From Library Journal
Six years ago, DEA agent Paul Masterson's life was shattered. Hideously injured in a drug ambush that took the lives of two of his men, Paul has fled to Montana to live as a recluse after the breakdown of his marriage. Unbeknownst to Paul, Martin Fletcher, the renegade agent responsible for the deadly explosion, is systematically killing the wives and children of the agents who worked under Paul. Now, Fletcher has thrown down the gauntlet and is stalking Paul's ex-wife and two children. Forced from his retreat, Paul must confront his former wife, Laura, whom he still loves, and his two children. The story is well paced, and first novelist Miller does an admirable job of building the suspense as the good guys battle the brilliant but diabolical Fletcher. A satisfying read that should do well in public libraries.
-?Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Martin Fletcher is one of the most unspeakably evil characters in recent fiction. A renegade DEA agent, he is exacting his revenge against the four agents he believes caused the deaths of his wife and child by killing each of their families. As the novel opens, he is finishing off the third family, and the balance of the story deals with how the DEA tries to protect "the last family." Actually, they aren't doing much of a job of it until the father of the family, Paul Masterson, returns from self-imposed exile to run the operation himself. Masterson was on the fast track to become director of DEA until a gunfight with several of Martin's flunkies left him horribly disfigured. Miller includes numerous red herrings, but the story is very straightforward and incredibly, graphically violent. Although not a novel for the squeamish, it's a compelling read for those who like their thrillers tougher than a two-dollar steak. George Needham
From Kirkus Reviews
First novel about a serial killer who stalks the families of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) operatives, then about the man who stalks him. Miller opens with the gruesome slaughter of a Cub Scout on a field trip in the Smoky Mountains, thus diverting the boy's father (the killer's ultimate target) away from his wife, who is grieving from the recent death of her daughter--at the hands of the same killer, it turns out. The killer, creepy Martin Fletcher, shows up disguised as a doctor to dispense a lethal injection to the hapless wife. The scene then shifts to Montana, where former DEA agent Paul Masterson leads a solitary life in a remote mountain cabin, estranged from his wife, daughter, and son after a failed drug interdiction left him crippled and half-blind. Fletcher used to be a drug agent, too, and has sworn vengeance on the families of every former colleague he feels betrayed him. He's succeeded all too well and is down to his last family, the Mastersons. Paul, crippled in spirit as much as body, is brought back into the fray and ends up not only struggling to run down the maniacal Fletcher but dealing with nasty with departmental politics and a wife who doesn't know him (or trust him) anymore. The scenes in backwoods Montana are overdrawn, but Miller does his manhunt well, right down to his correctly rendered radio talk between Masterson and various pilots. And on the trail of death, Masterson begins to come alive again, to accept how deeply he cares about his family. Fletcher's no Hannibal Lector--he's clever enough, but Miller doesn't bring to bear a sufficiency of detail to convince you that such a killer could exist. Still, the author writes with a tough authority and knows how to generate suspense. There are more novels about serial killers than serial killers, but this one's a cut above. (Literary Guild main selection) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
In great condition. Jacket is black with metallic turquoise. Slightly scuffed on back but does not detract. Pages in excellent condition --Seller
From the Publisher
Martin Fletcher wants revenge ... and he knows how to take it. Once an elite drug strike force agent, Fletcher was framed and sent to prison by colleagues who knew he was feeding information to the drug cartels. Vowing revenge, he escaped, and began to kill, one by one, the families of those he blamed. And the man he blamed most was Paul Masterson.Once Paul Masterson was the best at what he did--until two young agents were killed saving his life in a drug raid that left him maimed and almost blind. Devastated by guilt, he fled his job and family for the mountains of Montana, where he secluded himself in a prison of silence.
Now the family Paul has not seen in six years is Martin Fletcher's final target--the last family. And Paul Masterson, who for six years has lacked the courage to see the people he loves most in the world, must face them again. He must create a foolproof safety net around their New Orleans home--all the while using his wife and children to lure an inhuman predator. And to prevail he must rediscover the fierce in- stinct to survive that once made him Martin Fletcher's match.
From its terrifying opening scene atop a Tennessee mountain to a heart-in-your-mouth climax on Lake Pontchartrain, this is four-star entertainment. Copyright 1996 by John Ramsey Miller.
From the Inside Flap
her wants revenge...and knows how to take it. Once an elite, drug strike force agent, Fletcher was framed by colleagues who knew he was feeding information to the drug cartels--framed and sent to prison. Vowing revenge, he escaped and began to kill, one by one, the families of those he blamed. And the man he blames most is Paul Masterson.
Once Paul Masterson was the best at what he did. Then two young agents were killed saving his life in a drug raid that left Paul maimed and half-blinded. Shattered by guilt, he left his job and family for the mountains of Montana, where he has lived in his own prison of silence.
Now the family Paul has not seen in six years is Martin Fletcher's final target--the last family. And Paul Masterson, who for six years has lacked the courage to see the people he loves most in the world, must face them again. He must create a foolproof safety net around their New Orleans home--all the while using his wife and children to
From the Back Cover
her wants revenge...and knows how to take it. Once an elite, drug strike force agent, Fletcher was framed by colleagues who knew he was feeding information to the drug cartels--framed and sent to prison. Vowing revenge, he escaped and began to kill, one by one, the families of those he blamed. And the man he blames most is Paul Masterson.
Once Paul Masterson was the best at what he did. Then two young agents were killed saving his life in a drug raid that left Paul maimed and half-blinded. Shattered by guilt, he left his job and family for the mountains of Montana, where he has lived in his own prison of silence.
Now the family Paul has not seen in six years is Martin Fletcher's final target--the last family. And Paul Masterson, who for six years has lacked the courage to see the people he loves most in the world, must face them again. He must create a foolproof safety net around their New Orleans home--all the while using his wife and children to
About the Author
John Ramsey Miller’s career has included stints as a visual artist, advertising copywriter, and journalist. He is the author of the nationally bestselling TheLastFamily; four Winter Massey thrillers: Inside Out, Upside Down, Side By Side, and Smoke & Mirrors; and a stand-alone novel featuring FBI Special Agent Alexa Keen, TooFarGone.UpsideDown was nominated by the International Thriller Writers for the Best Paperback Original Award. Miller, a native son of Mississippi, lives near Gold Hill, North Carolina, where he writes full time.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"It has to be you, Paul. No one else has got the thunder it would take. Senators and congressmen know you. If it hadn't been for the shooting, you'd be the DEA or FBI director by now, and they all know it."
Paul walked to the door, his shoulders rolling from side to side as he went. "I can make some calls. Think it's someone we hurt in Miami?"
"It's Fletcher," Joe McLean said.
"Martin Fletcher?" It was as if Paul had been kicked in the chest. He all but staggered back against the doorjamb. His lip quivered and he blinked rapidly. "God, I had hoped he was dead."
It all came to the surface in a flash of pain. Martin Fletcher was the man who had had him shot. Fletcher had escaped from federal custody and vanished even as Paul had fought for his life in a Miami hospital's trauma unit. He had masterminded the hit on Paul's team from his prison cell and then had escaped the same day, before anyone could put it together.
"Far as I can find out, nobody's ever come close to catching him," Joe said.
Thorne sighed. "The family killings started four years back. That gave him a good two years from his prison break to plan it."
"I don't remember all of it. It's kind of fuzzy. I remember he escaped. If he was retaken, I never heard about it."
"Remember when he said he'd eat our hearts out?"
"Sort of. Yes. I know he was berserk last time I saw him. At the trial."
"What is this if not a way to eat our hearts out?"
"I remember sitting on the stand and his eyes as I testified. And the outburst when he was sentenced."
"He set us up, remember?" Thorne turned and looped out at the stream. "You know what he did to you...tried to kill all of us."
"I know what he did to me." Every time I look in the mirror or try to use my left hand or gauge depth.
"It's retaliation, Paul," Joe said, breaking in. "The ultimate twisting of the blade. Better than blowing our brains out."
"I'll make some calls," Paul said. "Some people still owe me, I guess. Maybe I can do something."
"I'd trade my life for two minutes alone with him," Thorne Greer said. "Look what he did to you, for Christ's sake. How long has it been since you left this goddamned cabin? Look around. You're stuck in a calendar shot. The closest town is a cluster of log huts. He's already fuckin' killed you, you just ain't noticed yet."
Paul looked out the window. "Five years since I came back here. Month since I even went to Aaron's store. I'm no good outside here. I just can't...you got to understand..."
"Goddamn it," Joe exploded. "You owe us. He fuckin' did it because of what you did. You nailed his ass to the cross. You set him against us."
"Come on, Joe. Fletcher's nuts," Thorne said.
"What?" Paul stammered. "I just arrested him."
"Nobody bothered to tell Martin it was merely an arrest and that you didn't mean anything by it," Thorne said.
"Martin left a note on Doris's body. Wanted you to know it was him. Said he'd leave you alone if you'd leave him be." Joe realized Paul was confused and frightened. But they had to have Paul to get Fletcher. Paul was once powerful stuff at DEA. At the time of the ambush he had been a heroic figure in the agency, a leader who went into the field and faced danger with his men. The files bulged with citations and press clippings on his career.
"I'm sorry...God, I'm sorry. I was doing my job. If I had known--Paul hung his head.
"Fletcher wants us to blame you. But we don't. Do we?" Thorne looked at Joe. Joe nodded slowly and slammed the flat of his hand against a beam. "Martin Fletcher's crazy as a shithouse rat."
"Crazy as a shithouse fox," Joe said.
"Couldn't it be anyone else? We made some people mighty unhappy. Maybe it's someone wanting us to think it's Martin. Hiding behind his mystique."
"The players we chased around after are mostly washed up--kids who were in diapers then are leaders now. Ochoa, Lopez, Perez," Joe said. "The ones that are still alive are in hiding in Spain, in jail, dead, or so deep in the jungle they're making monkeys."
"He butchered our families. He has to be stopped. You have to come out and help us," Thorne said.
"I'm sorry," Paul said. He looked out the window and took a deep breath and exhaled it. "I can't...can't think about going out there again."
"What the hell do you mean?" Joe snapped. "Haven't you been listening? Our families have been fucking wiped out! What makes you think he's finished?"
"Finished?"
"There's only one family left, Paul. Yours."
From the Paperback edition.
Gerald McRaney brings strength and an appealing style to his reading of this story of revenge, terror and survival. Paul Masterson, disfigured after a failed DEA operation, comes out of retirement. McRaney conveys both the cold determination of the killer and the emotional roller coaster on which Paul finds himself as he fights to save his family. M.A.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
