What happened to the girls? Overnight, hundreds of teenage girls disappear from the streets of America. Off the coast of Florida, a virtual reality theme park opens for the super-rich.Are the two connected? When two assailants accost twenty-three-year-old Kaden Baker at an awards gala, she enters a world of high-tech intrigue that pits her against a mysterious foe.It will take all her covert ops … against a mysterious foe.
It will take all her covert ops and hacking skills as she allies with a group of family members to battle an enemy out to unleash a mass attack on the U.S. and West by stealth.
Can they bring the girls home and thwart the conspiracy?
Praise for ‘Catch and Kill’
• “Catch and Kill blew me away. I couldn’t put it down.” – James Lee
• “I LOVED IT!” – Deborah Duncalf
• “An amazing read. What a Netflix series this would make!” – Michael James Gallagher
• “Clever use of augmented reality and artificial intelligence in a fast-paced crime thriller book.” – Heather the Book Blogger
Get it now! Strap on for a smart international thrill ride that appeals to both the head and the heart.
Perfect for fans of Michael Crichton, James Rollins, Robert Ludlum, Matthew Mather, Leslie Wolfe, and A.G. Riddle.more
Interesting and fast ps Ed read.
This was a great, action-filled book, but there were too many characters for me to keep track of. I had to keep going back to refresh my memory. The ending was a bit rushed & left it somewhat as a cliffhanger, but not as bad as other books. Best of all – I appreciated that there was no sex or bad language – always a PLUS!
A ‘kick-ass’ hero for our times…
The focus on technology in techno-thrillers can sometimes overwhelm me but JD hits the perfect balance of human interest and scientific wonder with this rip-roaring tale featuring his ‘kick-ass’ hero, Kaden Baker. This rapid-fire, action-packed thriller sucks you in and keeps those pages turning fast. Perfect for lovers of Michael Crichton and Robert Ludlum, and fascinating for those of us keen to know how the near future might look.
I got through 65% of the book, reading a little here, a little there. The next 5% if skimmed. I finally decided that there wasn’t anything about the story or the characters that made me want to finish it, so I didn’t. The book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t really good. I gave it the best try I could.
I could not get interested in it.
I didn’t realize the author was male until I read the short biography at the end. I appreciate the “Fact vs. Fiction” blurb at the end. I agree that the fiction in this case is close to the fact, which makes the story even more scary. I hate to think that a global conspiracy as described in the novel is real but I’m afraid it might be.
Interesting in the way it deals with virtual reality. Not overly believable at several places.
filled with technology gadgets being used to track people. Scary to think that this could happen in the future. Action packed. If you like this sort of thing , you will like this book
I could not finish this book. It was beyond ridiculous!
Not my usual read.
Catch and Kill – Shadow Operatives Thriller 2 by J. D. Lasica came recommended to me because of people comparing it to works by Michael Crichton. I am pleased to confirm that all the people comparing the two authors were correct. J. D. Lasica also informed me that I did not need to read the first book to understand this one and that turned out to be true as well. There are not many books that are part of a series that can also be read as a stand-alone. On that same note, this book was so good that I want to go back and read the first book as well.
Action packed right from the start, A woman by the name of Kaden is attacked in an attempted kidnapping at a celebration where she was originally a person of honor. After returning home and finding that it has also been broken into Kaden receives messages from a mysterious man called Bo. Bo wants her help in investigating The Disappearance, and reluctantly Kaden agrees. At the same time on Samana City, a place called Fantasy Live is doing its soft open, and Alex, a reporter for the Axom is doing an undercover story on it.
Fantasy Live uses augmented reality to bring the patron’s deepest fantasies to life, within reason. Alex finds out some disturbing information about Samana City and Fantasy Live and sends word back to Axom. As it turns out Kaden and Bo’s investigation is already leading them to Fantasy Live and they team up with some other Axom employees to infiltrate the island. Things do not go very smooth for them on Samana City. Kaden must trust in her teammates, both familiar and new if they hope to escape. In the process, they are going to try to bring the girls from The Disappearance home and save the world from a surprise bio-warfare that no one is prepared for, but the creator of Fantasy Live is ready to kill to make sure no one interferes.
