When a publisher offers me a free book, I rarely look a gift horse in the mouth (the only exception is if it's a romance novel, which I will read only if a shotgun is pointed at my head and maybe not even then). Admittedly, I hesitated a minute or two because this is the seventh in a series of which I've read none, but since I'm always on the lookout for cool characters and plots and the description sounded promising, I decided to take a chance. And I enjoyed it. For readers new to the series like me, I'll say this one stands alone well, although I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more had I started at the beginning (which IMHO is true of any series). The "hero," former Los Angeles County Deputy Bruno Johnson, is just enough of a maverick to tickle my fancy, and the plot is for the most part believable and filled with action - edge-of-seat in places.
As the story begins, Johnson has traded in his law enforcement status for work as a court bailiff, mostly so he can keep more of an eye on his teenage daughter Olivia. In the middle of the trial, he gets a call from Olivia begging for help; with her ne'er-do-well boyfriend - the one Johnson despises - she's in the middle of a confrontation that involves a gun. So Johnson is off to save her day (and perhaps her life). He's successful, but the incident certainly doesn't change his opinion of Olivia's drug-dealing boyfriend.
Meanwhile, back at the local prison, there's a brouhaha that results in the escape of several dangerous criminals including murderer Louis Barkow. As the story progresses, readers (and Johnson) learn that the incident with his daughter was rigged to set the stage for the escape. Now, Johnson is even madder; no way, he insists, is his daughter going to be used as a pawn - and it looks as if that might happen yet again. Enter Johnson's old partner Robby Wick, still on the force and happy to lend his more-than-capable assistance with Johnson's search for the illusive Barkow, who's gone to ground.
Along the way, there's what I suppose is a requisite love interest, but for me, at least, it was nothing more than an unnecessary diversion (as were a handful of typos that should have been caught). As for the love part, I know Johnson has been living alone for several years, but really, he can't - or shouldn't - be quite that stupid. Otherwise, the plot thickens as the search for Barkow intensifies and Olivia's life really does go on the line. But as the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going - and it's clear Johnson and his partner plan on hanging tough all the way to what is an exciting end. All told, this is a good old-fashioned knock 'em down, drag 'em out story which, for the record, I can see as a TV series or movie, perhaps with a younger version of Denzel Washington in the lead (hint, hint).
The Heartless by David Putnam (Oceanview Publishing, February 2020); 368 pp.
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