Rum Runner – A Thriller

Idiot criminals-v-idiot cops, Rum Runner is a humorous, tongue-in-cheek satire intertwining the dysfunctional marriage of former Chicago cop, Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels, with the revenge obsession of street gang leader, T-Nail, who Jack had imprisoned for twenty years, the politics of returning to leadership of a gang after a twenty year absence, and the waste of human talent and creativity inherent in criminal gangs. It pokes fun without discrimination at both the good guys and the bad guys while driving home the quotation often attributed to Confucius “Before embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” It also points out that a trial by fire often makes or breaks a marriage. In the scenario proposed by Mr. Konrath, Jack Daniels’ marriage is definitely seared in a trial by fire. The characters were consistent with this type of slapstick story. None are particularly deep but I had no problems conjuring up empathy for Jack, and a little for Phin as well. Nothing about Jack’s friends led me to believe they could provide any meaningful help. Del provided an interesting twist toward the end, but the waste of his talent in the gang was criminal in itself. If you want non-stop action, even if it’s far-fetched, violent and a bit bizarre, by all means buy a copy of Rum Runner. It’s well worth the read.

I usually really enjoy his books because he’s good at pacing thrillers, but this one was hard to suffer through. The pacing was all off, with multiple pointless chapters thrown in to waste time. Entire (multiple) chapters of dialogue alone, about a stupid app game, which never became relevant to the story and only served to annoy the reader. The book reeked of some sort of weird fantasy being played out with the author’s favourite characters, with no substance or real plot. The main plot could’ve been over with in about fifty pages or less, and the “subplot” of their friends driving up to help them was 100% useless and shouldn’t have been in the book. I can see why this one is self published and not professionally published—an editor would tear their hair out being forced to read all the unnecessary fluff and subpar puns and “inside jokes.” There was a point in one of the multiple chapters with the three of them doing NOTHING but playing a game and driving, where one of the characters halfway breaks the fourth wall and makes a stupid joke about wasting a chapter in a book talking about something pointless. Rather than make multiple storylines that support and aid each other and make the plot more complex, the author had one storyline, which he broke up with 100% pointless chapters about the other characters driving and playing the app game. The main storyline I also skimmed because it was so saccharine and nauseating in parts, and was also jammed full of pointless one-liners and bad puns. A few here and there would’ve been fine for characterisation and easing the tension with comedy, but they were so incessant it just made the story hard to read. Definitely my least favourite of his books.

4 solid stars for a page turner of a book that I raced through in 3 days. I enjoy reading this series and this book, #9 in the series was a great read. An escaped murderer and gang crew chief by the name of T Nail is out to to torture and kill ex Chicago Police Lieutenant Jack Daniels. He is called \”T Nail\’ because he uses an electric nail gun to torture and murder victims. This is more of a thriller than a mystery, since the bad guy is identified early on. The suspense is interspersed with humorous exchanges between Jack\’s old CPD partner, Herb Benedict and her new partner, Harry McGlade, in a private investigation business. Both Harry and Herb find out that Jack is in danger and rush to save her. One quote on gang initiation: \”He remembered his blood-in for the C-Notes; the beating he had to take to join the gang. Thirteen years old, facing a gauntlet of eight guys, all trying to knock him down. They called it a rum runner, because by the time it was over, a brother couldn\’t stand up straight, just staggered around like a drunk.\” I purchased this book from Amazon.

Too much death and killing for my taste, but at least the torture was kept real low… Other than that it was a really good book. I\’ve read most of the prior Jack Daniels books, but the last several – two or three – I had not read. I suppose I will leave to go back and catch up. I had gotten pretty tired of the series because of the death and torture… Anyway, none of the impressions that I had formed of any of the characters were totally blown out of the water! Harry is still a slimy – but ultimately prepared – guy. There were couple few new characters, but no individual character was wasted! And really, it was nice to get a new angle on some of them. Of course, I still feel like I need a shower after learning about Harry McGlade…Yeech…

So … these lovers are surrounded by 100+ gangbangers who want to kill them, and they get this great idea … let\’s make love. Meanwhile their friends, the Keystone Kops are playing video games in a RV. Give me a break … this story is wild and full of high octane action … gives your adrenaline a kick … but totally unbelievable … however, a good read if your skip the BS.

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