Another exciting adventure starring Gibson Vaughn, the protagonist from The Short Drop,once again the former Marine showing how to survive against the odds. Our intrepid hero finds himself in a bit of bother – again - when he simply can’t refuse to help Judge Hammond Birk, a man and old friend who helped steer Vaughn on the right path as a young lad.

The Judge is just one victim of billionaire Charles Merrick, a financier who has swindled millions upon millions into an off shore account and although he was sent to jail, the money remains safe and awaiting his imminent release from prison.

As Merrick’s release date nears, numerous victims begin to circle, all hell-bent on revenge and retribution. Things never go quite to plan, but if they did it wouldn’t make for an exciting read would it?!

I really enjoyed the book, incredibly easy to read with a good plot and fluid narrative. Once again the author has managed to deliver a number of strong characters outside the main narrative. I really enjoyed getting to know Swonger and how my attitude towards him changed as the storyline progressed. Great character development for sure.

Although I enjoyed the book I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one but that was down to one thing. The Short Drop featured the Vice President and this one didn’t! Nothing more than that, I just liked the idea behind the first book. This may sound a little negative but this certainly isn’t my intention, what one reader likes another may not – that’s the great thing about books!

I can’t wait to read the third book in the Gibson Vaughn series and where the author takes us following a climactic ending to this, the second in the series. Without giving anything away, it’s a very open ending, one clearly designed to leave the reader wanting more. It worked!

When Charles Merrick, former financial wiz extraordinaire and current resident of federal prison in West Virginia, hints publicly that he may not have lost every penny after all it's certainly going to draw attention - especially by the long list of his victims.

Among the burned is Judge Hammond Birk, the man who gave our lead character, Gibson Vaughn his second chance at life. Vaughn, horrified to find his mentor now living in a life of squalor and illness, sets out to repay the Judge by recovering the money and in the process taking down Merrick once and for all.

He's not the only one with a plan though and suddenly Vaughn and his merry band of accomplices must race the clock and a horde of ruthless treasure hunters in order to make good on his promise.

Simply put, I really really enjoy this series. Gibson Vaughn is likable character and I find the plot lines (while nothing incredibly extravagant) to be the perfect slow burn. There's just enough mystery, adventure and action to keep a reader entertained while providing an easy devourable read. I had barely finished this book before I was checking Goodreads to see when the next will be released.

This book contains all the elements required for a great action packed murder mystery! I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I am looking forward to reading the first and third book in this series to understand what exactly happened in Atlanta, but also where this is all going to end!

Great sequel to The Short Drop. Gibson Vaughn uses his computer skills to help a judge who gave him a second chance. Lots of action and a couple of new characters keep the pace up. Ends in a cliffhanger, but that isn't a problem, it just makes me look forward to the next book.

The second book in the Gibson Vaughan series by Matthew Fitzsimmons, Poisonfeather finds Gibson repaying a debt he feels he owes to Judge Hammond Birk, who helped him in his youth. Birk invested heavily with Charles Merrick, a billionaire, who cheated thousands of unsuspecting investors out of their savings. Even though he lost most of his money when convicted of fraud and sent to prison, he has intimated that he has millions stashed in offshore accounts. Since Merrick is soon-to-be-released from prison, hundreds of those who were cheated are trying to find his stashed money. Judge Birk is one of the victims, and feels guilty for talking friends and relatives into investing with Merrick. Gibson has nothing better to do, and begins an investigation. He is assisted by an ex-con, as well as a strange bartender, a Chinese spy and other assorted interesting characters.

While readers were left hanging in the first Gibson Vaughan novel, The Short Drop, it was expected that some issues would be resolved. However, this novel left more issues hanging, and while the main story is explained, most readers are probably left irritated and frustrated because the book doesn’t explain what the readers want to learn from either novel.

The book has plenty of twists and turns, and the story is basically pretty good. Gibson, et al are constantly in danger, and there is plenty of suspense which builds throughout. Vaughan’s scenarios aren’t particularly believable, and he sometimes takes on a “comic book” guise where he is super-human.

After reading this novel, and finding that there are so many hanging issues, many readers will choose to ignore the subsequent books because nothing fits into place. And even though the story is good, some of the issues are a bit confusing.

Because there are hundreds of excellent suspense/thriller writers out there, this may be one that can be skipped since there are too many things that aren’t explained. We still don’t know whether his partners from the first book are alive, for instance, and having to wait through several books certainly isn’t what readers want.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

After bit laboured start, perhaps due to the difficulty of framing the events of this second volume in the setting formed by the first (which, frankly, the author would also have avoided making, dropping only a few brief clue here and there, doing therefore that the novel proceed as stand-alone and earning a extra star on my part), the novel takes off and becomes little by little more credible. The protagonist is a loser at the right point, and his right-hand-man is really unusual, in his mixture of abysmal ignorance and flashes of really unusual knowledge. The 'bad guy' is perhaps a bit too stupid in his narcissism, but, after the election of Trump for president of the United States I am beginning to think that a character that, from my point of view of old reader from old Europe, is a caricature is rather more common than one would think. Good entertainment novel, not too deep, but well-written, and, in general, with good narrative mechanisms.
Thank Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.