This book grabbed me right from the start. There is a whole lot going on, and it bounced around a lot, but wasn't hard to follow at all.
Then in the middle of the book comes a huge twist that I couldn't put the book down. This was a smart well written story, it dealt with family, loyalty, and determination....

Title was archived before I could review it sadly. Guess I will have to buy it if I would like to read it. I am new to the Galley and was not aware of the fact that the archival date meant that I could not access the title anymore. Too bad

FORTUNATE SON
J.D. Rhoades
Polis Books
ISBN 978-1-947993-10-5
Hardcover
Thriller

If there were justice on this side of the veil author J.D. Rhoades would be a household name, his books on the shelves of mystery and thriller lovers everywhere. Seriously. While Rhoades is known primarily for his Jack Keller series, my favorite Rhoades book until now has been the standalone ICE CHEST, which is shot full from beginning to end of everything that makes crime and caper fiction great. The newly published FORTUNATE SON --- also a non-series work --- is very different from that book, but takes its place as first among equals in Rhoades’ continuously impressive bibliography.

FORTUNATE SON reminded me by turns of everything from Stephen Hunter’s DIRTY WHITE BOYS to Cormac McCarthy’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, yet is as strikingly original in its way as those books were. The story begins in North Carolina where eighteen-year-old Tyler Welch is first accosted, then abducted, by a vaguely familiar stranger who calls him “Keith” and who identifies himself as Mick Jakes, Tyler’s long lost older brother. It develops that Mick and Keith (yes) were taken into custody by Social Services some thirteen years prior when a local sheriff named Wyatt McGee assisted on an abandoned child call. McGee, retired in the book’s present, is slowly drinking himself into oblivion over a costly error in judgment he made some years before. When Tyler’s adoptive father approaches McGee for help in finding Tyler, McGee rebuffs him at first. It initially appears that Tyler has simply decided to leave home and, being of age, there is little that can be done. McGee, of course, has no badge or authority to be of help and is in no shape to do so. When security camera footage shows the brothers robbing a convenience store at gunpoint, however, McGee is compelled to act, not knowing that Tyler was forced into the act by Mick. It develops that Mick has a plan to reunite himself and Tyler with Savannah Jakes, the mother from whom they were separated. Mick has managed to locate and make contact with Savannah via Facebook, and it looks as if the long-delayed family reunion will occur. Savannah for her part, however, has significant problems of her own. She is living in a downtrodden suburb in the New Orleans metropolitan area with her boyfriend, “Charleyboy,” who is deeply in debt to Mr. Luther, a local drug kingpin. Charleyboy, being clever but not smart, hatches a scheme to play Mr. Luther off against a Mexican drug lord who is seeking to establish a New Orleans foothold. Savannah has cut a deal with the DEA, hoping to get immunity for herself and, as a bit of lagniappe, reuniting with her sons. Mick with his girlfriend and Tyler in tow, makes the journey from North Carolina to New Orleans, creating his own unique brand of mayhem along the way. McGee, learning that Savannah is in New Orleans, correctly surmises that Tyler and Mick may be traveling to see her, and journeys to New Orleans himself, with neither authority nor jurisdiction. He makes contact with a local policeman who has been assigned as a liaison with the DEA agent who is working with Savannah. Hilarity does not ensue. Everything that can possibly go wrong for everyone does so, accompanied by explosions, double-crosses, and unexpected twists and turns, not the least of which is an extended Pulp Fiction vignette on the Bayou which occurs near the conclusion of the book and happens to contain some of the best imagery in FORTUNATE SON, which is saying quite a bit. The story doesn’t end neatly, or even entirely happily, but could have ended worse. Ending notwithstanding, it would be tough to find a better book to read this summer.

You will not stop reading FORTUNATE SON once you start. It clips along at such a pace that I was two-thirds of the way through it and thought that I had only just started it. Rhoades has a rarely-equaled ability to create odd but realistic characters on both sides of the line between good and evil, and FORTUNATE SON is full of them right to the brim. If you are familiar with Rhoades through his Jack Keller series or his previous stand-alone books you know what I am talking about. If his work is unfamiliar to you, FORTUNATE SON is the perfect way to become acquainted. Strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2018, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

I knew in just reading the first few sentences of this book that I would love it. It's jam packed with action and I just couldn't put it down once I started reading it. I've been lucky enough to read a few great books this year and this book has been added to that list. So if you like heart pounding and exciting stories this is one that you should not pass up. It'll stay with you like bad Chinese long after you have finished it. LOL. Happy reading!

Fortunate Son is a fast-paced and adrenaline filled story. The story bounces back and forth a lot and we get a lot of characters introduced in the beginning, so it took a bit for me to get into it and sort everyone out, but once I did, I enjoyed the read. There's a lot going on between one brother kidnapping another, a drug war, the cartel, a confidential informant, and law enforcement, but somehow, it all comes together into one pulse racing tale. Surprisingly, with such a busy story, it's pretty easy to keep up with once the characters are all figured out. Certainly worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Polis Books for letting me read Fortunate Son by J.D. Rhoades for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

My first time reading that author and I don't regret it!

