In Bait: A Harper Jones Novel by Jeffrey Butler, we meet detective Harper Jones at the Ocean House Hotel as he investigates a domestic violence call.
Detective Jones is in the company of Mary Lou Perkins, his protégé and the chief's eyes and ears, assigned to stay at his side after he went rogue on a previous case. The interview gets interrupted by a blast sound nearby, and shortly after, by a call from Chief Barnes redirecting him to a car-bombing scene, where he finds that the destroyed car belongs to Councilman Danny Kilpatrick, his former school mate and friend. As Jones comes to learn, Danny recently crossed paths with a reputed mobster who has been pressuring him to sell him a property, as well as with a local doctor who has been very vocal about the Councilman's failure to fix the potholes outside his office. Jones learns that the doctor's son has the skill to plant a bomb, but before he can question him deeply, he turns up dead in what looks like suicide, complicating the investigation and leaving Jones with more questions than answers.
As he investigates, Jones notices he is being watched by a drone. This is right before he receives a call from a former colleague warning him that a hit has been placed on his back by a crime family from a failed mission ten years ago. Shortly after, his partner gets shot in her hot tub, and his mother receives a severed pig head wrapped as a package. It doesn't take long for him to realize that the attacks aren't random, but methodical, especially when a voice from the past offers him a way out, if he completes just one chilling task.
This book excels not in telling, but in showing, how the past never really stays buried. It doesn't whisper but kicks down the door, chilling the protagonist and the reader alike with one gut punch after another. Jones is a man caught between two worlds, as a soldier that he once was, and a detective that he now is. The novel doesn't give easy answers, instead, it buries the truth under layers of mystery, each one darker than the last one.
What stands out in this story is how it doesn't hide the villain in the shadows, rather allowing him to call out the main character directly. The pacing is also exceptionally well executed, creating a story that feels relentless, and one that makes the reader scared to turn the pages as the action intensifies.
Quill says: Bait: A Harper Jones Novel is a thriller that reminds the reader why the genre is worth losing sleep over. The author of this suspenseful story knows exactly where he is taking his readers, even as the path keeps twisting in unexpected directions. Interacting with Jones in yet another installment might be the best thing that happens to the reader, because he is the kind of character who leaves you thoroughly entertained, inspired and deeply motivated long after the last page. It is a book that delivers on all fronts, and one that will richly reward fans of police procedurals that spiral into something darker.
For more information about Bait: A Harper Jones Novel, please visit the author's Amazon page at: amazon.com/stores/author/B0D9HC63XF
