Leopards kill

Format:

Book

Title:

Leopards kill

Author:

DeFelice, Jim, 1956-

ISBN:

9780765314369

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Forge, 2007.

Physical Description:

335 pages ; 25 cm

General Note:

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

Summary:

Former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim is enjoying the good life until his partner, Merc Conrad, goes missing in Afghanistan with a chunk of government money. The CIA threatens to throw Jack in jail unless he finds his partner and returns the cash. Warding off insurgent attacks and terror cells at every turn, he hopes he can find Merc and get them both out of Afghanistan alive.

Subject(s):

Security consultants -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Afghanistan -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Afghanistan -- Fiction.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Silver Falls Library	FIC DEFELICE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A journey into the hell that is the War on Terror--a" Heart of Darkness" for the new century. Former Army Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim has it all - big bucks, a successful security business with plush government contracts, a beautiful wife. Then Pilgrim's partner, Merc Conrad, goes missing in Afghanistan with a chunk of government cash and most of the company's assets. The CIA threatens to throw Pilgrim in jail if he doesn't find Merc and return the money. Pilgrim knows his business--and his extravagant lifestyle--are on the line, but Merc saved Jack's life three times while they served together in the Army in Afghanistan. So Jack owes him. Big. Determined to find Conrad, Pilgrim returns to Afghanistan. The country in chaos as the US prepares to pull out. Pilgrim follows Merc's trail to the border area of Pakistan; with every step he seems to descend deeper into a Dantesque hell. Rumor has it that Conrad has fielded a guerilla army and is hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden. The further into the uncharted border zone Jack Pilgrim goes, the larger the legend of Merc Conrad becomes. Warding off insurgent attacks and pockets of terror cells, Pilgrim's odyssey into the Afghan badlands has him questioning his own reality, and the closer he seems to get to Conrad, the more peril he faces. If Jack Pilgrim wants to get out of Afghanistan alive, he may need Merc Conrad now more than ever.

Author Notes

Jim DeFelice has written over a dozen works of fiction and nonfiction for young people. His works include: Havana Strike, published in 1997, and Brother's Keeper published in 2000. He is the co-author of Dreamland with Dale Brown. He also co-authored best sellers American Sniper and American Gun with Chris Kyle. In 2014, his nonfiction ebook made the New York Times bestseller list; it was entitled Code Name: Johnny Walker.

DeFelice co-authored 2015 New York Times and Publisher's Weelky bestseller American Wife with Chris Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

DeFelice has fashioned a powerful quest novel out of what could have been just a clever homage to Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Mercury "Merc" Conrad, on a shadowy assignment into present-day Afghanistan, has disappeared with $2 million of CIA money, which the agency wants back. Since Merc saved the life of his friend and business partner, ex-Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim, on three earlier occasions, Jack sets out to find and rescue Merc. The journey takes Jack deep into Afghanistan, a heart of darkness if there ever was one, propelling him to the very edge of civilization and beyond. Jack fights for his life on almost every page with the action slacking off only in the rare moments when he can sit back to rest and ponder questions of morality, loyalty and honor. DeFelice has coauthored many novels with such thriller writers as Stephen Coonts and Larry Bond, but this and his other solo efforts, including Threat Level Black and Coyote Bird, prove that he can write and fight with the best of them. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Conrad's Heart of Darkness has been recast a few times, and while it's debatable whether another reimagining is necessary, DeFelice's version is a ripping good read. Jack Pilgrim, a former Special Forces operative, now runs a security firm that handles special assignments for the U.S. government. When his partner, Merc Conrad, vanishes into Afghanistan with a couple million dollars belonging to the government, money that was supposed to finance a mysterious project called Leopard, the CIA presses Jack into service: find Conrad, they say, or we'll turn your life upside down. Jack's journey takes him deep into Afghanistan's uncharted territory and leads to a confrontation with Merc, who has a few secrets to reveal. DeFelice makes no secret of his debt to Heart of Darkness, but the novel works with or without the Conrad parallel: the writing is snappy, the characters well drawn, and the story well told on its own terms, which include some shrewd commentary on the Bush administration's war on terror. --David Pitt Copyright 2007 Booklist