Jonathan "Digger" Grave and his partner Boxers penetrate a Mexican drug cartel's lair to rescue their current PC (precious cargo), DEA agent Harry Dawkins, eliminating the competition and another unknown group of hostiles. Dawkins seems to be persona non grata, possessing information about U.S. support for kingpin of the Jungle Tigers, Alejandro Azul. Abandoned by their U.S. support team, the three Americans head to an orphanage that houses victims of Azul's violence. Digger's heart cannot abandon these kids and they head towards the Gulf where they hope their support team, headed by Venice Alexander, can arrange transportation home. Lots of action, killing, explosions, and governmental double dealing. Exciting, but I had to deduct a star because it's high time for Gilstrap to find a fresh plot. ( )

Final Target by John Gilstrap
Johnathan Grave #9

I was so excited to receive a copy of this book through NetGalley since I loved the other books I had read in the beginning of the series. I eagerly looked forward to reading it only to have the app to read it with stop working on my computer. So…with diligence I eventually managed to get the app up and running again only to realize that this book, filled with action and people and no doubt a good story was not one that I was up to reading this hot muggy summer. This has happened to me in the past and I remember well being unable to read The Hunt for Red October at one point in time only to devour it a few years later. Not wanting to leave NetGalley and the publisher without a review I did skim a bit and realized that I will enjoy the book in the future…just not before my time to read it in expires. So, I will not give a final star value to the book, since I have not read all of it, but will post this comment and thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC they so generously extended to me. From what I did read I would guess my rating would be a minimum of a 3 but more likely a 4 or 5. ( )

I have only recently discovered John Gilstrap and I'm glad that I finally did. This was the second book I've read in this series and I was thoroughly entertained.

This book was intense with all the action trying to avoid this narcissistic and scary Mexican cartel leader and his legions of thugs. He even had the Mexican police on his side. The orphanage children also played a big role in this book.

Lots of action, plot twists, and characters used to capture the DEA man that had been abducted makes this a great read!

Thanks to Kensington Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. ( )

One of the things I love about John Gilstrap's writing is the realism. He clearly knows his stuff, and he sets it all up in a way that puts us in the midst of the action, so we feel it, hear it, and see it.

The plot here is straightforward. The suspense comes from the mishaps along the way, as the mission becomes more complicated than expected. We edge into conspiracy theory and political entanglement. A variety of narrators gives us breathing room away from the chaos, though I wasn't as enthralled with some of those aspects. For instance, and I'll be vague to avoid spoilers, I didn't understand their push to get a particular person involved when he was really useless to them in the given role.

We don't get a lot of character development with this story. That's partly because this is the 9th book in the series, but mostly due to this book being plot-driven. We're dropped in the midst of the action, and getting to know the characters is the side effect rather than the focus. Still, we're given enough background on the main characters so that the book can be read as a stand-alone.

I have to mention the treatment of Mexico, which, as the setting, is a big part of the story. On several occasions, the two main characters talk about how much they despise the country, making these comments in a judgmental, scornful way, blaming the country as a whole for the situation they're in. Yes, I know Mexico has a lot of problems. And, no, I'm not Mexican myself. But I was taken aback by the thinly disguised vitriol with these characters on this topic. Honestly, they came off as pompous, arrogant asses, which spoiled some of the appeal for me.

*I received an advance copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.* ( )

I won this in a GOODREADS giveaway. ( )