- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Baen Books (July 1 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416555498
- ISBN-13: 978-1416555490
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 16.3 x 3.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,254,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
While the character development, world building and thematic depth are mediocre at best, Van Name's flare for witty dialogue, breakneck pacing and nonstop action compensate for the narrative inadequacies and make this high-powered sequel to 2007's One Jump Ahead an undeniable page-turner. When nano-enhanced soldier of fortune Jon Moore and his sentient assault vehicle, Lobo, run into a former acquaintance, a conman and thief named Slanted Jack, Moore's kindheartedness gets him and his sarcastic battlewagon into a deadly predicament. A religious fanatic who moonlights as an arms dealer, an irate gang leader and a powerful government councilor are all ready to wring Jack's neck, and Moore becomes the target of their collective fury when Jack suddenly disappears with an allegedly psychic child and a cache of invaluable artifacts. The flat characters and undemanding plot may discourage more cerebral readers, but those who gravitate toward action-heavy story lines will find Moore's escapades highly entertaining. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Mark L Van Name's first book in the Jon and Lobo series demolished all the already high marketing projections. In Slanted Jack he's vaulting that stunning success with a novel that bobs and weaves, takes you on a headlong race through a strange but believable future, and never slows down. The job looks simple enough: Jon Moore, the nanotech-enhanced, world-weary, soldier of fortune, agrees to help a con man, a friend from a part of his past he'd rather forget, protect a very special young boy. The deal doesn't stay simple, as each move Jon and Lobo make results in more danger and more enemies. The situation grows even more complicated when a beautiful woman with an unclear agenda joins them in their quest. The best con man Jon's ever known, a ruthless gang boss, a heavily armed group of religious fanatics, and an interstellar government out to clean up a dangerous frontier world rush together toward an explosive climax-and Jon and Lobo are caught in the middle. They're willing to do anything to save the life of the boy- But there may not be anything even they can do! Slanted Jack: the second novel in the Jon & Lobo series.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting for some info on Jon's background - but otherwise didn't leave me impressed, July 6 2008
By K. Maxwell "katmax1" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Slanted Jack (Hardcover)
Jon is having dinner at swish restaurant when his meal in interrupted by an old partner of his - Slanted Jack - a professional con man who wants Jon to do him a favour. Jon knows Jack never does anything without an angle but he finds it impossible to refuse his request to help with security needed by a small boy with a meeting he has to have with local religious leader.For me, after reading ONE JUMP AHEAD this book was a disappointment. It doesn't have any real action sequences and by the second half of the book it felt like I was simply reading about one meeting after another. The nanos - in many ways one of Jon's most interesting features - don't play much of a part in this story at all. What we do find out about however is more interesting information on Jon's home planet of Pinkleplonker and how Jon was healed by his sister.
I'll still read the next book in this series, but the author seems so intent on keeping these novels as stand alone stories that so far you don't actually see much character development in either Jon or Lobo.
One Jump Ahead (Jon & Lobo Series)
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
boring, meandering, wordy, uninteresting, Jan 9 2009
By Stuart Abramson "stuarta46" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Slanted Jack (Hardcover)
I very much enjoyed the 1st book in this series "One Jump Ahead", but didn't like this book at all, and, in fact, couldn't finish it. The author takes WAY too long to tell his story with way too many words, asides, uninteresting background information, unnecessary scenes. The relationship between the man and the boy is completely unbelievable (he only met the boy once for 15 minutes, and the boy could have been a con artist); then he becomes devoted to the boy's welfare. There is one scene in which Jack buys a kind of flying sled where the author tours the entire town and tells everything about the store and the salesman except what he ate for lunch today. I wanted to scream "Just buy the !@#$% sled already!!". I think he needed to pad the words to make the book meet the page count. Finally I gave up and just threw the book away.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very disapointing, April 30 2009
By 99silver - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Slanted Jack (Mass Market Paperback)
I loved the first book in this series but this one is not up to snuff. There is very little that separates this from most other military science fiction.Mostly a large number of meetings with unbelievable results. No use of the unique characteristics of Jon and Lobo. Lobo becomes a nag and a bore. Maggie is totally one dimensional and a pain in the story. Jon's relationship with the boy is unbelievable.
Skip this one and hope Van Horn returns to form in the next one.
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