A short story featuring private security specialist, Ryan Lock. Fresh from a stint undercover in Pelican Bay Supermax prison in Northern California, Ryan Lock, and his business partner, former US Marine Ty Johnson, are in Los Angeles, tasked with protecting a young Hollywood actress from an abusive movie star boyfriend who refuses to accept that their relationship is over. But as Lock knows only too well, and Ty is about to learn, keeping someone safe from harm can be harder than it looks, and damage can come in unexpected forms.
I write the Ryan Lock series of thrillers, which feature ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock and his partner, former Marine, Ty Johnson. The first two books in the series, Lockdown and Deadlock, hit the Official UK Top 50 Bestseller Chart, and the third, Gridlock, has just been released in hardback. They have have also been translated into Dutch, German, and Russian.
I'm a firm believer in hands-on research, also known as 'any excuse to get out of the house', so before I wrote Lockdown, I trained for a month with former members of the Royal Military Police's specialist close protection unit. That turned out to be great preparation for Deadlock, which I researched by spending time inside Pelican Bay Supermax in California (see the TV interview on my author page). I recently completed a desert survival course in Arizona and ventured into the tunnels under Las Vegas, all as preparation for a new standalone thriller I will begin work on once I have completed the fourth Ryan Lock book.
Before I became a full-time novelist, I taught college and wrote television drama. I'm an Oxbridge and Ivy League graduate – try not to hold that against me.
Quick read. Listed at 70 pages, but it reads like is less than that. Ryan Lock fans might be interested, but those who are not familiar with the character might want to try one of the full length novels first.
brief synopsis: sean black fills in the blanks on how ryan and carrie acquired their malibu home.
setting: malibu
named personalities: summer clements - ryan's principal; a hollywood actress jason durham - the threat; summer's highly unpredictable movie star boyfriend ryan lock - a bullet catcher; a former british royal military police tyrone 'ty' johnson - ryan's black business partner; a former marine carrie - ryan's reporter fiancee angel - ryan and carrie's yellow labrador frank bernstein - head of summer's management team paula francis - summer's publicist paris hilton - the star of one night in paris
grammar: p28: whether it was watching a child being blow sky high on the streets of kabul or having someone you loved and trusted try to strangle the life out of you with his bare hands, a shadow was left behind.
Very short story and a deviation from the usual Lock plot. The feeling that it could have developed into a full blown novel takes at least a half star away from the verdict. The starting point is good and I had the feeling a lot in the plot could have been described more accurately, a lot could have used as a launchpad to develop the story. A bit of a missed opportunity.
A short story (no more than an hour or so reading time. The novel features Sean Black, former British Royal Military Police, turned Close protection Officer. He and his partner Ty, are called to protect a young actress Summer Clements, whose co- star and former lover has assaulted her.
Love the story but extremely disappointed with Goodreads. This book should be 3.5 not 4.5 in the series. I will admit I have a bit of OCD. But we went backward in the timeline about this one.
People who have read my previous reviews will know that I have a bit of a character crush with Ryan Lock the man featured in the series of books written by Sean Black. I discovered his books from the first release and have not been let down once since then. His series of books featuring Ryan Lock and his partner Ty are absolutely brilliant. Sean Black has managed to integrate himself with the other major Crime players out there such as Coben, Lee Child etc. When I realised that he had released a short story in the Lock series I immediately downloaded it onto my Kindle.
Yesterday lunchtime I settled with my lunch and began to read. It took me less than a chapter to be thrown back with Lock and Ty. This short story features them protecting a young Hollywood actress from her rather violent and abusive Movie star boyfriend. As usual Lock and Ty fall into their usual banter and it was like seeing old friends again. This book does however (I am almost positive) go back in time a little bit to just before Gridlock. People who have been reading the series will probably have noticed this too. Don’t get me wrong it didn’t make the story any less enjoyable, it just threw me slightly!
The only problem I had with this, and it’s a major problem for me, is that it was finished by the time my lunch break came to an end! For this reason alone I was not a happy bunny. I do believe Sean that you are a bit of a tease! How dare you flaunt my favourite lead male character and then whip him away again!?!? All I can do is console myself with the fact that a new book in the series should be due next year. For all those Lock fans this is a little teaser, and people that haven’t read the series, a cheaper way to try before you buy if you like. I don’t think you will be disappointed! I guess I will wait with baited breath until the next release before I get too excited again.
When I received this short novel in the mail I thought this is going to be an empty attempt to fill a gap in a series. A series I had not previously read. However, I started reading and found that it was more or less a stand alone volume.
Sean Black immediately draws you into Lock and Ty's world. The little bit of back story worked nicely to bring in new readers, such as myself, and gave just enough character build to hold readers. The main plot of the story being the need to protect a starlet from her abusive and addicted Hollywood boyfriend is a good storyline which any reader will have no trouble believing is real. The action is almost nonstop and readers who can actually manage to put it down will almost immediately want to pick it right back up.
Superb Dialogue, gripping action, and a final confrontation to make you feel sorry for the abuser. Excellent writing, great narrative, and action aplenty will make many readers either go back and start at the beginning of the Ryan Lock series and most certainly sit on the edge of their seats waiting for the next.
A must read for Ryan Lock fans and thriller-suspense fans both.
Thank you to Sean Black and Goodreads for the opportunity to read this book. Write on Sean BlackSean Black
An enjoyable book. Ryan Lock is bodyguard to Hollywood actress Summer Clements. Her just ex boyfriend and actor Jason Durham has attacked her. He threatens to make her life difficult unless she takes him back. Lock is employed to get rid of Jason.
This novella was a fast read, I went through it I one sitting. It's a decent page turned and a good introduction to Lock. I'll be looking out for more by Black.
As a short story this was rather predictable, and provided no surprises. It does serve as a taster to this writer's style, and to full length books in the series. Due to the length of the read I couldn't really get any affinity with any of the characters. I am undecided as to whether to seek out any of the other books from the series.
I love the concept of having Ryan Lock short stories but this first one fell a little flat for me. It may just have been that it being a short story led to greater predictability relative to Black's other books. Still a good read nonetheless.
This is not the first book in the series but as it is such a short book I don't think it mattered that I had not read any of the others. It was a decent story about the work of Ty and Lock doing their job to protect a young Hollywood actress
Decent short story but was a bit predictable. I would not mind reading one of the novels in this series though as then there is more time to build anticipation and suspense.