry begins to question who he is working for and why the latest group of targets had been selected by his employer. After a brief investigation in Aspen, Landry travels to northern Florida, following the clues he has discovered.Jolie is a cop determined to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of a local sheriff and quickly discovers that the death is somehow linked to both a fatal hostage situation and the disappearance of a young homosexual male. Both Landry and Jolie discover dark political links tying their investigations together. The story concludes in an explosion of gunfire and no one gets out unscathed.I disagree with a majority of the reviews on this book available on GoodReads. The author did not dump details like too many thriller writers who wait until the very end to tie everything together, leaving the reader's mind spinning. The pieces came together at regular intervals and kept me hooked to the end.I also disagree with some reviewers that the conclusion was inadequate or failed to 'tie up loose ends' - this criticism is clearly amateurish. I was left with the feeling that a series about either Jolie or Landry could follow, which makes me hopeful that the author will take up this string in later novels. A good novelist does not need to tie up every string or thread for an intelligent audience. The characters are strong and will make good lead characters in the future.At times, the story flipped a bit fast between characters, but overall it served to timely deliver clues to the characters' actions, motives and the ultimate unraveling of the underlying mystery. The premise regarding the function of the celebrity murders was a bit stretched, but it did not serve as the main theme, so I place this slight flaw at the bottom of my list. The good qualities far outweigh it.One recommendation for the author: Jolie's side story with respect to her family roots failed to serve a practical purpose in my mind. While it could lead to a future novel, revealing the story here and not fully following it up left me a bit disappointed in this respect.Overall, the book was a solid thumbs-up and I recommend it as a truly enjoyable read. The pace of the book can be very instructive for aspiring thriller or mystery writers.

I just finished reading The Shop and I found it to be one of the best books I've ever read. As T. Jefferson Parker said, The Shop is "a hair raising thriller from start to finish." I started reading it last night and couldn't put it down until I finished it early this morning. For those of you who enjoy writers such as Parker, Lee Child, and others in that league, I think you will find that J. Carson Black's latest work is exceptionally well researched, her characters are very well developed, and the storyline will keep you in suspense all the way until the end.I must admit I'm puzzled by the negative reviews, especially the ones criticizing the author for being anti-military and lacking a storyline. For anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting J. Carson Black at any of her book signings, she has mentioned several times that her father served in the military and that she uses members of both the military and police departments as her advisors when she is writing her books. It boggles the mind how someone can come away with the impression that she wrote The Shop from an anti-military perspective. Where does someone get that? The closest I can see that in the story is that Cyril Landry, the ex-Navy SEAL she depicts, reminds me of someone who may have also served in Blackwater and/or other similar organizations after leaving the Navy. Cyril reminds me in some ways of Lee Child's character, Jack Reacher, someone who has been disillusioned by what he's seen when serving his country and only has skills to do that for which his country trained him: kill people. If that's anti-miitary, people might want to take a look at what basic training for any of the branches of our military does. But, even then, Cyril is portrayed as a sympathetic character who does the right thing at the end and you want to see him in another book. At least, I do.And, I'm sorry for those of you who can't work through the story line. I don't see how you're not finding one but maybe you haven't read great authors like Parker, Lescroart, and Child. Perhaps you could read a bit more before you tear someone apart for not fitting your ideal writing style. Fortunately, most of us do love this book and love the way J. Carson Black's writing has matured and grown into this latest work. I can't wait for Icon!!

Despite the claim that this author has upped her game, in my opinion this series is a step down from her Laura Cardinale books. She seems to have gone from a thoughtful series with a likeable heroine to mindless action sequences, where half the time I didn't have a clue what was going on. I'm afraid I can't root for a protagonist who murders innocent people in cold blood no matter what his motivations or his later regrets so I'm not going to read anything more in this series.

At the risk of being taken out by some shadowy government sponsored assassin, if I had to choose a word to describe this book it would be 'middling'. Like listening to a busker on the underground, I got some pleasure out of it, and do not begrudge too much the couple of quid I threw into the hat - but I won't be in any queue to buy the album. This is a pity because I thought that the initial premise of the book was good - but for me it didn't live up to its warrenty. On the plus side there is some reasonable descriptive writing ( as you might expect from a writer ) - and the characters are differentiated. On the downside, the plot hangs together like a badly fitted suit - it covers all the main areas, but tends to bulge in the wrong places ( for example why does Landry have to go to such extremes to find Cardamone when he could have just gone to his office? ), and many of the character motivations don't ring true ( Kay's seeming hatred of Jolie seems to have little basis ). To stretch the shopping analogy a little more, I won't be returning it, but equally I won't be returning either.

The characters in The Shop were well drawn. This story would make a good movie.J. Carson Black is a fine writer and The Shop was the first book of hers I've read.My usual reading is fantasy and horror but I tried this story and was pleasantly surprised.My own writing benefits from trying something new.I gave The Shop five because it is a top read.Jack

This book was promoted on Amazon's front page as being something special. it isn't. it is a run of the mill 'secret agency agent trying to make good' thriller. That's not to say that it is poorly written, because it isn't and the main character is well drawn, but there really is nothing to commend the book to readers other than those who like thrillers that stretch credibility.

Action on every page, but marred by too many sub plots making it difficult to follow sometimes. Also the many grammatical errors were irritating... What are editors paid for? If you can follow the plot and like action, then it's a page turner.