I was able able to read this book in a few hours. I thought the storyline and plot could have been stronger but I still thought that this was an enjoyable read. I thought the characters and writing were good. I as reader got attached to the main character, Jake. This book was a page turner and at a certain point I could no longer stop or put the book down. If you enjoy reading thrillers, I recommend reading this book! Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

I enjoyed this fast paced thriller. Jake is trying to figure out who kidnapped his daughter and killed his niece. Lots of running from the cops and amature sleuthing later... and the story ends exactly how you expect it to end.

At 209 pages, this book is only a handful of pages longer than a novella, and the book truly suffers for it. Actually, the book just suffers from poor research, clumsy writing, inelegant plotting, a truly predictable plot, and cookie cutter characters with no nuance to them whatsoever. I almost DNF’d it because I knew I could be spending my time reading the many other ARCs calling my name for April 4th’s release date.

Sure, I wax often and eloquently about the virtues of the novella and its ability to pack so much into so few pages, but that virtuosity depends on the economy of words and brilliant sentence structure. This book has neither. It’s clunky and runs like a carriage on cobblestones: rough and wobbly, starting and stopping, letting too many characters talk and get their voices in. There are too many players on the board for this to be anything but a tangle of threads that’s too conveniently cleaned up.

I wish Chad Zunker better luck in the future with his writing, because this read amateur, and I can see he’s no amateur.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, ideas, views, and opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. Due to personal policy, this review will not be posted on any social media or bookseller websites due to a rating of three stars or under.

File Under: Crime Thriller/Not For Me/Kindle Unlimited/KU/Short Story/Thriller/What Did I Just Read That Was Bad

It was fine, just a little bit too convenient sometimes for my liking. And while the story was very short, the story in itself wasn't outstanding enough to grab my attention.

Chad Zunker throws us into the action/ nightmare from the first page and never slows down. The characters are believable, their reactions would be ours were we to face the world changing events they do. This is one of those books that you really don't want to put down. This is a stand alone story but let's hope Zunker's already working on the next thriller.

3.5 ⭐️’s
A year ago, Jake’s wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident, his daughter, Piper is all he has left. Jake’s wealthy in-laws have never liked him and even went so far as to try to win custody of Piper. It’s Piper’s thirteenth birthday and her grandparents want to give her a party, Jake reluctantly agrees but draws the line at attending himself. When Piper is abducted at the party and her cousin is shot, Jake is suddenly a person of interest, but no one will listen and Piper is in danger. Jake breaks free and it’s a merry chase from there. People around him keep dying and he’s a wanted man, but will he find Piper before it’s too late? Family secrets abound in this suspense novel, but the believability factor is at times stretched. Nevertheless, this was a fast paced good read! Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Very action-packed! A bit far-fetched but still entertaining. Short enough to read in a day.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A Fugitive Tries To Save His Abducted Daughter

After losing another high school football game, the last thing coach Jack Stater wanted to do was go to home of Lars Kingston, his father-in-law, but at the assistance of Sarah, Jack’s wife, he goes. Kingston is the head of a large financial and very successful. In his opinion, Stater was not the husband worthy of his daughter. Kingston had offers him a job at his firm at a significantly higher salary so that Stater better could provide for his wife, but Stater declines. Sarah wants to talk to Jack about the offer on the way home, he drives Sarah’s Lexus SUV. As he starts to go through an intersection, a truck crashes into the SUV. When he wakes up, the daughter is moaning, but Sarah is non-responsive. Before blacking out again, he sees someone through the windshield standing in front the SUV. From this tragic start, Jack Stater’s life slowly deteriorates.

The main storyline thread is the story of Jack Stater from the day that his wife died, but the novel takes off when he escapes police custody and becomes a murder suspect fugitive, and his daughter is abducted. Special Agent Dani Nolan becomes involved and discovers that Jack is her ex-husband. She helps the police to find Jack. A gripping chase follows. If the police and the FBI are not adequate, a professional assassin, who’s known as the ghost, joins the chase. Lastly, Jack must find his abducted daughter while he is a fugitive. Thus, the tension is quite high in this novel. My attention quickly was taken captive all the way to the end. This is my major criteria for a high star rating.

