Hard Candy: A Tom Keeler Thriller: Book 4

In the chaos of the modern world Keeler is a Trouble attractor - he just can't walk away and must engage. This time the scene is the outer limits of New York City's commuter belt where sophisticated actors meet redneck country. You will not want this read to end but end it does - with a bang!

Excellent read..this is the book 4 of Jack Lively Tom Keller series..each book gets better ..lots of action,great story ,some surprises,characters that you like,really it doesn’t get much better..each book is fresh never stale eagerly waiting for the next book..

Tom Keeler was on a train traveling from Ontario, Canada to New York City when less than one hour from Grand Central Station, the train pulled into Kitchewan Landing. Due to an incoming blizzard the train passengers were notified that they would have to change trains to finish the trip to NYC. Little did Tom know this delay to NYC would be the start of a mystery that will keep him in the area for several days.As the story starts to develop Tom watches as a police car and ambulance arrives at the train station. He watches for some time while the first responders gather around a woman that was laying prone platform outside of the station. Tome had noticed the woman earlier and thought she was looking for someone who was to get off the train. As the storm progresses Tom realizes that he is going to be stuck where he is until the morning after the storm passes by and the train tracks are cleared. As Tom tries to get a ride to the local diner to grab something to eat he notices a taxi with an empty seat and asks the driver if he could get a ride. The driver lets Tom know that he is waiting for someone and has no room for Tom. Tom believes his only option is to walk to the dinner.At the same time this is going on we meet Mini DeValla, the conductor that was on the same train as Tom. As DeValla is finishing up her shift she is asked by another conductor if she can do a walk trough of the north bound train that had pulled in around the same time as her southbound train came in. As she does the walk through she finds a computer bag that was left in the train. DeValla wants to leave the bag at the lost and found office at the station but the office is closed by the time she gets there. After some consideration she decides to take the bag home until the next morning when she has to due her next shift.On her way home DeValla sees Tom trudging through the snow on his way to the diner. On a whim she decides to offer him a ride to the diner. As a thank you Tom offers to buy her dinner, which DeValla decides that she will. While at the diner they are approached by another customer, who both DeValla and Tom had noticed. The new guy accuses them both of making him uncomfortable the way they had been looking at him. DeValla just states that she recognized him from the train, which the guy states he was not on a train. DeValla then says not the train but the train platform, when the guy says he does not know what she is talking about. After he leaves Tom states that he also thought he recognized him.Once you put Tom, DeValla, the mystery man from the diner and the computer bag together you have the start of a great book. Add in a possible missing person, a local resort that seems to be hiding a few things, and a few other surprises you have an enjoyable story that Jack Lively has written in Hard Candy.

I just love reading books that keep me from doing anything else...... Then I know it is a GOOD one. This was one of them......

Tom Keeler has a habit of destroying property around him, but in Hard Candy he shows a great deal of restraint. Jack Lively has once agin written a page turner, I had to force myself to put it aside so I could sleep. What can happen when the train is cancelled due to snow ? Not much you would think? Not when Keeler is involved. He needs someplace to eat and stay and that leads to a found laptop bag and a chance encounter with a woman and a suspicious death and on it goes. I really like the authors creation and I am glad to get these books as advance copies. One thing you never know is where will Tom appear next? The problems he encounter varies and so does the setting and that is one of the fun parts. I also like his attitude towards justice, its often swift and absolute. Great writing mr. Lively.

During a rush of folks leaving a train because of a snow delay, Keeler sees a woman collapse on the platform. Then a train conductor finds something to be taken to the lost and found. Because of the storm and time of night, the conductor befriends Keeler and he ends up in the middle of the lost and found object. Then he finds himself followed. Happenstance leads Keeler to get in the middle of a plot to kill a Bitcoin genius - but how does that relate to the woman on the platform or the lost and found object.Lots of twists and turns lead to a Keeler-esque conclusion of righting wrongs and helping the good guys.Great book, hard to put down, and great plot lines.

A master story teller, like a master chef, takes bits and pieces of ingredients and mixes them in a way to create an interesting mental meal.In Hard Candy, Jack Lively brings us bits and pieces of information, when put together create both an appetizer and a main course of a story in which Tom Keeler never sways from finding truth and hard justice for people he meets who are victims through no fault of their own.Hard Candy is a tightly written engrossing story from beginning to end.This is an excellent addition to the Tom Keeler series of thrillers.

Leading character Keelor gets involved with a unique interaction of his team and unusual couples and individuals in some complicated story lines. His winter scenes are also well described and exciting. I did find the depth of his technology explanations to be a little extensive which weighted down the development of the story scenes. The story ending was a surprise and abrupt. Overall it was a great read and makes you look forward to more Keelor adventures.

An item left on a train turns out to be key to a nefarious scheme. Luckily, Tom Keeler is across it. As with other books in the series, there’s plenty of action here and Keeler remains a likeable protagonist. The story itself started off nicely but something changed, the nuance just wasn’t quite right. Rather than work the clues, Keeler goes off the deep end. Now, I love a bit of action and it is always satisfying to see the baddies get their comeuppance but in this latest outing, it seemed to me that blunt trauma was more prominent than strategic thinking in saving the day. And then there is the scheme itself. I just didn’t get it. The risks involved and the trouble gone to seemed inversely proportionate to the rewards on offer. I may have missed some key piece of info here but it read to me as if a bunch of bad guys had been taken down when they weren’t actually doing much of interest in the first place.As a package, I didn’t find this to be one of the strongest books in the series.