Soft Target: A Thriller Novel - Suspenseful Crime Fiction for Adults - Perfect for Book Clubs & Vacation Reading

Liked this one from the first page.Andrew Nicks is brilliant. He's also more than a little nuts. Nuts is a brilliant kinda way.He's into gaming. In fact his world is gaming. His Father runs a bunch of gaming stores all over the country among other money making endeavers. His Father is extremely wealthy. That wealth has protected and bought Andrew out of trouble his whole life.One of his Fathers many stores is in Minneapolis. Its located in the America the Mall. A super sized mall shaped like the USA. Andrew is the manager of this store and he's a surprisingly good manager. His Father thinks Andrew is finally turning into the kind of son his Father always hoped he would be.Ray Cruz has retired from the marine corp after twenty two years. He met Molly Chan and now he and she are engaged. They along with the entire Chan family, are at the mall on black Friday.Cruz thinks he'd rather face a bunch of dirtbag jihadists in Afghanistan than be at the mall. Shopping just isn't his thing. Especially shopping in a mall with thousands of people on black Friday. Nope. Definetly not his cup of tea. Molly and her family make it bareable though.All is going well until someone blows Santa's brains out.So begins one really good read.This one has the oh so brilliant Andrew, the FBI, Nikki Swagger, FBI Assistant Director Nick Memphis, one determined and dedicated SWAT major, a flamming idiot named Col. Obobo who, as head of the State Police, is in charge of the LEO response, a band of Somali killers, one thousand hostages, a very brave African America child care worker and one ex Marine sniper doing his best to save the day.Just a great read. To bad Ray couldn't get hold of his dad. And he did try. It would have been an even greater read with Bob Lee Swagger in it.As for the politics? Kudo's to the author. I for one couldn't agree more.Obobo is a gifted speaker with a PR guy who smooths the way for him. A PR guy who makes sure his man always looks good no matter who he has to bulldoze over to do so. He makes sure that Obobo always looks like he knows what he's doing and his decsions are the correct ones.Obobo makes lovely speeches but in point of fact Obobo hasn't done much LEO work at all. He's a guy who's gotten where he is because others think that because he's a gifted speaker he's a great leader.Obobo thinks talking will cure all things and action should be a thing of the past in the world of the LEO. He thinks his negotiating skills have gotten a resolution to the crisis. He had no idea that Somali leader played him like a fiddle. Directed him just where he, the leader, wanted him to go. Obobo is convinced his way is the way to handle the hostage situation. How wrong the idiot turns out to be.The media absolutely loves the guy just like they love the current jackass in the White House. Another smooth talker who's good for nothing but making pretty speeches.If not for the SWAT major and his dedicated men and Ray Cruz there would have been a bloodbath in that mall. A fact the SWAT major and many other LEO's know quite well. A fact they can't reveal because the PR man has threatened the SWAT guys with ruined careers if any of them reveal Obobo's absolute failure during the crisis a crisis others think he's handled beautifully.Good thing the idiot didn't try threatening Cruz because I think he would have gotten the surprise of his life.Poor Nick Memphis will have to deal with the Obobo Others thinking Obobo did a great job during the crisis via the Obobo loving media pretty much paved his way into the Directorship of the FBI. Memphis and other will have to deal with the idiot.Cruz, the SWAT Major and the others know who the true hero's were, who saved the day, who saved the lives and it sure as hell wasn't Col. Obobo.It was a great read and well worth those five stars.