During his career in law enforcement, David Putnam has done it all: worked in narcotics, violent crimes, criminal intelligence, hostage rescue, SWAT, and internal affairs, to name just a few. He is the recipient of many awards and commendations for heroism. The Squandered is his third Bruno Johnson novel, following the best-selling and critically acclaimed The Disposables and The Replacements. Putnam lives in Southern California with his wife, Mary.
"Bad Boy Bruno Johnson comes out of hiding to battle a vicious
biker gang that threatens his family. Bring an oxygen tank with you
when you read The Vanquished because you'll be holding your breath
the whole time. Unrelenting action with more twists than a
sidewinder trail. A lightning read!" Matt Coyle , Author of the
Anthony Award-winning Rick Cahill crime series
"Dave Putnam is the real deal. He gives us an insiders view of what
it's like to be a copthe grit, the intense camaraderie, the futile
nature of the joband most important, what one good and selfless
soul can accomplish. He even managed to make me miss ratty old
Dodge Diplomat patrol car. THE VANQUISHED takes you on to the mean
streets so you feel like you're there with Bruno, fighting and
grieving alongside him. The most real cop books I've read in ages.
Good old authentic storytelling from someone who's been there and
done that." Marc Cameron , New York Times best-selling author of
the Jericho Quinn series
"Bruno Johnson believes so passionately in justice that he'll lie,
cheat, and steal to achieve itand he'll pulverize anybody who gets
in his way. Putnam's fourth outing for his rumbustious hero finds
Johnson and his wife, Marie, in Costa Rica, where they care for
children he's rescuedwell, kidnappedfrom abusive families. Before
the law catches him, he's summoned to Los Angeles for unfinished
business with a biker gang. The beauty of these novels is the
textured, visceral prose. One can smell the hot gun metal, feel the
whiskey's bite, taste the beer at the end of a dusty day. Notice
the reporting Putnam has brought along from his lawman days. Crooks
destroy street signs so cops can't give locations when calling for
back-up. And the vivid writing: "Fatigue hung in my bones like some
incurable disease." Readers who find the plot overwrought can still
glory in the astute observations and the wonderfully alive
writing." Booklist
"In Putnam's action-packed fourth Bruno Johnson novel (after 2016's
The Squandered ), the ex-cop must once again leave his home in
Costa Rica and return to Los Angeles, where the members of the Sons
of Satan, an outlaw motorcycle gang with whom he tangled
previously, are making trouble. Flashbacks to 1988 chart the story
of Johnson's partnership and affair with police trainee Sonja
Kowalski and that affair's tragic end. Back in the present, Bruno
receives an unexpected phone call from Sonja. Bruno's feisty,
pregnant wife, Marie, accompanies Bruno to L.A., where Bruno
reconnects with Karl Drago (who two decades earlier helped him take
down the Sons of Satan), Sonja, and eventually FBI special agent
Dan Chulack, who needs his assistance in a case involving the theft
of a military drone and four Hellfire missiles. Putnam combines
some surprising facets of Bruno's past with some startling
betrayals and plenty of violence." Publishers Weekly
"...exciting scenes, plus plenty of blood and gore." BookLoons
"...the perfect action thriller" ArtisticBent.org
"a page-turner, jammed with threat and danger." Kingdom Books
"The best-selling author has put a 31-year law enforcement career
to good use in his bad boy cop hero, and this latest installment is
as thrilling as the previous three, The Disposables , The
Replacements and The Squandered ." In Search of Ada
Praise for the Bruno Johnson Crime Series "I really loved The
Disposables . It's raw, powerful, and eloquent. It's a gritty
street poem recited by a voice unalterably committed to redemption
and doing the right thing in a wrong world. I'll be first in line
for the next one from David Putnam." Michael Connelly, New York
Times best-selling author
"Dark, disturbing, and all too believable, this is the tale of one
man's quest for atonement in a world where innocence is a
liability." T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times best-selling
author
"Reading a novel by David Putnam is almost as good as riding
shotgun in a patrol car. He writes what he knows and what he knows
is that justice on the mean streets isn't always black and white."
Robin Burcell, New York Times best-selling author
"Putnam is a master of the gritty realism of law and order at
street level. I guarantee that The Ruthless will grab you by the
throat, shove you against the wall, and won't release you until the
final, satisfying page." William Kent Krueger, New York Times
best-selling author
"Terrifica smart, well-written, relentless account of a battle
against evil, fought by a protagonist who has a real man's flaws,
but also shows us the kind of heroism that's real." Thomas Perry,
New York Times best-selling author
"David Putnam knows the mean streets and the characters who inhabit
them better than anyone writing crime fiction." Alan Russell, New
York Times best-selling author
"Bruno Johnson believes so passionately in justice that he'll lie,
cheat, and steal to achieve it -- and he will pulverise anybody who
gets in his way" -- Booklist
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