Into the Fire

Hard Shot is Book 7 in the Jon Reznick Thriller Series by J. B. Turner. 

Jon takes his daughter Lauren to a Yankees ball game in New York City on the 4th of July while she's interning at a publishing house for the summer. While they're waiting to get into the stadium amidst the huge crowd, gun shots resound around them. Jon shepherds his daughter behind a pillar as people panic and try to scatter. Dead on the pavement are multiple policemen. 

Jon's instincts kick in and he spots the location of the shooter. He hustles his daughter into a cab and instructs her to go immediately back to their hotel or her apartment. Following that he spots two men jump into a van. Jon commandeers a motorcycle and the chase is on. 

This begins the series of executions by a specific radical group of white supremacists conducted by three brothers who literally worshiped the leadership of their step-dad who raised them up to follow that brotherhood with the motto "Blood in, blood out". Their step-dad was justifiably killed by police. The fourth and oldest brother removed himself from their family and hated their step-father. Someone is giving the three brothers their instructions and providing them with all the equipment they need to carry out their missions. Let's be clear here: any of these white supremacy groups are radical leftwing groups just as the Nazis were. They are not "radical rightwing" groups as some ill-informed novelists and media would prefer to label them. These hateful, murderous individuals who murder because they think they're superior or wish to eradicate the police or anyone with whom they have a beef are basically just prejudiced killers who believe it's their right to execute other people who don't adhere to their agendas.

Jon finds himself conversing once again with Assistant Director of the FBI Martha Meyerstein after the shooting. Martha knows her high opinion of Jon doesn't resonate with all the legalism of her colleagues, but in spite of his rogue ways, he always gets the job done. It's a tough fight for her defending him, but she can't help but appreciate his thorough preparation and attention to the dangers at hand. He warns her that this isn't over, that he's sure there's more horror to come. 

The 4th of July has Times Square pulsing with people including Lauren, and Jon's exasperated by his daughter's stubbornness to participate in spite of his warnings and pleas for her to remain at home. Jon hustles to the area only to hear the shots ringing out, the massive people panicking and finally pushing against the crowd to get to the restaurant where his daughter is supposed to be taking refuge. 

She's not there. 

Hard Shot forces Jon to take inventory of his soul, to face that sometimes he is totally out of control, that sometimes he can't even hope to be in control, and that if he loses his daughter, he will lose himself. He's flooded with personal assessments of ways he's got to take stock of his life, that it isn't as "easy" as neutralizing bad guys – that sometimes those targets can literally get away from him. And sometimes his daughter refuses to seriously take his advice as she's in the process of maturing. This time they both learn what can happen when warnings are ignored. Added to it all, he's beginning to face how important Martha is becoming to him – not something that comes easy for him to realize or admit. 

Hard Shot is a bona fide, fast-paced thriller – the way a thriller is supposed to be. Any kind of human "supremacy" groups are perfect examples of man's sinful nature, of the worst of us, and there are no good reasons for any groups of this kind. None. 

Plenty of profanity. 

Father, please continue to bless J. B. with more stories. Only you know hearts and minds. And only you save souls. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.