NetGalley, as well as Thomas & Mercer, provided me with an electronic copy of Debris Line. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Gibson Vaughn and his friends are lying low, fugitives from the federal authorities after the events that transpired in Cold Harbor. When their host expects the impossible as payment for his generosity, will Vaughn and his friends be able to deliver? Is the payment for their freedom entirely too high?

Overall, Debris Line just did not deliver the punch that the rest of the series had. Although there were a couple of interesting parts to the plot, the majority of the novel was not that interesting. I really like Gibson Vaughn, so I was surprised about my own reaction to the book. There was not as much high action, thrilling moments as the previous novels and I finished the book just to find out what happened. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend Debris Line to other readers.

Thrilling story with a plot that kept me turning the pages, really well written with great characters. Highly recommend to everyone who is a fan of this genre.

I have picked this novel up several times as I liked previous works by the author. This one, however, just didn't work for me. I didn't easily give up on it.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I'm not a big reader of thrillers, mysteries yes, thrillers no, but this is one series of a few for which I make an exception. I just really enjoy these characters. They are so loyal to eat h other, and loyal too in their beliefs. So much so that even when they are in a relatively safe position, they cannot turn away from a serious wrong. Here they are hiding out in Portugal, when they become embroiled in just such a situation. Once again, at a time when they should be thinking of saving their own lives, the situation becoming so volatile, they instead place themselves smack in the middle of what turns into both a betrayal and s turf war. A little more violent than I'm used to, they do tend to leave dead bodies I their wake, but the characters as always pulled me through.

Maybe a little more violent Monkey wrench crew, for those readers who read that series.

ARC from Netgalley.

Although I haven't read the first book in the series, I would highly recommend it. I am a huge fan of the Gibson Vaughn series and I read them pretty quickly as they are pretty intense. I have been able to follow the story but at some stage I will have to go back and read the first one as well as there are many references to it throughout the series. I would highly recommend it, as it is full of action but also personal drama and trauma. Do however try and read it in order.

So, the fourth instalment of the Gibson Vaughan series is another tightly plotted suspenseful thriller, just not the story I’ve been waiting for (the one where we finally get to the bottom of the political conspiracy around Cold Harbour.) It was good to get the team back together and in a very different situation but while this is a self contained story I strongly recommend reading the previous books in order to understand the characters and their background.

After fleeing the FBI following the events in Cold Harbour, Gibson, Jenn Charles, Dan Hendricks and a still damaged George Abe have been living in sunny Portugal, hiding in plain sight amongst the tourists of the Algarve. Gibson has recovered his sanity and strength, and is getting restless, fearing they have stayed too long, but when their protector, a benevolently ruthless gangster’s drug shipment is hijacked by a mysterious outsider, he demands that they recover his drugs as payment from them before they may leave. Gibson’s hacking skills come into play once more, but when he discovers what’s really going on he is willing to risk all their lives to make it right.

I have enjoyed all of these books but they are long and quite complicated with lots of minor characters to keep track of so you need to pay attention. There are plenty of twists and lots of action, but we also get to know Gibson’s team better, especially super tough Jenn’s other side. The Portuguese setting was a new one for me, I don’t think I’ve read a book set there before, and a story about gangsters working under their comprehensive drug decriminalisation system was particularly interesting to read about (New Zealand is contemplating a similar move). I look forward to continuing the series as it doesn’t sound as if Gibson’s adventures are over yet.

My thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review, and my apologies for the delay while I caught up with the previous book.
Debris Line is available now.

I don't have a lot to say about this one. It took about 2.5 weeks for me to get through because it just wasn't grabbing me enough. I still love the characters and their camaraderie and I will probably continue reading the series. But none of the subsequent stories have lived up to the first, The Short Drop, which got 5 stars from me.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for a free digital copy of this book, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Our hero Gibson Vaughn returns with his old team, now in Portugal, after fleeing the U.S. at the end of his last adventure. I love this series but must admit that somehow I have forgotten the particulars of the characters and the details of their story. The first three books really were bundled as a trilogy; this book is a stand alone except that the characters have history and the book barely provides it. If I had a better memory, or didn’t read so much, I would hate losing pages to re-hash the history, so I can’t complain too much. Author Matthew FitzSimmons writes taut, tight prose that makes it impossible to stop reading, even late at night. The details of the story never overwhelm the characters or the sense of movement, as readers follow along breathlessly to see what new twist will occur. This is a fun book to read for lovers of political thrillers; it’s only downside that it ends. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I inhaled the first three books in the Gibson Vaughn series and Debris Line was no different. Matthew FitzSimmons is a consummate “thrill a minute” thought provoking writer. He has created the most damaged characters, inhabited their minds and imbued them with extraordinary ethical values. They can maim and kill but they can’t stand by as witness to injustice and depravity.

