Perfect for fans of Robert Crais and John SandfordFormer LA County Deputy Bruno Johnson is now a bailiff in the courts having stepped down from his role on the Violent Crimes Team to spend more time with his daughter, Olivia. Bruno fears his job decision may have come too late when he gets a frantic call to extricate Olivia from a gunpoint situation in a LA gang-infested neighborhood. His … His desperation escalates when he realizes Louis Barkow, a stone-cold killer awaiting trial, had orchestrated that deadly tableau. When Barkow and three other criminals break out of jail and hit the streets, Bruno is plunged back into violent crime mode. Now, the agenda is personal—Olivia has become a pawn in the desperate chase of this sinister murderer. The walls are caving in on Bruno as violence escalates in his hunt for Barkow and his heart strings are stretched to the breaking point as he struggles to protect his daughter not only from the criminal violence swirling around them, but from Olivia’s own impetuous life choices.
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“The Heartless “is book seven in the Bruno Johnson series, but Johnson’s first person narrative tells readers everything they need to know. Johnson describes the action, recounts what individuals say; and shares thoughts, questions, and fears about people and events. The conversational style is realistic and revealing, and yet casual and friendly, as if he is talking to a friend. Alternate chapters describe events from other perspectives. Johnson’s reputation in law enforcement is well known, and his methods are unconventional to say the least, however, he gets the job done.
Contextual information fills in the two main story lines; one revolves around a high profile murder trial of defendant Louis Borkow and his subsequent escape from Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles. The second thread centers on Johnson and his stormy relationship with his fifteen-year-old daughter Olivia. He wants to protect her forever, and she is growing up. The two storylines intersect in an unanticipated way, and normal lives deteriorate into chaos and confusion. Things get exponentially worse as the story unfolds.
“The Heartless” is a tale of emotional unraveling. It is gritty, raw, and realistic. The pace is frantic with events taking place over just a few days. The clock ticks; everything becomes frantic, and yes, it ends with a giant surprise. I was given a review copy of “The Heartless” by David Putnam and Oceanview Publishing. The strength of Putnam’s account is his interpretation of things that actually happened, so be sure to read the author’s notes at the end.
David Putnam’s The Heartless is terrific—a smart, well-written, relentless account of a battle against evil, fought by a protagonist who has a real man’s flaws, but also shows us the kind of heroism that’s real.
The Heartless delivers the raw, gripping authenticity typical of Putnam’s crime fiction while it tugs at the heart as hard-core cop and single dad Bruno Johnson struggles to extricate his teenage daughter from the clutches of LA’s gangs.
I highly recommend this book and the entire Bruno Johnson series to all crime fiction readers.
The usual Bruno Johnson magic. Bruno is competing with Easy Rawlins for GOAT in the African American law enforcement (non-traditional genre.
Another winner from the real-deal David Putnam. I especially enjoy the Author’s Note he includes at the end (don’t it read first!) sharing how he’s woven in his real-life experiences as a cop and hunter of violent criminals with his well-crafted twisty fun fictional plots and just-complex-enough characters. Warning: May keep you up all night!!
Won this on Goodreads Giveaway
This is a well written police procedural book, written by a retired officer. It’s the seventh in the Burno Johnson series I have read, and I loved it. It didn’t matter that it was the first one I have read, I was able to follow along with no problem. It was fast paced. It dealt with gangs, drugs and violence. Hard to put down, but alas there was stuff to been done. I recommend you grabbing this series and reading it, if you like procedural police books.
LA County Deputy Bruno Johnson has stepped down from the Violent Crimes Team and is now a bailiff in the courts.
During the trial of Louis Barkow, a well known killer, Bruno receives a call from this teenage daughter. She tells him that there are people with guns and she’s hiding in a closet. When Bruno arrives, he finds her location is in a gang-infested neighborhood and she’s with her boyfriend, a young man that Bruno has warned him to stay away from his daughter.
What really makes Bruno’s blood run cold is that Barkow had arranged the entire thing, so as to make his escape from jail.
His daughter needs protecting and Bruno needs to hunt down those who placed her in danger.
It’s gritty, it’s dark, it’s violent. The author brings a lot of credibility to this novel as he spent his career in law enforcement. There is a lot of drama between Bruno, his daughter, and his father…. sometimes with humor, sometimes not. It’s a gripping romp with escalating violence … and his daughter is smack dab in the middle.
Although 7th in this riveting series, this one is easily read as a stand alone. However, I always recommend starting at the very beginning to catch those nuggets that make this a sensational read.
Many thanks to the author / Oceanview Publishing / Netgalley / Edelweiss for the digital copy of this hard-boiled mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.