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2675694J.D. Rhoades is the author of the Jack Kellor series, three books about a North Carolina bounty chaser. Three fine thrillers set in various parts of the state. As a fellow Tarheel, I’ve been to a lot of the places covered in the books. It’s always nice to be able to accurately see the scenes in your mind.

His fourth novel, Breaking Cover, is a standalone.

Sanders had lived in Pine Lake for four years. He minded his own business, paid his rent on time, never bothered a soul.

Then one evening he recognizes a small boy’s terrified face in a van, one of two missing brothers that he’d just seen pictures of at a onvenience store. He ends up rescuing the two boys from a pedophile, killing him in the process. He fades away after extracting a promise not mention he was there to anyone.

It all starts to unravel though.

In due course we learn that Tony Wolf,aka Sanders, had been an FBI agent on undercover assignment in a biker club to get evidence of murder, drugs, and child pornography when things went bad. He shoots and cripples the boss’ nephew and goes into hiding. The FBI has a traitor in it’s ranks. Wolf doesn’t know who he can trust.

Now people are looking for him. Some believe he had a falling out with the dead pedophile. When his picture gets on TV, the crippled biker recognizes him and the club is also after him.

Knowing this, Wolf decides to go on the offensive. His wife that he hasn’t seen or spoken to in four years, also FBI, is involved.

Told in a crisp engaging style, Breaking Cover builds relentlessly toward the classic showdown, with a twist or two thrown in. I loved it, sailing through much faster than any book I’ve read in a while.

Quite good and worth a look to fans of crime novels/thrillers.