This was my first time reading/listening to this author. I plan go back and read The Gatekeeper. I will definitely continue to read this series. This was an edge of your seat read. The audio version helped with the dialogue.. I would rate this book 4 1\2 stars.

DEZ IS BACK!!! Love Dez!!! This is another one of those new series that I discovered recently that I have become hooked on. It has a lot of what I love in a crime thriller: smart, savvy, bad@$$ MC(s) that kick @$$ and take names for any villains that make the mistake of crossing paths with them or trying to hurt those they love and protect. Plus, it’s funny and, so far, has provided a lot of entertainment and amusement for me.

From the prologue, we get another glimpse into Dez’s past where we meet more of Dez’s accomplices/partners in crime from a job from two years earlier, where Dez got almost everyone out. The book summary pretty much lays out the first half of the story (part1) so I’m not going to repeat it here. As usual, all the bad guys (corrupt DEA agents and US Marshals and Clockjack mercenary bozos) underestimate Dez and in typical Desmond Aloysius Limerick style (Dez to his mates), he makes mincemeat of all of them and even killing one – by throwing a ball bearing at him. Dez doesn’t like guns. Lol😊 Who says murder and mayhem can’t be funny? Yeah, that’s right, killing bad guys/killers is funny to me.

Besides Clockjack’s corrupt extortion and blackmail of US and foreign politicians for their own gain, they are also snatching DEA witnesses (the most despicable of the lot) from WITSEC along with a group of other psychotic mercenaries with the help of insiders in both agencies for the sole purpose of creating a huge mercenary army. Additionally, what the book summary doesn’t mention is that a couple of characters from the first installment come to Dez’s rescue around the halfway point (part one). I like it when characters from previous installments make cameo appearances in later installments. The series characters kind of become an ensemble cast.

In the second half (part two), Dez and the Swann sisters are in hiding and Dez starts working with a former partner, Arabella, that was introduced in the prologue. Dez discovers that he and Arabella may have a common enemy in an associate of the Clockjack mercenaries. As terrorist mercenaries headed psychotic bozos are wont to do, they did something (won’t reveal any spoilers) that was so despicable that Dez just couldn’t leave without responding in kind.

The ending comes fast in another one of Dez’s expertly planned and calculated, and synchronized to perfection plan that results in spectacular chaos and mayhem. However, that epilogue!!! OMG!!! The lead into the next installment promises more intrigue and, I’m sure, murder and mayhem for Dez and friends!

Byrne is a good writer and storyteller. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, John Keating, was really good and I love the voice he has created for Dez. It suits his persona so well. Dez is hilarious and I enjoy his smart@$$ attitude and personality. I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #MacmillanAudio #Deadlock

Deadlock (Gatekeeper – Book 2) - Audiobook by James Byrne

Narrator: John Keating
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: August 8, 2023
Listening Time: 10 Hours, 15 Minutes

Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Mystery, Thriller, Computing, Action, Adventure, Government Agencies

Desmond Aloysius Limerick, Dez to his friends, is back! He is a Gatekeeper. That means he can open any door, keep it open and/or close it when necessary. The book begins with an operation from the past that goes wrong. When the last man on the mission does not come out, Dez closes the door when the time runs out. Arabella Satti does not like that at all. He has made her look like a fool. Because of how that mission was handled, she has not received a leadership role.

Dez receives a telephone call from Raiziah, the vocalist in the band he sometimes plays guitar with. She asks for his help after her sister is attacked in Oregon. He jumps on a plane and is there. What he finds concerns him. A man conducting a financial audit on a firm is killed and Dez sees a connection to the attack on Laleh. What he doesn’t realize at the time is that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are well developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The book has a great ending which leaves the reader wanting more of the Gatekeeper series.

When I saw this book was also an audiobook, I knew I had to get it. The narrator, John Keating, really brings the character of Dez to life. I love the voice he uses for Dez. It makes him sound so friendly and unassuming. I can picture him as if he is standing in front of me. In fact, I find myself saying his full name and smiling. Thanks, John, for giving a two dimensional character life.

Dez is one of my absolute favorite fictional characters. I hope that I am ever in trouble that Dez comes and helps me. If you like action books, like Jason Bourne, except with a quirky Englishman, you will love this book.