The level of the B-storyline is as expected for a stand-alone novel. Besides the normal thoughts, actions of Jack Stater, some time is spent with flashbacks about Jack’s previous marriage with Dani Nolan supported with his relationship to his deceased wife and daughter. This B-storyline did enhance my reading enjoyment.

For the issues that stop some readers cold, there are not any intimate scenes. There is some rude language, but I did not find one vulgar word. Some violence is described as it occurs generally in the chase sequences. The violence is not emphasized and does enhance the level of tension. Reading this novel should not be an issue any reader.

For my personal feelings on this novel, I did not find any aspect of this novel that bothered me. I did enjoy the realistic chase sequences without being over the top. I also enjoyed the ending. There were not any unresolved issues by the end of the novel. I found this novel on par with the two previous novels of this author that I have read. This novel has validated my Must-Read rating for this author. I am looking forward to reading further books by this author. I do recommend reading this novel. I rate it with five stars.

I received a free prepublication e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas and Mercer. My review is based only on my own reading experience of this book. I wish to thank Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

I enjoyed the premise, action, and twists. I could totally see this being on TV in the vein of Reacher or Taken.

But this book was so poorly written. Lots of cheesy cliche things like “Jake exhaled. Maybe for the first time in two hours” (reminded me of “she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding”). The writing felt like a first-time writer who needed heavy editorial help, but apparently this author has won awards and is a bestselling author.

I would have liked the book to be a touch longer, with more depth. It was very tell rather than show, and at less than 200 words, it was pretty much all action, no character development. Sure, the author gives the reader “flashbacks”, but I ended the book with no real feel for who the characters were, just what they had witnessed.

A pleasantly surprising thriller, All He Has Left by Chad Zunker tells the story of an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances. High School Football Coach, Jake Slater’s season is going badly, when a hit-and-run car accident kills his wife and badly injures his daughter. Jake’s controlling wealthy father-in-law initiates a custody battle, as Jake loses his job and seeks solace in alcohol. Then his daughter is kidnapped and Jake is blamed for the murder of his niece. Fleeing the crime scene and on run the run from the police and FBI, Jack is unaware a hitman is also after him, as the body count rises. With no one else to help, Jake is forced into hunting for clues to rescue his daughter. An engrossing thriller with a steady build-up of tension and surprising twists that makes it a four stars read rating. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

Fantastic fast paced read. This one took me no time to read. Saw the ending coming but was suspenseful and a great ride to take with the author. Chapters were perfect lengths. And I love a great happy ending

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: April 1, 2023

Jake Slater was involved in a terrible hit and run accident one year ago. His beloved wife was killed and his pre-teen daughter Piper injured. Today, he is trying to pick up the pieces after a brutal custody battle with his rich in-laws, the loss of his job, and a tense relationship with his daughter due to having moved her away from her hometown. Returning for her birthday, things quickly go awry when Piper is kidnapped, and her cousin is murdered. Who would do this to her? And why? Jake will stop at nothing to save his daughter and find the answers.

PROS and CONS:
If I’m being (super) picky, I thought the writing was a bit weak in this one. The casual prose wasn’t to my taste - but that could just be me. How many times can one man fall/vomit/waste time/refuse to involve the FBI (even when they are someone you trust) before you begin to lose sympathy for him? In his defense, he had a lot going on and a handy bag of disguises to help. Anyway - it’s full of action, a very quick read and it has a satisfactory ending!

READ IT?
If you’re looking for…a quick, action packed read - then this one’s for you!

3 Stars

Fast paced thriller that was harder to put down than I expected.
Jake’s life is in a hard season. After losing his wife in a hit and run, then battling a messy custody battle with his wife’s rich family his daughter is kidnapped and his niece is murdered.
What follows is a father’s desperate search for his daughter while also being pursued by the FBI and assassin (wait what?!).