Set in the Algarve region in Portugal this book wraps around the gang/drug war conflicts of the drug syndicates and the deals that have been made. Gibson Vaughn, Jenn Charles, George Abe and Dan Hendricks were hiding in plain sight under the patronage of Baltasar Alves, the godfather of all in the Algarve. When Alves demands his retribution, they once again become entangled in a mess that can only pull them under.

Another great book in the Gibson Vaughn series, MORE PLEASE!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy.

*Many thanks to the Author, Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.*
This is the 4th offering by Matthew FitzSimmons with Gibson Vaughn. This heist thriller reads well and I am convinced fans of this genre will not be disappointed. Good plot, fast-paced action and the protagonist who is likeable guarantee enjoyable moments while reading Debris Line.

What has former Marine and hacker extraordinaire Gibson Vaughn been up to since he escaped from a black-ops prison with the help of Jenn Charles, Dan Hendricks, and George Abe, who rescued him. Abe was a friend of Gibson’s father and is essentially family, mentor, fellow-warrior, and more to Gibson—it’s complicated.

Once upon a time, Jenn and Hendricks had both worked for George at Abe Consulting Group. The business bearing George’s name had long since ceased to exist, but George still commanded their loyalty. Gibson, whose history with George had never been fully resolved, didn’t feel the same devotion to the man. But he knew that George was a talismanic figure, especially for Jenn.

Jenn and Gibson are persona non-grata in the United States because the Feds have a bounty on their heads. Thanks to George Abe’s influence with Portuguese drug king-pin Baltasar Alves, they’ve lived on the Algarve, Portugal’s “sun-kissed coast,” for the last six months. Gibson thinks it’s past time for them to move on, an opinion that drives Jenn, crazy even though she recognizes Gibson is probably right.

At the root of it, Gibson didn’t trust Baltasar Alves and didn’t like being at the mercy of his whims.

George once did Alves a huge favor (never disclosed), and in return, Alves protects George’s team. Gibson believes that most favors come with a price-tag attached.

So far there hadn’t been any strings attached to Alves’s hospitality, but Gibson was wary of the benevolence of criminals.

It’s too good to be true, and true to form, it starts to unravel.

Matthew FitzSimmons paints a powerful picture of Gibson Vaughn’s mental state. He has a pre-dawn routine that he leans on heavily, emerging before the tourists venture out of their hotels.

When the street cleaners emerged to sweep up the broken glass and wash away the blood and the vomit and the urine. A dull reset before the good times rolled again.

Gibson Vaughn’s favorite time of day.

The morning before the morning. Alone with his thoughts.

Mercifully, he never remembered his dreams—hard memories of home—but he felt them in his body when he woke. Sore muscles and knots in his back like cigar burns. By six a.m., when he could no longer pretend that he might doze off again, he took a long run down to the beach.

It’s an idyllic, restorative routine until a car lurches towards him and tries to mow him down, almost succeeding.

He felt an impact, felt himself spin in the air, bounce off the hood of the car, clatter off the brick wall and back onto the hood.

Gibson is nobody’s fool—someone wants him dead. It’s time for them to leave. Unfortunately, a “series of unfortunate events” ensues. A ruthless Mexican cartel hijacks Alves’s quarterly narcotics shipment. Before Alves will let George and his companions depart, he demands that they rescue the drugs. Now, they have two enemies, Alves and his three feuding lieutenants plus the drug cartel.

But when Gibson discovers there’s far more than drugs at stake, the heist becomes a daring mission of rescue and mercy—and righteous vengeance.

Gibson Vaughn may be world-weary and a cold-eyed realist, but there are some forms of villainy that he can’t overlook. Hendricks tells the others, “Gibson found something on the servers. It’s not … good.” To say more would be too big a reveal. Will it be a one-man operation, or will Gibson have the cooperation of his American brothers (and sister) in arms to pull off the ultimate double-cross?

Gibson intends to stay, but he won’t say what he found. When Jenn says it’s not her problem, Gibson asks her disbelievingly, “What the hell happened to you?”

“We’re a goddamn mobile tragedy. So why do you always have to go looking for more trouble?”

“I didn’t go looking. I stumbled onto it.”

“And what if you did?” Jenn said, “There’s plenty of bad in the world. A lifetime’s worth. So if you tell me you stumbled onto something bad, I believe you. But how about you stumble the fuck away from it again? Everything can’t be on us to fix.”

