Today, we have a book review for Vincent J. Sachar’s Nowhere Out:
I was happy to read Nowhere Out by Vincent J. Sachar. It was very well written and Mr. Schar’s knowledge of the military and police procedure was most impressive.
NOWHERE OUT is Vincent Sachar’s second novel Click on book cover to purchase on Amazon.
Kent Taylor was a Navy SEAL. He was a dedicated soldier, father, and husband. He gave his all to his country and to the men he served with, and then his pregnant wife, in-laws, and young son are murdered. Revenge drips through his veins like an acid, and he acts upon his emotions, killing those who are responsible. His military training make his techniques so stealthy that he becomes known as the “Ghost Assassin” by the man who dogs him, detective, Bill Gladdings, and to the public. In the end, Kent Taylor is supposedly killed in a car accident, but he lives on in a reclusive lifestyle as Ron Woodruff.
Fourteen years later–enter the “Shadow Killer”–similar murders begin happening. Someone is out to kill people who have been assigned to a commission on wrong doings in the government, and those who may testify. He kills with the same stealth as the Ghost Assassin and those who are investigating are starting to think that the ghost has returned–except for Gladdings.
Meanwhile Kent/Ron has met a woman and he’s thinking that he may be able to return to a life, but will he be forced to come forward to aide in stopping the murders? Will he have to risk this new life to help bring the Shadow and those who have hired him to justice?
Love, love, loved this book! I felt every emotion that Kent Taylor felt–he was a likeable, believable, protagonist. I highly recommend this book ! 5 STARS
NOWHERE OUT
Vincent J. Sachar
For five years, Ron Woodruff has been living a quiet, solitary life on a nameless road in upstate New York. He’s become accustomed to keeping to himself, at a safe distance from others, scrupulously avoiding the risk of involvement with anyone. Despite his peaceful surroundings, Woodruff remains tormented by memories of his former life—the life that ended fourteen years ago with the death of Kent Taylor, decorated Navy SEAL turned notorious serial killer.
For fourteen years, Bill Gladding, one of the FBI’s most respected field agents, has kept silent about his work on the “Ghost Assassin Case.” He rarely reflects on the covert mission—sanctioned by the government, for its own protection—to falsify the death of an extremely efficient killer, the former Lieutenant Commander Kent Taylor.
After all these years, Taylor’s comfortably isolated life and Gladding’s peace of mind and plans for coasting into retirement are about to be shattered by an elusive new master of high-stakes, high-profile murder—the Night Shadow Killer.
In Nowhere Out (Divont Publishers, October 2014), Vincent J. Sachar draws readers into a complex, riveting plot of conspiracy and murder—sometimes for money and power, and sometimes for a noble cause. At its center are two strong men haunted by their past and struggling to forgive, especially themselves. Building on his first novel, The Nowhere Man, Sachar reunites Kent Taylor (a/k/a Ron Woodruff) and Bill Gladding, killer and detective, in a battle against a skillful, stealth assassin targeting the ruthless and powerful with ties to organized crime and political corruption. To further aggravate matters, Gladding uncovers evidence of a mole within his own trusted circle of agents. And Woodruff has a close encounter with the unexpected and unsettling: a woman. Genuine, funny, sensitive, and lovely, a widow and a survivor, Katie Dunham breaks through Taylor’s wall and fills him with a longing to get involved—at his own risk and hers.
Nowhere Out is packed with action, intrigue, and startling twists that will keep readers gripped until the final, satisfying page.
Vincent J. Sachar is an attorney with a passion for writing fiction. He introduced the character of Kent Taylor, Navy SEAL turned serial killer, in his debut novel, The Nowhere Man. A native New Yorker, Vince met his wife, Gwen, a native of southern Louisiana, while attending Loyola University in New Orleans. They have three grown children and make their home in south Florida. To learn more, please visit the author’s website: www.vincentsachar.com.
An Interview with Vincent J. Sachar, author of Nowhere Out
1. You’re an attorney by day. What was your inspiration for writing thrillers about a patriotic Navy SEAL forced to use his lethal skills against corrupt government officials of the country he fought for and loves?
Throughout my career, I normally wrote things that were of a serious and business nature. I have always been a very avid reader—a prerequisite, I believe, to writing. I wanted to explore the freedom of writing creatively—especially writing fiction novels. In line with that, I wanted to explore the impact and character development of a man highly trained with lethal skills who is suddenly stripped of everything he genuinely values. The mix of a government-trained Special Forces soldier and a betrayal by the government that trained him best fits the “mix” I was looking for.
Vincent Sachar is an attorney by day and thriller writer by night. Click on his photo to visit his website to learn more about recent releases and more.
2. Do you think that your plot, where many of the villains are the politically powerful, resonates with the popular belief these days that the government no longer serves the best interest of its people?
Yes, even though the novel itself is not an “anti-government” story nor a statement that governments and people in power can never be trusted. Yet, it does support the popular belief that the government cannot always nor fully be trusted to serve the best interests of its people. And for Kent Taylor, that’s the point! What do you do when you are on the wrong side of unlawful government actions? Where do you go? To whom can you turn? Lord Acton — “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
3. Kent Taylor, the protagonist, was unjustly branded a terrorist by his government. Do you think there are actually people wrongfully and maliciously persecuted and branded as terrorists by the government?
Absolutely! Sometimes (wrongfully) this occurs as a result of ignorance that is often combined with people’s failure to objectively make their own determinations. Other times (maliciously) someone is so labeled because he represents a threat to the status quo. In The Nowhere Man, Bill Gladding, a seasoned “law and order” FBI Special Agent, anticipated that in Taylor he would find a twisted (terrorist) killer. The fact that he did not carries over into the dynamics of Nowhere Out.
4. At the heart of Kent Taylor’s pain is the fact that he feels responsible for the government’s murder of his wife and young kids. In this sequel, you introduce a new love interest. How does writing a more flirtatious storyline differ from writing scenes dealing with cold and calculated murders?
At the heart of everything, there is an underlying emotional foundation. The difference between a flirtatious storyline and scenes with cold and calculated murders is the difference between hope and the prospect of happiness and the absence of any such hope or possibility of joyful fulfillment. A writer must enter into the mindset of his or her characters and the scenario in which the characters have been placed. It should be no surprise that many an author will laugh, cry, or shudder when writing and reading his or her own creative words.
The Nowhere Man is Vincent Sachar’s first novel click on book cover to purchase on Amazon.
5. Kent Taylor is the hero of your novels, yet he is indeed a killer who acts outside the boundaries of the law. Is it ever justifiable, let alone righteous, to seek out revenge and kill those who’ve hurt you?
In a true “black and white” analysis of Taylor’s revenge killings, they are neither righteous nor justifiable. Interestingly, he never in The Nowhere Man nor in Nowhere Out ever labels them as justifiable or righteous. He never defends his actions. No, it is never righteous nor justifiable to kill others in revenge for the hurt they have put you through. But it is sometimes “understandable.” There seem to be times when the extenuating circumstances that generate a person’s unlawful actions are such that they appear to lessen the degree of wrongfulness associated with them. It is as if we say that we cannot completely fault someone for responding as they did. And question whether we would have done the same.
6. Some people are distrustful of soldiers returning from war, even going so far as to question their mental stability. Your character, Kent Taylor, faces some of that from even some members of his family. Were you concerned that writing about a murdering former Navy SEAL could perpetuate that stereotype?
No, not really. Kent Taylor’s actions do not arise out of post traumatic stress disorder. Rather, they are spawned by the murders of his loved ones perpetrated directly and indirectly by government officials and law enforcement officers—people with whom he would normally associate with very positively.
7. This novel is about self-reinvention and a philosophy of life you call “Yborn.” What is “Yborn” and is it possible in today’s world where every facet of one’s life is documented online in perpetuity?
Actually, the “Yborn” that I speak of relates to something in a person’s life that they were meant or born to do. It is in response to Mark Twain’s quote: “The two greatest days in a person’s life are the day they are born and the day they find out why.”
Yes, there are instances when a person has either changed to such a degree or generated so much that is positive that the negativity of their past seems to get lost in the “used-to-be” aspects of their life. With regard to Kent Taylor, I have endeavored to portray him as a man of character and integrity whose actions,
following a devastating loss of all he valued in life, cross boundaries and standards that he otherwise would never have violated.
8. You’re now living in sunny South Florida. Has the sunshine and warm weather influenced your darker plots and storylines?
Hahahaha! Waking up most every day to find the sunshine bleeding through the window blinds, anxious to enter your home, does seem to stimulate a person’s creative juices! I have already written, but not yet published, an epic fantasy fiction novel and have already started on a third “Kent Taylor” story. So whether a novel is a bit dark or quite the opposite is based upon the story birthed within me. The Florida sunshine is the innocent catalyst. LOL.
About the Reviewer
Cindy McDonald
For twenty-six years my life whirled around song and dance: I was a professional dancer/choreographer for most of my adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005. Don’t ask me what happened, but I suddenly felt drawn to my computer to write about thing I have experienced ( greatly exaggerated upon, of course) with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and happening at the race track.
Author Cindy McDonald. Click on pic to visit Cindy’s website.
Surprised? Why didn’t I write about my experiences with dance? Eh, believe it or not life at the race track is much more….racy. The drama is outrageous– not that dancers don’t know how to create drama, believe me, they do, but race trackers just seem to get more down and dirty with it, which make for great story telling – great fiction.
I didn’t start out writing books, The Unbridled Series started out as a TV drama, the Hollywood readers loved the show. The problem was that we couldn’t sell it. So one of the readers said, “Cindy, don’t be stupid, turn your scripts into book.” and so I did!In 2011 I took the big leap and exchanged my tap shoes for a lap top- I retired from dance. It was a scary proposition, I was terrified, but I had the full support of my husband- Saint Bill. That year was a huge transition for me, I went from dancing hard for five hours a night to sitting in front of a computer. I still work-out and take my dog, Allister, for a daily run. I have to, or I’d be as big as a house. Do I miss dance? Sometimes I do. I miss the students. I miss choreographing musicals, but I LOVE my books, and I love sharing them with you!
Stop by Literary Wealth on Thursday for a Book Spotlight on Cindy’s latest suspense:
To the Breaking Pointe:
Click on book cover to purchase Cindy’s latest suspense on Amazon.
Literary Wealth 