Into the Fire

Jack Noble cannot go anywhere it seems without finding or leaving bodies in his wake. His past has made him high-level and low-level enemies in governments and civilian life. In Never Go Home he's employed in London where his boss (Sasha) implores him to work private security for a female up-and-comer in the political struggle there. The woman has had several threats on her life, but Jack doesn't do bodyguard detail and wants no part of it even though she insists on using Jack. After an incident where this woman survives an attack on her life, Jack receives bad news from his brother with whom he hasn't seen or spoken to in six years. He forces his boss to let him go home for the funeral of his former girlfriend Jessie who's suspected of committing suicide (and who readers will remember from L. T. Ryan's earliest Jack Noble books). 

After meeting the sheriff, who he used to babysit, he's allowed to view the scene of Jessie's death. It's clear her death wasn't a suicide, and that begins a search for the killer. Jack is glad to see his brother, but Jack's presence brings danger to his remaining family, and he needs to figure out how it all ties together. The all-grown-up sheriff, April, needs Jack's experience to help her figure out the case which of course isn't as simple as it appears to be.

Jack is distracted by the obvious and fails to give credence to a car that he spots in a few different places. Death and mayhem, danger for his brother's family and his elderly father, follow Jack. He returns to London but when April calls with more murders, he returns to his hometown with the woman he's supposed to protect. It's time to find the deep connections that always seem to lead back to someone wanting him dead and hurting those he cares about to smoke him out.

Never Go Home is a small glimpse into Jack's family history and how he's had to abandon them in order to keep them safe. Regrets pile up in his life, and the living with a target on his back is getting old. L. T. Ryan does a good job of illuminating the situation to Jack, of allowing him to see how he's going to spend the rest of his life distancing himself from those he loves in order to protect them. There is heartbreak, resolve, and resignation. He is who he is.

Never Go Home is a good look at Jack Noble's long ago past and a reminder that in his case he really can't go home again.

Father, please continue to provide those stories you have just for Lee to tell and may your blessings be recognized. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.