Jack Bannister and his team of investigators take on the most high-profile criminal case in the country – the assassination attempt of popular presidential candidate John Taylor in Downtown Denver. The Taylor family, fifth-generation ranchers in South Park, Colorado hire Bannister when the investigation stalls. As the shooting brings the family together, family matriarch Lora Rose Taylor begins … Taylor begins to share a few secrets of her own.
The investigation leads them through the secretive world of high finance and power politics. A reclusive billionaire investor has been quietly buying up old uranium claims throughout Western Colorado in anticipation of gaining a corner on the American market.
Before the investigation can uncover the shooter, the investors private security team of ex-commandos is exposed and the search takes a dramatic turn into violence and kidnapping.
The trail ultimately uncovers a legacy of government deceit and a battle between the landowners and the mining industry.
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The first time I met up with rancher-turned-private eye, Jack Bannister, I was enthralled. Most books in this genre tout their puzzle-solvers as being former cops before “hopping” over to the private sleuth career because of retirement, getting thrown off the force through no apparent fault of their own, or simply because they no longer liked the “direction” the police department was going in. With Bannister, however—and his truly fun team—readers get to enjoy a cast that understands common sense, hard work, and own that pioneer spirit of “get it done, and get it done right!” For those who have yet to meet Bannister and his team, and have yet to enjoy that stunning Rocky Mountain scenery, it all begins in the first fantastic book of the series, “The Drift.”
This time around, we’re talking about Bannister taking on a truly high-end client, considering you can’t get any higher in the U.S. than the Oval Office. While in Downtown Denver, Colorado, an attempt is made on the hugely beloved and incredibly popular candidate for president, John Taylor. Taylor is a lot like Bannister in the fact that his family has been in the ranching business for five generations in Colorado. When the mystery shooter tries to take him out, the entire Taylor family congregates and opens up an unknown world and unknown family secrets to Bannister, who is soon set on a path that involves discovering a business investor with money to burn. Much like magnate Howard Hughes, this person is a recluse with a very focused goal: to purchase old uranium claims that are located throughout the entirety of Western Colorado. What he intends to do with them once he has possession is anyone’s guess… and Bannister’s job is to solve that mystery in order to unveil the wannabe assassin and attain safety for the presidential candidate.
You must understand that even though John Taylor, Jr. is popular, he has made a few shady deals over time in order to purchase land and increase his wealth. He also surrounds himself with some who feel no guilt whatsoever in using underhanded tricks to get Taylor into that coveted White House. His mother, the matriarch of the family named Laura Rose Taylor, has sins in her background as well that make Bannister have to work even harder to separate the “bad” from the “good” in this particular cast. Add in Chad Taylor, the youngest son, and Bannister has even more confusion. Chad is one of those James Dean types who dons the Stetson and works within the family to get what he wants, but in his case, what he chooses to do, throws suspicion on one of his older brothers who focuses only on attaining more land for the family business.
Lastly, as always, the government doesn’t come out smelling like daisies, either. In fact, author Bert Entwistle opens a new door that I haven’t had the chance to walk through until now that deals with a harsh, long-ago battle between landowners and the mining industry. Add in a private troop of highly intelligent, skilled ex-commandos, and Bannister faces a path of crime that encompasses not only the assassination attempt but also kidnapping and other horror tricks committed by rotten eggs sitting atop the ladder of political power.
I commend this author for continuously delivering on the action, keeping the cast of characters clear and easy to follow, and also taking one step further by adding a subplot that brings readers back to the good old days of Western history in order to share how the Taylor empire was built in the first place…which produces a clue that could possibly lead to the present-day sniper Bannister is trying to hunt down.
I also respect the fact that this author is a photographer, because when he presents the West, both old and new, the passion he has for these beautiful locations comes across so perfectly that they come alive in the reader’s mind. Jack Bannister is one P.I. that I will continue to ‘ride along with’ as the series progresses. Well done!