Threat Warning by John Gilstrap

Threat Warnng by John Gilstrap

Genre: Crime Fiction/ Thriller
Series: #3 in the Jonathan Grave series
Publisher: Pinnacle
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 323
Source: Purchased

The Short Version:
What begins as an apparent random shooting spree soon turns into a kidnapping which puts free lance hostage rescue specialist Jonathan Grave and his team on a mission to rescue a mother and her young son.

Why I Read It:
I’ve enjoyed all of John Gilstrap’s suspense books but his series featuring Jonathan Grave and his team is are my favorites since his first book (Nathan’s Run) caught my attention.

The Book:
It begins with two shooters opening fire on a busy bridge during rush hour. One of the shooters commandeers a van and kidnaps the mother and her teenage son who are in it. At first the shooting seems like it may or may not be linked to another one in a different part of the country. When a horrific bombing occurs it seems like a series of terrorist attacks may be underway.

Jonathan Grave and his hostage rescue team who operate outside the limits imposed on law enforcement agencies are approached to attempt a rescue. The hostages are the wife and son of a former colleague from when Jonathan was a member of the Army Special Forces.

Tracking down the kidnappers is a challenge because they're doing everything they can to mislead the authorities about their true identities, location and purpose. The more the media jumps to the wrong conclusions the more the goals of the charismatic leader of the group become possible.


My Thoughts:
As with most of John Gilstrap's books, this one reads like an action movie. Jonathan Grave makes a great hero. He does what he does because the law enforcement agencies are crippled by rules and legalities that he feels get in the way of what should be the primary goal that of rescuing the hostages.

For Jonathan, the system doesn’t work because it takes too much time and he sees no reason to waste time building a legal case while the hostages are in danger.

Jonathan’s team members are also characters I enjoy. Venice back at home is the computer whiz and able to accomplish completely unrealistic feats of information gathering. I don’t care if it’s realistic though. It’s exciting and it’s fun for the same reason that I like to watch the occasional unrealistic action movie. Boxers served in the Special Forces with Jonathan and is fiercely loyal to him. He can fly pretty much any machine intended to fly. He’s also good a blowing stuff up. What’s a hostage rescue without an explosion or six?

Their job functions broke down roughly along the levels of violence required. Boxers was the breaker of things and the blaster of holes.

Gail is the newest member of the team and Jonathan’s love interest. Much of her storyline in this one revolves around Jonathan’s disregard for the legalities. This is something she’s having major issues with (she used to work for the FBI). Her struggles and the implications for both the success of the mission and the future of her relationship with Jonathan is a good thing to bring up at this point in the series. Jonathan continues to say he’s on the side of the angels without being on the wrong side. That’s still up for debate in Gail’s mind.

Want to read an action movie? Give this series a try.

Rating 4/5


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