Posted in 4 paws, Review, Spotlight, suspense on January 4, 2014

rented mule

 

Synopsis

Cooper Dixon feels like a hamster on a wheel. He and his wife, Kelly, fight constantly and his cocaine-addicted business partner is scheming to sell their thriving advertising agency out from under him. Frustrated with his home life, Cooper finds himself fantasizing about his gorgeous graphic designer and of buying a pristine hunting property that he can’t afford. Cooper is on the verge of making a move that will change his life irrevocably when a motley criminal crew, composed of a 260-pound former football star, a Larry King impersonator, and others, is hired by a mysterious client to kidnap Kelly and set up Cooper to take the fall. Cooper quickly becomes the prime suspect, and the combination of an attractive mother and a million-dollar insurance policy makes the case primetime TV fodder. With Cooper’s face plastered on the news and Kelly held captive in the cellar of an abandoned antebellum mansion, he races against time to find her before the client can execute his sinister plan.

goodreads-badge-add-plus

Pre-Order on Amazon

Review

I get my books for review from several places and this one came from Thomas & Mercer/Amazon.  I have no clue how I got on the list but something about being a trusted reviewer?  However I got on the list is ok because now and then I find a book that is quite the gem that I may not have ever found had it not been for one of my many sources!

Everything looks good for Cooper and Kelly, at least from the outside in it looks good…but Kelly is dissatisfied with her life (she wants to compete the with the Jones’) and Cooper loves his work but wants a wild life preserve as his escape.  Cooper and his partner, Gates, are approached by a local bank to buy out their advertising agency and Cooper (and Kelly) think this could be the answer to many prayers.  Needless to say, there are other things happening in the background that cause quite the disruption in the potential buyout of the agency.  Like Gate’s gambling and drug problems and an unknown character (referred to as The Client) that wants to take everyone down.

I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book but I was sucked in and amazed at the various sub-plots and wondered who was really a “good” guy and who was really evil.  Kelly is kidnapped and I wondered who was behind it all and why.  I have to admit I did figure it out but not because it was easy or the clues were right there for anyone to figure out, it was more just a gut instinct.  There were some major twists that I didn’t expect at the end as the story was climaxing but it tied it all up very nicely.

There is a lot more I could tell you about this story but it would give away some of the plot twists so you will just have to get this book yourself and discover what a rented mule really is (because I know that I had no clue what the title meant!).

We give this book 4 paws and do recommend it next time you are looking for a good suspense novel to read.  But be prepared, it is about 500 pages long!  (and my Kindle Fire does not know how to judge my reading time and how much longer in the book…it keep telling me 15 more minutes and it was more like 45!)

pawprintpawprintpawprintpawprint

 

About the Author

Born William Robert Cole, Jr., in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1964, writer Bobby Cole now lives in West Point, Mississippi, where he is President of Mossy Oak® BioLogic®. He and his wife Melissa are the parents of a daughter named Jessi. Cole is an avid wildlife manager, hunter, and supporter of the Catch-A-Dream™ Foundation (a program for terminally-ill children). He began writing his first book, The Dummy Line, after a camping experience with his daughter, and he now regularly enjoys writing in his free time.

Website * Facebook * Goodreads