Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

Second in this series featuring Mason Sharpe,a former cop who now lives in his truck and travels light. An intriguing story,very Jack Reacherish with plenty of excitement.

Really enjoyed the story of a damaged ex-cop getting entangled in helping a young man out of a gang…he was caring, and his back story was sad…I would read more of this series. Lots of action, smart logic, and a good ending.

The second book in this series had Mason in Atlanta and while eating lunch he spots a young teen working at stealing his truck. He does catch him and after talking to him he takes him home. Later that day he is arrested by the ATF and he is able to get out of the charges because they were not on the ball. What it did do was put something into his head as to why are they after Jalen the young boy who was trying to steal his truck. So he begins to investigate. Of course, people are after him to stop which he does not, and with all of the cast of characters in this book, the story flows and is full of action and intrigue.

Morgan Sharpe is just passing through Atlanta, a man with no plan and no real destination in mind, until he comes across a young teen attempting to steal his truck. The story begins from there with Morgan seeing a bit of his own young reckless self in Jalen, the would be grand theft auto candidate. Morgan makes it his current mission to find out why Jalen is aligning himself with a local crime gang and how and why his older brother ended up taking the fall for a crime he did not commit. The DEA is involved in a drug investigation of Jalan and his connections while Mason is trying to get Jalen away from the gang life. It was not very suspenseful and was just a little more gruesome and drug detailed at times than I believe it needed to be.
Just ok for me.

Driving through Georgiaturns into much more than anticipated by former soldier/former cop Mason Sharpe. When his truck becomes the target of an attempted carjacking, the story quickly escalates into a battle against gangs, drug cartels, cops, the DEA….. Suspending reality helps the reader enjoy a good action thriller.

I received a ARC of this book and my thanks to the team of NetGalley and the author for the copy.


All views expressed in this review are my own and based on my reading of this book. Some of the initial comments were made as I progressed in this book and I have not tried editing them as it expresses my contiguous thoughts as I proceeded with the story.

This is the first book that I have read by the author.


We have an Army veteran, Mason who was also a policeman and has quit recently following a tragedy and pursued by his own personal demons. He is now a transporter with no anchor living out of his truck, camping out and basically minding his own business. Got a lot of Jack Reacher vibes from the book blurb which made me first pick up this book.

Mason also doesn't own a cell phone just like Reacher and is a drifter but with a truck so that's where the similarity seems to end.

The book starts with a high tech jacking of a high end bike by a young boy, a Ducati and what follows is a high adrenaline chase followed by an accident and the police identifies the boy as Mason, protagonist of the tale that follows.

The start sets up the book with Mason's own difficulties with the law during adolescence and youth followed by careers in the army and police.

On a routine trip on his truck he is having his burger at a diner while he watches a kid, not unlike his younger self jacking his truck. Mason appreciates the boys skills from afar and then pulls him up before he can do too much damage to his truck. The boy is naturally antsy especially with Mason opting not to call the cops and offering assistance to the boy. The story shows the instant connect that Mason feels with the boy, a kinship of sorts due to similar backgrounds and understanding the boys intelligence and potential.

Mason's profile changes when the DEA bust him for this boy and suddenly his role in the entire situation changes.
Instead of making himself scarce he decides to stick around as the boy's protector although the kid doesn't want help.

Drugs, gangs and an upstart make a dangerous combination, especially when the DEA has lost one of their own in a related messy episode.

With water rising Mason seeks to redefine his own role and wades into the murky waters.

His bottled up personal guilt trip has made him the good Samaritan here. But he's up against some deep conspiracies and drug dealers do not care for body counts. What's another body 6 feet under.

The story progresses a familiar path with the usual alliances and episodes. The concern for the lawmen has increased as the drug dealers plan joining hands with Mexican drug mafia and peddling new age drug fentanyl which is way more toxic and addictive to cocaine. Mason finds himself smack in the middle of this turf war and takes sides fast and starts moving the process towards a conclusion where the boy can be left alone.

What works for the book is the details of how law enforcement works and govt. agencies work with the objective always to shut down whole operations even if someone gets caught under the juggernaut. The book also get right the reaction of agents when one of their own is tortured by the lawless, all bets are off and fists ungloved.

The book takes incidents to the extreme and some of the story becomes almost difficult to contemplate. The personal agenda of Mason is always cheesy as involvement in something this dangerous marks him as a person with a death wish but the story portrays him as one who may not be wearing a badge but has his heart at the right place.

Some of the story machinations seem a bit stretched and would look good when edited.

What did not work for me was the length of this book. Some of the story line and incidents in the latter half of the book needed pruning. The book stretches and as a reader I felt like I was reading the same things over and over again. A lot of the action has been seen in other books and movies, gang war and turf wars are not a unique phenomena.
Also the fact that most part of the story was predictable and did not provide anything novel. The murder of an FBI agent seemed added just to make Mason see red.

I still appreciate the story which moves at a decent pace overall and does not make you set it aside despite the predictability. This reflects a great effort by the author.

3.5 stars for me. The book gave me value but not bliss. I would like to see Mason Sharpe develop as a character as he comes out of his difficult past. He has potential as has this book. Recommended

Take Down by Logan Ryles.
A Mason Sharpe Thriller Book 2
Passing through Atlanta, all Army veteran Mason Sharpe wants is a break. A break from the rain. A break from the grief he’s carrying. A quiet campsite beneath Georgia pines where he can wrestle his demons into silence.
Fate has other ideas. Eager to leave the city, Mason doesn’t get the cops involved when he catches a kid trying to steal his truck. Jalen is fifteen, confident and smart, but headed down an ugly path. Mason drives him home, advising him to get his life back on track. Later that night, the DEA explode into Mason’s seedy motel room. They’re convinced Jalen is the key to dismantling the South Atlanta Squad – a brutal drug gang dispensing deadly fentanyl across the region. But Mason’s not buying the DEA’s story. Where they see a hardened gangster, he sees a lost kid caught between a rock and a hard place.
I really enjoyed this book. Loved Mason character. Looking forward to the next book. 5*.

This novel starts with a kid, Jalen, trying to steal a truck, which is a good hook by the author and carries on the action, though I can't reveal more of the plot for fear of spoiling the novel. Highly recommended and a good read. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.