Into the Fire

The Jack Noble novel Noble Beginnings by L. T. Ryan is the first of many in the Jack Noble thriller series.

An exciting story, told in the first person of Marine Sergeant Jack Noble, Noble Beginnings dictates the journey of Jack and his mammoth partner Bear as they are falsely accused of murdering an Iraqi family while engaged in a CIA operation. Beaten without mercy for a crime they didn't commit and returned to the states to end up imprisoned, a former CO gets them released, but from there people keep turning up dead with everything pointing to Jack as the killer. A sophisticated framing job turns into a bona fide conspiracy with Jack and Bear intended as the sacrificial lambs by higher-ups in government.

I thought I was done with general market fiction until next year when Vince Flynn's legacy is continued, but something about this story caught my attention and here I am in the aftermath.With minimal bad language, no sexually graphic scenes, L. T. Ryan has written an entertaining piece capturing the essence – and the underbelly - of clandestine assignments, living on alert, and surviving all manner of deadly surprises.

Creating a likable hero in Jack Noble, a plausible sidekick in Bear, the two have their moments of conflict but work as one. Both proficient in getting what they need from whom they need it, their lives are threatened most by learning they have no one they can absolutely trust to prove their innocence and clear their names. Forced on the run and involving Jack's former nurse girlfriend when Bear is shot, together and apart they search for who's responsible for their guilty fugitive status.

The only two totally insignicant "problems" I had with the story were Jack's girlfriend slipping away and her choice regarding a CD, and Jack's reaction to his CO's daughter Clarissa. Neither is a "story-breaker", and I can whole-heartedly recommend Noble Beginnings as a well-written, taut tale of high-level conspiracy with an intriguing and satisfying conclusion to Book One of the Jack Noble Series. 

Father, you know L. T.. You know his heart and soul. I pray for both. Please continue to bless his life and meet His needs, the primary need for all of us is knowing you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.