I received an ARC through through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This story begins with Jake losing another football game as a head coach of a high school. He contacts his wife on her cell and tells her to meet him at a certain location. His wife's answer is to meet her at his in-laws instead. While at his in-laws, he winds up getting angry and soon he leaves with his wife and daughter. On his way home he is involved in a hit and run where his wife is killed. After a few months have gone by, he has moved and also gone through a custody battle with his in-laws. His daughter's birthday arrives and he brings her to his in-laws for a birthday party. He drops her off and later when he calls to advise he is on his way to pick her up, his daughter tells him that she is at her cousin Catlin's house. When he gets there and as he goes to knock, he hears a gunshot. Once he got in the house, he discovered Caitlin had been shot and his daughter Piper, was missing. He heard another gunshot and wound up chasing a man who had Piper, but he wasn't able to catch him. When he got back to the house and talked to the police, he wound up being placed in back of the car. He managed to trick them and escaped. He then started looking into who might be responsible and began his search for his daughter Piper.

read and discover all the events that he got involved in his search for Piper. Discover who in the FBI was from an earlier time and how everything ends up in the end. You will discover how this all worked out in the end in addition to how it related to an earlier event in Jakes life.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of All He Has Left. It was a little hard to follow because there was so much going on and so many characters. I was glad at the end when one character summed up what had happened! There were some unbelievable things, (I rolled my eyes at the jumping on a fast moving train part) and sometimes the writing was so clunky I had to reread a sentence. This is a great story though, and if you love lots of action it really delivers. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. If you’re looking for a great plot-driven book, this one's for you.

I've found the author's books in kindle unlimited a few months ago and i was hooked by the fats speed and intriguing action from his stories. When this title became available on Netgalley , I knew I had to read it asap and it didn't disappoint at all. 
A father on the run for saving his daughter who was abducted and a family that always sees him as an outsider. Add in the fact that his ex girlfriend is the one who has to investigate the case of him being a suspect for the murder of his daughter's friend, we're set up for a fats pace race to prove his innocence and to show how much his daughter means to him. 
I was entertained  by this story and read it in one sitting. There's so much to take in here. His emotions and fats thinking in dangerous situations are felt though the author's words and the story it's one one full of greediness, remorse and heartbreak but also of hope and trust. 
A great character driven, suspenseful and emotional story. 

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy.

Wow! This was a thrill ride of a book! It starts out with a bang and the excitement doesn’t stop. I really enjoy reading books where a “normal” person has their life up-ended and chaos ensues. I am happy that the author has several more books that I can read. Do not miss All He Has Left by Chad Zunker. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Definitely a fast-paced crime thriller! This has plenty of twists and turns and will keep you turning pages for sure. Jake Slater, a recently fired high-school football coach in Austin, Texas gets involved in a series of murders . . . and ends up running for his life. Part crime novel, part family relationships novel, this should hold your interest. Even though parts are predictable, and parts may have you rolling your eyes, all in all this is a very good, suspenseful and quick read.

I also really enjoyed Family Money by this author, and I look forward to reading more from him. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Wow what a thriller! I went into this book not knowing what to expect and this was also a first read for me by Chad Zunker. I have to tell you he didn't disappoint at all and I can't wait to read more books by him. If your looking for a fast paced read and page turner then look no further. This book will be right up your alley.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this ARC in advanced.

Jake hopes to start over after a vehicle accident killed his wife and injured his daughter. A hit and run collision made even worse given the driver was never brought to justice.

After an ugly custody battle with his late wife’s parents, Jake takes his daughter Caitlin and moves far away in order to start a new life. But, it’s Caitlin’s birthday and against his better judgement he allows her to return to celebrate the day with her grandparents.

Well Jake… today's life lesson is this. Always go with your gut!

Caitlin’s cousin has been shot! And wait for it...Caitlin has been kidnapped!
Who’s targeting his family? And why? Heavy with guilt for letting her go, Jake is focused on finding answers and bringing his daughter home.

I really enjoyed this book but you do have to be willing to suspend some believability here. I kept pleading with Jake…come on! Just work with the authorities and everyone might come through this unscathed. But oh no, stubborn Jake would not take my advise! Men!🙄(JK😜)

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and will definitely be looking for more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer