Deadly Shoot by TJ Brearton
THEY CAME TO MAKE A MOVIE…
THEY GOT A MURDER INSTEAD.
Mack Banner hasn’t made a movie in fifteen years. He’s been laying low, raising his daughter, hoping not to be recognized.
When a hot young screenwriter writes a script for him to star in, he’s drawn out of hiding to a remote island off the coast of Maine where part of the film will shoot.
Only, the screenwriter, on location for some last-minute rewrites, is suddenly missing. And as the crew spreads out to search for her, a storm brews on the horizon.
Soon they’ll be trapped, and people are starting to turn up dead…
Part Agatha Christie, part action thriller, DEADLY SHOOT by bestseller TJ Brearton will have you on the edge of your seat figuring out “who done it” as Mack races to keep his friends and loved ones safe and to stop a brutal killer before it’s too late.
My Review
i was a beta reader for this book last year and I really enjoyed it. I’ve read quite a few of this author’s books – seven or eight I think at the last count – and loved them all, but I think this is now my third favourite after Rough Country and Gone. I’d definitely recommend it. I’m glad to say I haven’t read anything similar in crime fiction at all, which is great. Nothing that takes place on a movie set. Or on an island. In a storm (which adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere).
I really liked Mack Banner. He’s unusual as a main protagonist. He’s not a cop, or a private detective or an author, or an amateur sleuth. He’s a faded movie star. I feel that there is still stuff we don’t know about him in spite of the flashbacks – maybe he is going to be part of a series? I’d like that. And I love his daughter Ava.
There is a trend in the UK at the moment for crime thrillers to be set in a large, dingy town or city, often in the Midlands or the North, occasionally in London. A detective is usually the main character, divorced, in need of anger management, drinks too much – you know the type. So it’s great to have Mack Banner as the main character – a bit of a have-a-go, but flawed hero with a past (yes he also drinks too much). Like Miss Marple on steroids.
Initially there were so many characters with different roles in the movie that I only remembered the main ones. I had to work hard at times to recall who was who and what they did. This slowed down the first half a bit, but once I got into it, the second half flew along. Then it really picked up and I had my heart in my mouth at the end when the excitement ratcheted up even higher. I can say no more. I loved it.
About the Author
T.J. Brearton’s books have reached half a million readers around the world and have topped the Amazon charts in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. A graduate of the New York Film Academy in Manhattan, Brearton first worked in film before focusing on novels. His books are visually descriptive with sharp dialogue and underdog heroes. When not writing, Brearton does whatever his wife and three children tell him to do. They live happily in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. Yes, there are bears in the Adirondacks. But it’s really quite beautiful when you’re not running for your life.