If you love thriller, action... you will love this book! It is well written, good characters, big twist... You don't always know who's good, who's bad... you keep reading more and more until the very last page!

Review shared online on NetGalley, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon when published.

Another action packed thriller from Rhoades. When Tyler goes for a run early one morning to get in shape for football he never expects his life to change. Kidnapped by his older brother whom he hasn't seen since he was 3, An explosive journey from NC to New Orleans to find the mother who had her parental rights revoked after leaving the boys while she went to find her next drug fix. All the while being pursued from the former disgraced sheriff who feels he owes it to Tyler to find him and bring him back to the loving parents who raised him.

Not for me really. In no way do I want to take away from the story as I think it was good if you like that sort of thing. It was all a bit red neck for me. I liked the writing style and the cover !

Well, well.

It took me a couple of chapters to really get into the book mainly because I was having trouble keeping the characters straight. It must have just been me because suddenly it all clicked and then I went along for the ride.

Many years before, 2 boys were found freezing and hungry in a trailer. The state was called in and the boys were separated and put up for adoption. Years later, Tyler Welch, the younger brother is kidnapped by his older brother and is told they are going to find their mother. Their mother is currently in New Orleans living with a drug dealer who is being threatened by an even bigger drug dealer. She is acting as an infomant to the DEA. Her drug dealer Charley Boy has a plan to take the bigger drug dealer down but usually his plans devolve into situations that make everything worse.

We follow both stories along until a big twist takes me totally off-guard. No spoilers, I really liked this twist. I liked most of the characters, I felt they were well drawn.

Fun book to read!

This book grabbed my attention from the beginning and kept it all the way through! There’s a lot going on and it bounces around a lot, but was easy to follow. A big twist comes about halfway through and after that I couldn’t put it down! Great Read.

Thank you NetGalley, Polis Books and J.D. Rhoades for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review!
#FortunateSon #NetGalley #Amazon

Smart well written story, dealing with family, loyalty and determination. In typical J.D. Rhoades fashion lots of interesting characters. Fast paced and interesting.

The small Jake brothers are rescued from deplorable living conditions. The oldest, 5 years old the youngest 3. The oldest brother is defending themselves with a steak knife when law enforcement arrives. You can tell he has been taught to look after his younger brother. The children are set to be adopted. Only the youngest is. The older child has so much anger and resentment he is placed from one foster home to another, until he turns of age. Then is a surprise development the young boy, now 18 is found by his 20 year old brother. The meeting is some what strange due to the fact that the 18 year old is kidnapped by gunpoint by his older brother.
This is an interesting and exciting read. There are many facets to the storyline that come together nicely at the end. The characters are individualized and have their own back story. Excellent read.

Another winner from Rhoades, who acknowledges in the afterword that it's a non-Jack Keller story, but we'll let that go as long as he keeps offering up these devourable one-shots. His effortless table-setting and introductions to the cast of characters set the hook, and then we're all-in for the ride.

Years ago, the Jakes boys were taken from their mother, Samantha, due to neglect by the local Child Protective Services and Wyatt McGee. McGee retired as sheriff after a particularly awful child murder case got away from him and he forced a confession out of a man who turned out to be not guilty. Now, he drinks a little too much and tries to forget about his past. But when Carl Welch shows up at his door to ask him to search for his son, Tyler, Wyatt knows he cannot turn down this request. Tyler was one of the Jakes, known as Keith when he was young; he was three when he was adopted by the Welches and remembers little about his past. But one day his older brother, Mick, arrives and kidnaps him, forcing him to help with a hold-up and then a dangerous assault on a known drug-dealer. Mick and Tyler (Keith) head to New Orleans to reunite with their mother, Samantha. However, Samantha has her own problems. She has turned into a confidential informant for the DEA and is helping them build a case against a local drug kingpin. On the other hand, her significant other is also trying to bring down the local drug kingpin, but Charleyboy is doing it by pitting him against another drug dealer, part of the Mexican cartel. This is not going to end well for anyone. The build-up is a little slow, but once Mick and Tyler hit New Orleans and New Orleans hits back, hang onto your seat for an adrenaline-filled ride.

This latest book by J D Rhoades is another great read by this excellent author. He has become a favorite with his ability to keep me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. This ithriller s as good as it gets.

You make a decision, you hope it's the right one .... Years later that choice comes back to haunt you and the lives of everyone involved. This is the first book I've read by this author. It was fast moving and caught my attention from the beginning. I look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you #netgalley and #polis book for the eARC.

This is a great read if you like twists and turns and action. I really enjoyed it myself. The characters are the best part of this book and they each seem to come right off the page, good or bad. There are some tough scenes even for me to get through but it's definitely entertaining.