Deadlock is another exciting thriller featuring “Dez” Limerick (Desmond Aloysius Limerick). I loved the first book (The Gatekeeper) so I was delighted to get early access to its sequel. Dez is a fabulous main character: very quirky with a ton of skills and lots of ingenuity, both of which help him survive very crazy situations. It may sound odd that a thriller made me laugh, but Dez has a great sense of humor and his Irish/Scottish expressions make for some rather puzzled people in the US.

The action is the first book took place mainly in California. This time, a character he befriended in The Gatekeeper, calls on Dez to help her sister, who has been attacked in Portland, Oregon. So most of the action is this book takes place in and around Portland. I’m familiar with that area, as I have family who live there, and I absolutely loved all the local Portland detail and color. You can tell the author did his homework or knew the area well. (Don’t you hate it when a book takes place in an area you know and you can spot all sorts of errors or things that don’t make sense for the place?) The plot is intricate, with a fair number of people to keep track of - including some who use fake names and you later find out their actual name, which can add some layers of confusion. Nevertheless, I followed the story well and had a hard time putting it down.

I’m a sucker for an excellent audiobook and the narrator of the audio version, John Keating, does all the accents so beautifully. Reading the dialect is probably harder than listening to it, so I loved the audio version. I bounced back and forth between the ebook/print and the audio, and as I read, I could hear Mr. Keating’s voice in my head.

While you could read this as a standalone, I’d highly recommend reading the first book - first of all, it’s great, and second, there are a number of references back to people and events. You would get a better understanding of Dez and why he is who he is and how he wound up in the US.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Dez is back in his next adventure in Deadlock by James Byrne.

"Dez is asked to help protect a pair of sisters after one of them is assaulted and almost killed. Dez soon finds himself up against a renegade mercenary army and a corrupt sotware company with a lot of political pull. But Dez will do anything to protect his mates - especially when his unique skillset comes in handy."

John Keating brings Dez to life. This is one of the outstanding audiobook performances of the year. When Keating is channeling Dez, it feels like you're in the room with him.

Dez is up against a lot of bad guys and doesn't always come away unscathed. He takes his lumps but keeps on coming back. He keeps digging until he's figured out what;s happening and then deals with it - in a way that he does best. There are a couple of times where you wonder if Dez is going to make it. Lots of crazy bad guys and an inventive plot. And the ending is wild. Byrne even sets up another book without making it a cliffhanger.

Some great escapist fiction from Byrne. Dez is a character you should meet this year.

I love Dez’s character so much. Dez’s unique way of speaking and his one-liners are still in abundance in the pages of book 2, which makes him all the more endearing. His badassery knows no bounds. I love that about him.

The 1st book was amazing, I couldn’t stop talking about how much I loved it. I was a bit underwhelmed with this 2nd book BUT I’m in the minority. Everyone else seemed to think this one was just as good as the 1st.

I think I liked the 1st better because I felt like I got to know the characters better. In this book I felt like there were too many characters and things going on that I just never really got into it.

This one was almost a DNF for me but it’s possible that I just didn’t care for the audio narrator, which can make or break an audiobook for me. When I read the 1st book I had a physical copy of the book and low expectations which is overwhelming exceeded.

I’m on the fence about whether I’ll continue this series and if I do it’ll be reading the physical copy.

Soon after the events of The Gatekeeper, Dez Limerick is dragged back into a large conspiracy that will put the lives of him and his friends in danger. Raziah Swann calls Dez after her sister Jaleh, a journalist, ends up in the hospital. Jaleh has been investigating the death of an auditor, and there are powerful forces that would like to keep their identity secret, all tying back to a new powerful tech company called Clockjack. When Dez has to defend the Swann sisters from an attack at the hospital, he decides to track down the secrets of Clockjack. Dez discovers the conspiracy connects to many federal agencies and wealth and he placed a new target on his back. But Dez's background as a gatekeeper means he may be the only man who can keep the Swann sisters safe.

I enjoyed The Gatekeeper, and this follow-up was another fun complex action thriller. Dez Limerick is the key to this series, with an intelligence and wit that makes the story so much fun to read. Its easy to love Dez and the unique characters he surrounds himself with. James Byrne balances the humor of Dez with the thrilling aspects of the events he gets wrapped up in, which makes the book easy and exciting to read. The conspiracy of the book can get overly complex at times, though Byrne has again picked a very unique threat in Clockjack and the secrets of its workers for Dez to take down. Byrne keeps the book entertaining by trapping Dez in so many set pieces that he has to work his way out of. The climax was very satisfying and pulled together the various characters, leaving the door open for a hopefully very exciting sequel.

