BULLET PROOF by Joshua Harkin

4.5* A blend of The Fugitive and Reacher, and possibly a few other books/films, but a really good, if sad/shocking/brutal/a bit unpalatable tale. 

I didn't entirely know what to expect from this book, but I got a really good read, despite the really unpalatable, brutal and  violent aspects and the sense of déja-vu. 

You had to feel for the female characters and the child in this, none of whom deserved the brutality and fright they witnessed and/or experienced. Some was off-page but the on-page stuff was shocking and saddening. And all too credibly, it felt like this really could exist in MAGA USA 2025.

Frank was a decent character who'd been betrayed too many times for it to quite seem credible but if you can move past that, he's an admirable and loyal guy. I suspect he'll end up working with the feds or other law enforcement to get to the bottom of the corruption and to prove his innocence,  snd get the daughter he barely knows back. I was in 2 minds about his army buddy who both helps and betrays him, as well as the former's own principles that he sort of seemed to tap into at the end, but I think he'll likely go on to redeem himself in small ways. He had aspects of PTSD and was basically a gun for hire, but there was a little redemption for him at the end.

Frank's road to some kind of semblance of happiness and a future that doesn't involve him being a fugitive looks like it viuld carry on over several tales. I'm up for them.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Inkubator Books for my reading pleasure. 


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