That dichotomy forms the moral core of Debris Line. If “no man is an island,” where does a person’s responsibility begin and end? Matthew FitzSimmons makes the reader care deeply about the answer—and it’s a cracker-jack thriller to boot.

This was my least favorite of the series but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I continue to really like FitzSimmons' writing and found his departure in locations fun. There were just some times during the plot I felt it dragged on a little - luckily it would just be for a short moment then get back to the good stuff. I wish we would have been able to hear more about Gibson's personal life but maybe that'll be saved for a future book!

The thriller Debris Line interchanges the sunny, idyllic life of coastal Portugal, crashing it into a star-spangled actioneer of drugs, hijacking, murder, and oh yes, crimes even more sinister. Matthew FitzSimmons runs his dangerous version of To Catch A Thief by placing his team of semi-retired hackers and military ops at play on vacation and even in love, until being forced back into action – at least as advisers – in a case of a textbook hijacking. George Abe and hacker Gibson Vaughn quickly learn that their benefactor has interesting enemies as they are forced to both clear their name, and also prevent a civil war between the cartel.

Following the initial Gibson Vaughn trilogy, Debris Line is undoubtedly a palate cleanser. The acquainted, and by this point likable, characters have been positioned in an entirely-different location, with an unfamiliar local language, forcing them to scrap with limited resources, Ferraris and Audis notwithstanding. The creation of a great cast, which includes former-LAPD Dan Hendricks and ex-CIA Jenn Charles, means for this outing, the spotlight is communal. Vaughn, then, doesn’t get the chance to shine. When Han Solo joined the Rebels and Batman formed the Justice League, character understood the necessity of the team. Vaughn’s private arc concluded with Cold Harbor. George Abe is firmly set here as team lead. When Leia is in the comm, Han is solely a pilot. Batman works in the shadows of Superman’s radiance. An independent hacker-operator’s skill is now, well, only needed for special occasions. Fortunately, and something that FitzSimmons has been strong to uphold ever since the Short Drop, is restraining Vaughn’s abilities, removing him as a deus ex machina savior with his Hollywood-level science. Debris Line is a team effort, and Vaughn, maturing since his inception, is now a team player.

FitzSimmons subtlety works in an unresolved plot element, one that will hopefully grow. In fact, it was surprising not to have Vaughn’s special benefactors revealed in a plot-shaking twist. Instead, FitzSimmons allows the marinara to simmer while keeping the plot al dente.

Debris Line is a fast book, but FitzSimmons’ pacing is never rushed. The action explodes when the much-needed tension requires a release, but all the characters are given their due. Of course, throttling back on any such twists truly prevented Debris Line from rocketing into orbit. If anything, this read needed to be a touch wilder with its exploration.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advance copy and fun read. I’m a fan and continue to look forward to FitzSimmons’ next novel.

The 4th book in the fabulous Gibson Vaughn serie is out today! If you read the previous books you should not miss it, if you haven't, better to start from the beginning. You can read it as a stand-alone and it would work perfectly fine, but you will probably miss some depth and also, since the first book was my favourite in the serie, I really think it would be a shame not to start there.
As I said I Loved "The Short Drop" (Gibson Vaughn #1), I wasn't exactly mad about the cliffhanger in "Poisonfeather" but "Cold Harbor" convinced me to go on with the serie. This fourth instalment is a little bit different from its predecessors, it's set in Portugal, I loved the change, and there are also a bunch of new characters, all quite uniques. It was good to finally see the four MCs spend some time together (or at least close if not exactly together..) even if somehow I missed something more "personal" that captured me and made me fall in love with the first book.

Anyway the plot is really good, some twists along the way, the writing is superb, so I completely enjoy the time I spent reading that adventure and I'm in line for the next book when it will be out. I'm also curious what the author would write if he ever decide to try with another serie or maybe a stand-alone, I trust him to do a good work whatever it would be!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me ARC of that book in exchange for an honest review.

Matthew FitzSimmons continues to write brilliant books about Gibson Vaughn, his tech-savvy protagonist with a conscience. The series of now four books has been a little up and down for me, although it never got worse than "good" in the somewhat bleak book 2 (Poisonfeather), but it is once again in the "brilliant" category.
FitzSimmons is an excellent writer and the pages just fly by with an easy flow, and this time around, he has reduced the nerdy IT explanations that have been a little tiresome in his past books.
I thought that the excellent third book of the series, Cold Harbor, was going to be the last we would hear of Gibson Vaughn, but FitzSimmons changed the setting to Europe in this fourth installation, and it turned out just as brilliant and exciting with all kinds of bad guys up to no good.
New readers should not drop into the series in this fourth book as a lot much needed background info from the first three books will be missing from the reader's picture.
Summing up, this is a great fourth volume of a fabulous series that I really recommend to all fans of thrillers with protagonists with a conscience that makes things difficult for themselves.

