The Shop [Kindle Edition]

Today's thriller market has a number of franchise authors who consistently grind out "best sellers." Their plots are, for the most part, skillfully constructed, and they know how to tell a story. But their writing skills are often ordinary, even mundane, and rarely soar into that rarefied atmosphere of "style" that is the mark of a great writer. There was a time when stylists such as Eric Ambler and Graham Greene owned the thriller genre and lifted it to the level of literature. J. Carson Black is a throwback to that generation. She not only has the technical skills to shape a novel, but a gift for words that crosses into that exclusive literary terrain of art.

THE SHOP opens in a tense action sequence with the assassination in Aspen, Colorado of Brienne Cross, a well known actress/pop star. The hit is carried out with military precision by a lone assassin who vanishes from the scene, leaving no clue behind, least of all a motive.

The assassin is Cyril Landry, former SEAL and now a member of a black ops unit (known as "the shop") operating within a private security firm. The firm has been used on occasion by the government for missions requiring solutions outside the law. Landry is a man of contradictions - on the one hand devoted to his family, on the other capable of killing dispassionately. But the execution of Brienne Cross troubles him. For the first time, he finds himself drawn emotionally to a dead target. The years of mental programming that have conditioned him to kill, never questioning an order, are suddenly coming apart. In the course of this psychological dislocation, Landry will come to learn why Brienne's death was ordered, and will turn against the shop.

A second story line opens in a motel room on the gulf coast of Florida where a police chief has been found dead. Sheriff's homicide detective Jolie Burke is assigned to investigate. She suspects the suspicious death was a suicide, covered up by the victim's wife to protect his name. A tough, seasoned investigator, Jolie has some deep issues in her life, and a terrifying, repressed fear from early childhood.

Jolie's investigation will lead to a puzzling string of interrelated homicides that reach into the highest corridors of power. Eventually it will bring her into contact with Landry, on his own mission of vengeance against the shop, and a confrontation with the childhood memory she has blocked out. The life and death climax, when the antagonists finally clash on a private island off the Florida coast,is a masterpiece of narrative tension and suspense.

THE SHOP is original in concept, skillfully plotted and paced, with three dimensional characters, all of which make for an intriguing read.

Cyril Landry is a loving husband and father, a former SEAL, and now a killer working for The Shop. After his latest assignment -- a massacre in Aspen, Colorado -- Landry develops an emotional bond with one of his victims, a young and beautiful pop star. Feeling that something went wrong, Landry sets out to uncover the plot he's been part of. Meanwhile, homicide cop Jolie Burke is investigating a case that quickly goes out of control. As she untangles the mystery, the body count rises. When the subplots converge, Landry and Jolie find themselves facing a shocking conspiracy with an electrifying climax.
Anyone who enjoys a good thriller should check this one out. The Shop is full of intrigue, twists and turns. With such glowing blurb quotes from Gayle Lynds and David Morrell I knew I couldn't go wrong -- and I wasn't disappointed!

So many thrillers nowadays seem to have the same premise, with nothing new to set it apart from the pack. Not so with J Carson Black's THE SHOP. Even the title hints at intrigue and something out of the ordinary. I've read all of this author's novels, and each one demonstrates her skill for the craft by way of extensive research, character development, prose that sings, and thought-provoking plots that stay with you long after you read The End. Black is truly a master at writing police procedurals and high-concept novels. They just get better and better. Once you've sampled one, you won't be able to stop there.