What I liked best was that the plot line was well thought out. The plans of Incognito and Lucid were explained in a way that made them completely believable. While it does take place in the future the technology used is not that far from what we use every day now. Naturally, I did not like the idea of Lucid and Incognito being missing at the end. However, with this being only the second book in the series I have faith that they will be found. I still do not completely understand how The Disappearance was able to happen without anyone noticing something before it was too late.
Target readers for this book are adults. This is due to the content and topics surrounding sex, forced surrogacy, and human trafficking. People who enjoy action-packed thrillers in a slightly futuristic setting will enjoy this book. I rate this book a 4 out of 4 because I got exactly what I was promised with this book. Each character clearly has their own personality that plays into how they respond to the situations presented. Everything was so believable that it was almost scary to think about how these events could actually happen.
This book was AWESOME
Adventure, Intrigue, Mystery, good and bad characters, character searching for something, Realistic and more.
It is a must read.
This is sci-fi meets high tech. A little over the top for my taste.
Super book. New author to me and want to read more from same.
Very underwhelmed by this read.
I just couldn’t put down this book until I finished. Thanks for a wonderful book. Will be reading more by this author. I would recommend to others.
Scary! This could be our future (and not too far away)
Although is was pretty good book, there were too many things that were too far fetched like doesn’t everyone carry a flash drive in the heel of their shoe.
If you want a thriller with suspense and an unusual premise this book may be for you. It is an outrageous fantasy.
Biohack #1 – I actually started the second book of this series first, but was uncomfortable with not knowing the foundation for the characters and storylines. Luckily, I had Biohack in my library. So this series is the first I’ve read by this author and while he is not in the Big Boys League, this is an interesting book. Multiple storylines that lay a good foundation, especially helpful for the next book, weave a story about the good and bad of genomics and reproductive biotechnology (gene-editing) on a multitude of levels: medical; legal; ethical; etc. The technical information is easy to understand.
The variety of characters add to the depth of the storylines. I did get a good foundation for the main players and continued storylines of the second book, which made me want to continue reading Catch. These characters run the gamut from the self-righteous; the greedy; the immoral; the good; the victims; and so forth.
While the book is entertaining and does raise all sorts of emotions and issues from the reader, I think there is too much emphasis on sexual orientation. The presentations gave the impression that non-heteosexuals are defective and abused. Plus, Kaden seems to see “phallic symbol inagery” and thinks about her orientation at inappropriate moments. But there is something about her that made Catch more understandable.
Being from Texas and knowing there are not many cowboys in Dallas anymore, or Texans, I did not understand the crack made about regulatory rigmarole: “Safety regulations and labor laws were all but nonexistent in the cowboy culture that still held sway in Texas.” (page 63). Cowboy culture is heavy in West Texas, but statewide we have current regulations that everyone follows.
I do suggest reading Biohack since there is quite a bit of foundation that will make Catch more understandable and revise the reader’s perspective of Kaden and her orientation attitude. As a journalist and book editor, the author needs to apply those skills to editing his book; too wordy with unnecessary detail. 4*
Catch and Kill #2 – I’m glad I stopped reading Catch and read Biohack, which gave me the foundation and storylines to understand Catch better. The storylines continue from Biohack to Catch, so I strongly recommend reading them sequentially. Catch did not come with a notice of it being the second in a series.
The same characters from Biohack still exist and are more developed; they are all interesting in their own way. The science is interesting and should raise concerns of what we will face in the future on a global scale. The writing style, when not covering the science, fluctuates between Hollywood and OK; the action scenes follow the same and some of the dialog is silly. I had to keep reminding myself that not all of the players were professional, but still….
Again, the author is too wordy and does not properly edit his work. Instead of using “all black winter…”, he lists several pieces of clothing and each with the descriptor black. I guess he thinks his readers have poor memories and we keep forgetting that she likes black clothing. As a journalist, he should understand the economy of words when writing. I finished this book because of my interest in genomics and reproductive biotechnology (gene-editing). I found this book on Booksprout and will not be continuing this series. 3*