FitzSimmons has a knack for sustaining tension, and he's done it again, with this tightly wound thriller. Set in idyllic coastal Portugal, the action quickly descends into the convoluted underworld of drugs, human trafficking, and cutthroat family rivalries. Throw in Gibson Vaughn, the understated hero of FitzSimmons's previous three books, and it's just about perfect.

4.25 stars

Well plotted and full of unexpected twists and turns, this book and series always keeps me guessing.

Following Cold Harbor, the intelligent but unlucky gang has reunited comprised of:
Gibson Vaughn
George Abe
Jenn Charles
Dan Hendericks
Nursing their wounds and trying to keep off anyone's radar, they have holed up in Portugal. But trouble doesn't seem to ever be far away with this group, especially given that they are staying at the home of the country's a drug dealer, Baltasar Alves. Apparently, George's judge of character is still out of whack, putting the whole group back in a vulnerable state.

When one of Alves' shipments is hijacked in a very unusual way, the group is forced to solve his problem. How they do so is unexpected. As always, Gibson's intelligence is remarkable, and his plan gives them some hope of getting out of the situation alive.

But this story is much more than one about recovering the shipment.
Other threats include:
***Internal conflict within Alves's group.
- Although Alves is the big dog in the story, the main threats come from two of his family members, his son, Fernando Alves, and his niece, Luisa Mata. Both are terrifying in their own way. Fernando is ruthless and is willing to break family bonds to gain power. Luisa is a badass who despite being a woman, shows she isn't weak and can think two steps ahead of her rivals.

***The hijacker's bigger plan.
***And the surprise video's found on Alves's computer.
While it is not surprising that the group of Musketeers find a way to survive multiple threats, how they do so is what is so impressive. Each member of the group is skilled in what they do and prove themselves invaluable throughout this story. And in true Musketeer fashion, they vow to fight to the bitter end.

As I was reading this book, I was certain it would end in a cliffhanger, as the story is so complex, I didn't see everything being resolved in one book. However, the author managed to pull things together towards the end, giving the reader a satisfying conclusion. That is not to say all threats are neutralized. So I'm looking forward to where things lead next.

4.75-5 STARS

Once again, author Matthew FitzSimmons has blown me away with his latest intricately woven thriller, "Debris Line." A perfect mix of suspense, intrigue and heart, "Debris Line" features (the now fugitives), Gibson Vaughn and his savvy but dysfunctional team of cohorts, as they engage in yet another enthralling adventure in this very compelling series.

In this fourth installment to the Gibson Vaughn series, the reader is transported to the coast of Portugal, where trouble finds Gibson and his group, despite their best efforts to lay low and keep under the radar. As is typical, it’s a high stakes game, with Gibson putting his high-tech prowess to use. But this time, the name of the game is drug smuggling, sex trafficking and hijacked narcotics. And while I sometimes had trouble following the more extreme complexities of the story, I found myself intrigued, nevertheless.

Unfortunately, the story was slow right out of the gate, and I initially found it difficult to remain engaged. But as the story progressed, I was eventually pulled in, and once it grabbed hold, it never let go. Boasting a unique and compelling concept, with characters I’ve come to know and love, “Debris Line” was injected with a little more heart than the preceding books in this series. Little by little, each new addition to this series seems to provide a bit more insight into each of these enigmatic characters—a fact that I personally find appealing.

First, thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advance Readers Copy of DEBRIS LINE. I've really enjoyed the Gibson Vaughn series to date, but this one wasn't up to the standards of the first three. Perhaps it was the change in setting (Portugal rather than the Northeast US), or the fact that all 4 protagonists are on the run, hiding out under the protection of a Portugese mob boss. While I applaud the slow recovery of George Abe, and the continued irascibility of Hendricks, this book did very little to develop the character of Gibson. The plot was interesting, the story well told, but I do enjoy the growth of characters in a series, which was a little lacking here. That said, I'll continue to read the series, and look forward to the next installment.

This is the 4th book in the Gibson Vaughn hacker series. It wasn't one of my favorites (those would be the first and the third), but still an entertaining story with some desired closure on a couple issues from past books. What I think sets this series apart from other books in this genre is the character development and dry, almost dark humor. That wasn't as prevalent in this one, which is why it lost points with me. The story was easy to follow though, with a manageable amount of characters. I also think you could read this one even if you haven't read any of the others, which is a plus. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for a chance to read this ARC.