Blog Tour: Dangerous Past by A.F. Ebbers (review, giveaway)

Dangerous Past
written by A.F. Ebbers
published by SilverHawk Books

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Book Depository, Goodreads

Why did I pick this book: I participated in the blog tour hosted by Tribute Books. (I received a copy of this book for review purposes.)

Did I enjoy this book: For the most part.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, Mr. Ebbers tells a great story. It’s interesting, entertaining, and easy to read. His characters are likeable and easy to root for. If that’s all you’re looking for in a novel, stop reading now and go buy the book. Enjoy.

But as a reviewer, I have to be a little more discriminating. While I enjoyed the book overall, I got tangled in the weeds of those pesky details that just seemed off to me.

Here are a few inconsistencies I tried really hard to overlook but in the end, I just couldn’t:

• After getting out of a river where he narrowly escapes his assassin, he rushes to the house and tells his wife, “Get me a wet towel, quick.” I spent several minutes flipping back and forth through the book trying to figure out if there was a reason he needed a wet towel after swimming in a river. I never found one.
• The book seems outdated. The bad guys use payphones. If you ask many readers today what a “Payphone” is, they’ll likely tell you it’s a song by Maroon 5.
• A helicopter carrying the villain landed in our main character’s backyard and is considered untraceable. A helicopter??  In a neighborhood backyard??  No tweets??? No Instagram???? Even the Navy Seals couldn’t get in and out of the bin Laden compound without being outted on Twitter.
• I could go on listing these examples for pages, but I promise this is the last one. The main character is very athletic. He swims, he runs, he shoots bad guys, crash lands airplanes, and is a Viet Nam vet. All the Viet Nam vets I know are sliding past 70 or flying headfirst into 80. I know vets are tough, but that’s a tall order for even the most athletic 70- to 80-year-old.

Would I recommend it: If you want a good story and don’t get hung up by confusing details or inconsistencies, it’s a fun, easy read.

Will I read it again: No.

About the book: Senior Airline Captain Frank Braden is being stalked in his home town of Austin, Texas, by unknown assailants who must arrange his death to look like a suicide or an accident before a specific deadline. The assassins almost succeed several times, in the air and on the ground. In fact, Braden’s surgeon wife, Nicole, saves his life twice from ground assailants. Both of them don’t know why people are trying to kill him.

Later, he receives a message warning him not to attend a forthcoming Senate hearing in Washington. If he agrees he will receive a million dollars and his wife’s life. When Braden turns to the FBI and local police for help, they doubt his stories since they have been led to believe he is schizophrenic and suicidal, exactly what his assailants want the authorities to think.

Dangerous Past is a story of a man who must choose between doing what ought to be done or keeping his family alive by allowing a murderous and powerful Washington VIP to escape his past.

 

About the author: A. F. Ebbers, a journalism graduate of Ohio University was a reporter/writer for major newspapers, ad agencies, and in public relations for Cessna Aircraft Company. He also graduated from Army Flight School and flew for the Ohio and Kansas Army National Guards. Later he was called to active duty and served two flying tours in Vietnam. After retirement from the military, he flew for corporations and for regional airlines. A dual rated ATP pilot, he has written for numerous national magazines, Sunday supplements and trade and travel magazines and has written screenplays and short stories. Today he lives with his wife in the Austin, Texas area and, when not writing, enjoys tennis, flying and piano. Dangerous Past is his debut novel.

Find Mr. Ebbers here: web, Facebook, Goodreads

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