John Keating is a wonderful narrator and once I got used to his voice, he brought Dez to life in a very fun manner. The many plotlines can get more challenging with the audiobook, but Keating's voice and performance keeps the book grounded and characters distinct.

Thank you to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for a copy of Deadlock in exchange for an honest review.

Action packed, twisty, and some humor thrown in. What more can you ask for?! These could easily be movies. Loved the characters and the twists. I took a star off for the audiobook version only because the narrator was tough to get used to. His voice doesn’t seem to fit the mood of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an early release Audiobook of Deadlock by James Byrne in return for an honest review.

ACTION-PACKED! I wasn’t prepared for the pacing and speed of action at first in this audiobook, so I had to restart the first 20 min to get acquainted with it before continuing. Strong language and violence throughout, but engaging from start to finish. I had not read/listened to the first book in the series, but was not disappointed with the story and twists along the way with Dez Limerick.

Preferred listening speed: 1.25x
Narration: Single narrator, excellent storytelling by John Keating
Entertainment Value: Excellent, I was captivated and wanted to know what was coming next throughout
Recommend? Yes

I absolutely love the main character, Dez Limerick! I think what I love about him is the way he uses both brain and brawn to take down the "bad guys" (even if they don't always immediately appear as such). He is methodical in how he accomplishes this, using tech, gadgets, and just overall ingenuity. He is motivated by friendship and social bonds and genuinely seems like an upstanding guy out to do good and protect those he cares about, whether that is romantically or platonically (one of the sisters he is protecting in this book is a musician and Dez repeatedly tells the other sister, or at least suggests, that the two haven't had sex).

Kudos to the narrator of the book! He is perfect for Dez and captures the Irish/Scottish accent really well. I saw that others had difficulty with reading his spoken dialect, so I'd totally recommend the audiobook to resolve that issue!

Overall, Deadlock is a great mix of action, intrigue, suspense, mystery, thrills, and a likable main character.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ALC!

Thank you Netgalley for an audio ARC of this book.

Dez is back for a new adventure after another beautiful woman finds herself in danger.

It was nice to get more of Dez’s backstory and to see how he got some of his skills. He is still a one man army, but it is easier to see how he has so many favors he can call in. I am still not sure how he survives all his fights, but you are not reading/listening to this book for realism. Although, this book does seem more plausible than the first one.

I listen to the audiobook, and I think I would have enjoyed it better if I had read the book. The narrator does a great job distinguishing between the different characters, but I find the accent he gives Dez annoying. I know Dez is supposed to have a hard to identify UK accent, so I realize that this is probably just me. Also, when not doing the character voices the narrator sounds like the late American DJ Casey Kasem to me. I put the speed up to 1.5 so I didn’t notice this as much and I could focus more on the story.

The book seemed like a love letter to Portland and the surrounding areas. The descriptions of the scenery solidified my want to see that part of the country someday.

Take a dash of Jack Reacher, a pinch of Evan Smoak (Orphan X), and throw in a sense of humor - you have Dez Limerick. Dez is a "Gatekeeper", which means he has specialized training to open any door, protect any door, and only let who is authorized to go in an out.

In this book, he is tasked with helping a friend who believes that her sister is in trouble...and boy is she! Dez puts his own personal touch on getting in the middle of the situation and doing an investigation.

This is a wonderfully written story and the characters are terrific. This is an excellent follow-up to the first book in the series, The Gatekeeper.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Desmond "Dez" Aloysius Limerick - a name fashioned by cruel parents, according to one amusing character - is the m.c. of this gripping thriller, the second in the series. Buckle up for a wild ride!

This is not my usual genre, but I enjoyed this book as much as its predecessor for the same reason: an absolutely tremendous m.c. The plot is engaging and well-paced, but Dez is the star of this show not just in position but also in pizzaz. Even the narration about his character and details shared about him by others are completely hilarious. My experiences with both books in this series happened in the audio format, and I can't say enough about this narrator! It's true that he has great material to read, but this skilled individual also really brings Dez to life. That sense of uniqueness, charisma, and humor that is so characteristic of Dez is made absolutely vivid by this audio. Obviously, I highly recommend this format when and where accessible.

Dez is one of a kind, and he's a character who cracks me up in even the tensest situations. This is a fantastic read for folks who enjoy the genre, but it is also a wonderful entry point for folks who love a memorable character and a lot of action to boot. Long live Dez! I am already looking forward to his next exploits!