Gridlock: The Third Ryan Lock Novel [Kindle Edition]

I read Sean Blacks first and second books and absolutely loved them. Ryan Lock is an ex-military bodyguard who has worked private security and has now set up his own company that can be called upon for any type of job. He has a partner Ty Johnson who is an ex-marine who Ryan met whilst in Iraq. Together they make a formidable team and seem unafraid to take on any type of work.

In this book, Ryan and Ty are asked to work for famous adult movie actress Raven Lane. Raven is lusted after by many people across the world and has an army of fans, however, when a headless corpse turns up in the boot of her car she feels compelled to get Ryan and Ty in for her private security.

Before long what seems like a simple stalking case gone wrong, turns into a horrific crime spree by what looks like a cold blooded killer.

Sean Black is now on his third book and you can tell that he is pushing himself and the book came across even better than his first two. The book is very fast paced, and this is a lot easier to read as things start off relatively simple but before long the pace picks up and you are thrown along with the characters as things progressively get worse.

The one major difference between this book and his previous is that the murders and crime scenes are a lot more graphic and descriptive. In my opinion this made the book a lot better because you then start questioning who is on the right side of the law and who isn't. There are quite a lot of twists and turns too and I must say that I was shocked and saddened by the ending. Although shocked, it is an absolutely first class platform for the next book which I cannot wait to get my hands on. Sean Black is certainly coming into his own in this genre and I think this is his best yet, I can only hope that they continue to be this good.

I have read all of Sean Black's novels, and he has certainly been getting better in terms of his writing. His stroylines have always been simple (boarderline cliched), yet entertaining enough to keep you interested. In Gridlock Ryan Lock and his partner Ty are tasked to protect an 'adult performer' Raven Lane, basically a stripper and porn actress, who is having problems with a stalker. Ryan Lock is called in when she finds a decapitated body (belonging to that of another adult performer) in the boot of her car, left there by none other than the stalker. Lock agrees to protect Raven and her down syndrome brother who lives with her. The story escalates as the stalker commits more murders, all related to Raven in some way. As with his previous books, the story is simple, and especially for the first two thirds of the book, is rather stale. Towards the end however, the pace really picks up as suspects come and go and Lock fights to stay in control of the situation. The ending of the story in particular is very well constructed, and actually manages to make you care, which is something new from Sean Black.

What still holds back the book however is the characters. All of them are boring and have no resemblence of emotion. Conversations that should be emotionally driven are bland and it really makes the relationships in the book (especially that of Lock and his girlfriend Carrie) almost annoying to read. I have said this in previous reviews, the books would probably benefit from not having this relationship in the book at all.

Overall, this book is a decent read for those looking for something brain numbing. If you are looking for any resemblence of a character driven story, or something that breaks the mold of an action/thriller, don't look here. Basically, if you have read Sean Black's previous two novels and enjoyed them, there is nothing new here, so you should enjoy this too.

Going to keep this review short and to the point.

Gridlock is the best Ryan Lock novel to date! It keeps you engaged from start to finish.

The ending.....I hated it....but the truth is....it was really good.

Keep buying these books so we can continue to explore the adventure of Ryan lock!