Godsend

Danny is a lot of things to say the least. He has a good heart but also gets into trouble. He starts this book by helping a store that is being robbed at gunpoint by telling the robbers that they are doing it all wrong. See what I mean? When his old adversary arrives on his doorstep by leaving “gifts” things start to get rather more serious. This is a fairly light hearted read with a smile along the way. You can’t help but like Danny even though he is a bit of a rogue, he is one you would like on your side knowing that your back would always be covered come what may. The title comes from a gospel outfit that are doing rather more than just praying to the Lord- they prey on others too. An entertaining read with a smile.
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Fun, entertaining, and racy read which I greatly enjoyed. This is the second adventure about Danny Felix now ensconced in America after the high jinks outlined in the previous book.

No need to read that first, just dive straight in and enjoy the exploits of a well drawn out character who despite his criminality you like and sympathise with from the start.

I absolutely loved Standstill, which is the first book to feature Danny, so couldn't wait to catch up with him again and see what trouble he gets himself into next. Whilst you would be missing out by not having read Standstill, I do think Godsend works well as a stand alone.

So we catch up with Danny and his new life in Florida Keys. I don't think the author could have started the story off any better than he did as it had me instantly hooked. It just brought back everything I loved about Danny's character.

The church features quite heavily in this book. As we have come to learn over the years, there is a lot of corruption that goes on even in the house of the lord so I loved to actually read a story line to do with it.

There is a certain amount of vulnerability with Danny in this book. It was good to see a criminal with a heart and trying to come to terms with the carnage he left behind in London. He isn't your hardened criminal by any means but that's what has readers loving him and routing for him even though he is on the wrong side of the law.

Godsend is yet another action packed and thrilling venture with a criminal who readers will love. Can not wait to see where the author takes us next. A must read for fans of adrenaline fuelled reads that will have you gripped through out.

Godsend
By J.A. Marley

4 stars

A mostly tightly written story, that engages the reader.

While the characters are not deeply developed, this doesn't matter, because the plot here is king.

Set eighteen months after Danny Felix pulled off the robbery of his life, Danny is in a new country and enjoying the easy quiet life, although he is still coming to terms with the death and destruction he had unwittingly unleashed. Things don’t remain quiet forever though, with past demons back to engage him again.
The book is fast flowing and easy to read, leaving the reader wanting more.

#Godsend #NetGalley

I gave this four and a half stars. Danny Felix is an ok guy. He is almost as exceptional as Father Sim and as lovable as Ciaran and as lovely as Amparo. And there are of course bad guys who are plenty bad, even those that preach about goodness. Danny and Ciaran are technically bad guys but they are so compelling it doesn't really count. Amparo is a deputy sheriff for Monroe County so there may be heartbreak ahead. And the setting is the Florida Keys with no hurricane in sight. Who could ask for anything more?

Godsend is an excellent who-is-gonna-done-it with a smattering of sun and boats and fun, just a couple of forays into tourist oriented spots and a lot of Southern feeling good. I can happily refer it to friends and family. This is an author to watch for.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, J. A. Marley, and Bloodhound Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Godsend by J.A. Marley
Danny Felix #2

Another great new author for me to keep an eye on – thoroughly enjoyed this book even though I had not read the first in the series ;)

Danny Felix is a bad boy with a good heart. He is living in Florida when this book begins and it begins with a wallop. I loved the first scene and laughed a few times then and later throughout the book. It appears that Danny has begun to settle into his life in Florida, has begun to make a friend, takes his fishing boat out when there are customers and is dealing with flashbacks and panic attacks when his old nemesis begins to leave “gifts” for him that begin to lure him into the possibility of planning and executing a robbery.

As the book blurb states – three very different women enter his life in this story and the impact they have on him are…interesting. What he wants and what he knows is wise are not always in synch but he does the best he can. When he feels he may need backup he calls in an intriguing character by the name of Ciaran and I have to say I liked him a great deal. I also really liked the priest Simeon Duvall. There were characters I disliked as well and they were the ones I was meant to dislike.

Danny is a professional thief who plans extensively…in some ways he reminds me of Thomas Crown (remember that movie?) but he is also not quite as polished as Thomas was. He is an adrenaline junkie and perhaps easily bored. He is all for a theft without collateral damage BUT realizes that sometimes it cannot be avoided.

This book includes money laundering, an evangelist with a warped sense of his mission in life, a Mexican cartel-mafia, a big-time theft and a bit of romance. The book is exquisitely plotted and the story is told in a way that I felt I was there. The supporting characters were not padding but made the story that little bit spicier and more realistic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to find out what will happen next in the life of Danny Felix!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

