The first book in the Jack Gannon series from author Rick Mofina, "Vengeance Road" is a dark, and twisted thriller. Jack Gannon is the ace crime reporter for the Buffalo Sentinel. Once nominated for a Pulitzer, Gannon is the best at what he does. The Buffalo Police Department has been called out to a dead body found at Ellicot Creek. Something very out of the norm for this area. The body of Bernice Tina Hogan has been partially buried in a very grisly manner. Police are keeping the scene off limits to everyone. Gannon cannot believe this areas is sealed off. The Victim who was a hooker, and drug addict who'd been trying to put her life back together. Gannon discovers the prime suspect is a cop. Not only a cop, but a hero cop who coaches kids and has huge number of awards. Karl Styebeck has the appearance of perfect police officer. How could he be involved as a suspect in this case ? Gannon blows it all out of the water by printing the entire story without proper documentation. The paper is forced to print an apology after editor Nate Fowler fires Gannon. Gannon is forced to go freelance. He's got to clear his name and prove his original story was true. Of course nobody in newspaper business wants anything to do with him. But Gannon marches on. He unravels a web of just incredible crimes and sickness. Even as two more bodies turn up and the case slowly moves across country and down into Texas Gannon is like a dog with a bone. The story itself was just riveting. It was just so hard to put down. I kept saying a few more pages, then a few more pages. Before I knew it I'd flew through the book. Author Rick Mofina is a master storyteller. This is the sixth book of his I've read. All six have been excellent. The characters in this one are so sufferable it's hard not to shed a tear as the terror awaits before them.The bad guy(s) come out of the book like the monsters they do appear to be. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone into excellent mystery/thrillers. The Jack Gannon character kind of reminded me of "Jim Rockford". In addition to being a writer, Gannon had to be a hard nosed not willing to back down investigator. Also like Rockford, Gannon never gets the respect he should. 5 stars out of a possible 5 stars for "Vengeance Road" by Rick Mofina. Do not miss this one. I'm for sure going to read the next Jack Gannon book soon. Okay, I think this is the first book that falls solely into the crime genre that I have read and I’m glad Mofina’s is the first I picked up because I was not disappointed. I have read humorous crime, romantic suspense and plenty of stories with crime elements, but this book is all about the crime without the romance and humour which would normally draw me in.Vengeance Road is a gripping crime thriller that had me turning the pages and saying oh, just one more chapter before I put it down. The chapters are short and straight to the point and take on the POV of various characters in the story from the journalist Jack Gannon who needs a big story, Jolene Peller the ex-addict, single mother who has been kidnapped and Karl Styebeck, the hero cop who is known for his charity involvement but is the number one suspect in the homicide of Bernice Hogan.Each of the characters was interesting in their own way and Mofina has a way of letting the reader get into each of their heads and empathise with them. Even Karl, who I really disliked throughout most of the book, I also developed an understanding of where he was at given his early experiences which did cause conflict in me as a reader who wanted justice for the victims.The reader is always one step ahead of the characters but there’s plenty of suspense to make you second-guess what will happen. I really enjoyed Vengeance Road, a well-written crime novel with well-developed characters and a gritty plot.
What do You think about De Wraakengel (2011)?
This was good, not great but I will look out for other books in the Jack Gannon series :)
—tlbrummett16
Another seat of your pants page turner! I really enjoy the Jack Gannon series..........
—Zumaira
Very good story. Kept me interested all the way through.
—melilinda
I really don't like one-sentence paragraphs.
—Minira