I absolutely loved Standstill when I read it earlier this year. At that time I wasn't sure it was going to be a series opener but I was hoping it would be. Well, it was and this is the second in the Danny Felix series. Usual series rules apply but I think more so in this case as there is a certain dynamic between two of the main characters that I believe would be more meaningful if you read Standstill first.
I am going to start on a bit of a negative sadly. The way that some of the dialogue is written really did irk me a tad. We had quite a bit of phonetically spelled dialect which, for me, didn't quite work and wasn't quite as consistent as I would have liked. There were also quite a few Spanish words thrown in for good measure, some explained, some you could guess at but some I had to look up for meaning and context. Both these things did distract me a little as I was reading but, and it's a big but. The rest of the book, the story, the characters, the pacing and the action were all more than enough for me to get over my misgivings and keep on reading.
Danny has left London, and indeed the UK and is now running a fishing boat in Florida. He seems to be enjoying taking life easy until he happens upon a robbery and, shall we just say, gets a bit involved. This gets his juices working and he realises that maybe he misses his old life. Then strange presents start turning up on his doorstep. Could his old nemesis have found him and, if so, what does he want? Meanwhile we have a preacher who is not quite a holy as he professes to be as he is mixing and doing business with some rather shady characters. Things get out of control and it's not long before his wife visits Danny with a proposition.
And so begins a cat and mouse game to beat all others. With secrets, lies and more than its fair share of duplicitous behaviour we see a cast of rather dubious characters all square off and pit their wits against each other, all the time not really know who is on what side!
As already mentioned the plot was really great. It's all interconnected and pretty much all the way through I had no idea where we were going; what would happen next. It's all very cleverly worked out too. I guess if the author stopped writing he could probably get a job as a career criminal's plotter his crimes being so well thought and worked out.
Danny is a great character. He's a bad boy but he's a lovable rogue and we see a bit more of the lovable side of him in this book. Other characters were harder to get to grips with but that was more by design by the author I think due to their duplicitous behaviour. Like Danny, I think I was supposed to not be able to fully engage and get to know them but, as the book comes across as more plot driven than character driven, this really didn't matter.
There's also some great character interaction in this book and some pretty sharp banter too. There are some quite funny moments and killer one liners. I was so pleased with the mention of my favourite American Football infraction; that made me chuckle - and indeed read the paragraph out to my brother!
All in all, dialogue aside, a cracking read that left me wanting more from Danny. With the way things were left, I do wonder what is next for our boy!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Godsend, by J.A. Marley is the second Danny Felix novel, and although I have not read the first, Standstill, I read this fast and furiously, as if this was indeed a standalone novel.

Vincent Cardell has over zealous political and religious ambitions, and decides to help out the Mexican cartel with their money laundering, and skims a little bit off the top for himself, I mean the church, whilst he's at it.

His wife, June is fed up with his ways, and suspects the cartel know what he's done, and it won't be long before they come for him, and perhaps her too. So what does she do? Enlists Danny, to rob Vincent's money and give it all to her. What could possibly go wrong with a deal proposed by a Preacher's wife?

Right from the first few pages I knew this cheeky chappy was going to be a lot of fun to read. Danny is a flawed, and somewhat vulnerable character, coping with past events that have led to panic attacks and flashbacks, yet he's still a criminal at heart, despite being 'retired' and living in Florida Keys. Nothing, it seems, can keep this man down. He's a genuine, loveable rogue. As is his mate, Ciaran.

In fact, all of the characters were really well rounded; I loved to hate Harkeness, and I kind of liked June Cardell (also a Brit), even though I probably shouldn't have. Hell, even Slow Tina, a seventy year old stripper, had a great part to play! (Her character made me giggle).

Because Godsend was based in America, the whole story was written very much in an American style read (lots of Americanisms), with an evangelical couple, preacher Vincent and his conniving wife, June, being a central part of this theme. This was balanced out nicely by the fact that Danny himself was from the UK, with plenty of British-isms up his sleeve! Lots of 'feckin's' and 'fecks' too! Aha!

As with this style of gritty, pulp action, there is a lot of name dropping in this book, musicians, actors, and the films, books and songs they produced. They even went to a Geekfest, which I have to mention, as I went to one last Sunday! So yeah, you could say this was my kind of read in more ways than one. Then, just when I thought it was all over the epilogue says otherwise... Nice one!

Overall this is a terrific hard-boiled crime thriller, with some great one liners and equally great, misbehaving characters. If you want to know what happens when you mess with the cartel, read this book! Thanks to the author, J.A. Marley, Netgalley and Bloodhound Books for my copy.

Another winner by this author. Non stop enjoyment all the way

4☆ A great second book. Was great seeing Danny again.

Godsend is the second book in the Danny Felix series.
Although this is a series it can be read as a standalone without any problem.

The beginning of the book we see Danny intervene in a holdup by two young girls.
It was like a comedy strip it had me laughing.

Danny is now in Florida laying low after all the chaos he left behind in London.
He has bought a Fishing business and is enjoying the quiet life.
Although Danny is suffering horrific panic attacks from his past.
Or is this all about to change.

There is a side story in the midst, which to begin with I was wondering how this was going to pan out.
It involves the Church and Vincent Cardell.
Vincent is into schemes and uses the Church to fund his money laundering.

Hmm so where does Danny for into this and why is Vincent's wife June looking for him?

I really enjoyed this book. It isn't so action packed and hectic as the first book.
But I enjoyed that. It was nice to see a different side to Danny.
Danny the loveable rogue.
Unfortunately trouble just seems to follow him. He Is definitely one of my favourite criminals.

Godsend is a slower paced crime thriller that builds up suspense and intrigue slowly.
It was nice to see a different kind of crime taking place via the Church instead of your typical drugs & prostitution etc...
Don't get me wrong there is still violence and sinister characters but it was just a different feel to it.

I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy crime thrillers that are a little different, contain humour & violence.

This book follows on directly from the author's previous book, Standstill and we are back with Danny Felix and following his exploits directly after the robbery in the last book. You can read this one as a standalone as the author covers enough of Danny's back story.

The plot in this book is excellent and I loved guessing where it was going to take me. The writing style was spot on and the pace was ideal for the story.

Danny for me is a great character and like a loveable rogue, he shouldn't succeed in what he does but you are secretly cheering him on!

Four stars from me, a really enjoyable book!

The second Danny felix book but can easily be read as a stand-alone

If you like fast paced thrillers and crime with a bit of humour thrown in this is the book for you

Danny is a likeable character even though he seems to attract trouble

Great little story which has you turning the pages

Looking forward to more from this author

This is the second book by JA Marley featuring Danny Felix, and this book is just better than the first!
The book is a thrilling read, gripping again from the first page until the very end.
Recommended.