Synopses & Reviews
A gripping thriller from the acclaimed author of Good Neighbors, perfect for fans of Linwood Barclay and Robert Crais Los Angeles, 1952. After 13-year-old Sandy Duncan shoots his stepfather and carves a symbol from a comic book into the corpse’s forehead, district attorney Seymour Markley launches a grand jury investigation into the murder, one that could implicate east-coast crime boss James Manning. Also in the frame is the comic book’s creator, Eugene Dahl. When threatening notes appear nailed to his front door, he is lured to a downtown hotel where one of the men who could bring down James Manning is being held. There, Eugene finds the witness murdered, as well as the police officer charged with protecting him, and all fingers point to Eugene. Forced to go on the run, Eugene devises a plan that involves deeds far worse than any of which he’s been accused.
Review
"Violent, vivid, and disturbing,
The Dispatcher is a stomach churner. If you want a book that grabs you-almost chokes you-and won't let go, this is it. But it should come with a warning label: Caution, a serious writer at work."
-Ridley Pearson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killer Summer
"The Dispatcher grabs the reader on page one and never lets go. It's a classic yet bracingly contemporary story of kidnapping, violence, and a father's ferocious courage."
-Jonathan Santlofer, author of Anatomy of Fear
"A well-written, fast-paced book . . . along the order of Quentin Tarantino and with a long and bloody trail to the end."
-Charlaine Harris, bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series
"Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's tales of vengeance, The Dispatcher is an impressively accomplished performance that never strains for mythic power but nevertheless acquires it."
-Sunday Times (London)
"The breathless pace virtually demands a single-sitting read. . . . Over the past few years a new generation of crime writers has come perilously close to recreating the jaded mindset of the classic noir thrillers, but no one has succeeded quite like Jahn. . . . [He] leads the new noir pack with a series of palm-sweating situations that pay homage to the classics of the genre while feeling entirely fresh."
-Financial Times
"Reads at a cracking pace [and] is a one-sitting, fist-in-mouth read."
-The Guardian
"A cross between Richard Ford and James Patterson . . . I guarantee that if you pick this up, then everything else in your life will immediately be pushed to the margins. . . . If you only read one book tomorrow, make it this one."
-Dylan Jones, editor of GQ, in The Mail on Sunday
"A nerve-shredding thriller with plenty of energy and a tight plot."
-Big Issue
"Tense, thrilling. Jahn has written a real page-turner, well crafted with convincing characters and an involving plot."
-We Love This Book
"Near pitch perfect . . . An adrenaline-pumped storyline and one that will leave you with your lower jaw resting on your chest. I don't believe anyone else is offering Jahn's insight and style of writing today. . . . [His] clipped and economical prose is to the bone. . . . Make sure you allocate sufficient hours to read in one sitting."
-Rhian Davies, It's a Crime!
"Talk about page-turning . . . Jahn is the fastest rising star in the ever-competitive crime fiction world."
-Daily Mirror, Book of the Week
Review
"Violent, vivid, and disturbing, The Dispatcher is a stomach churner. If you want a book that grabs you-almost chokes you-and won't let go, this is it. But it should come with a warning label: Caution, a serious writer at work." -Ridley Pearson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killer Summer
Review
"The Dispatcher grabs the reader on page one and never lets go. It's a classic yet bracingly contemporary story of kidnapping, violence, and a father's ferocious courage."
Review
"A well-written, fast-paced book . . . along the order of Quentin Tarantino and with a long and bloody trail to the end."
Review
"Reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's tales of vengeance, The Dispatcher is an impressively accomplished performance that never strains for mythic power but nevertheless acquires it."
Review
"The breathless pace virtually demands a single-sitting read. . . . Over the past few years a new generation of crime writers has come perilously close to recreating the jaded mindset of the classic noir thrillers, but no one has succeeded quite like Jahn. . . . [He] leads the new noir pack with a series of palm-sweating situations that pay homage to the classics of the genre while feeling entirely fresh."
Review
"Reads at a cracking pace [and] is a one-sitting, fist-in-mouth read."
Review
"A cross between Richard Ford and James Patterson . . . I guarantee that if you pick this up, then everything else in your life will immediately be pushed to the margins. . . . If you only read one book tomorrow, make it this one."
Review
"A nerve-shredding thriller with plenty of energy and a tight plot."
Review
"Tense, thrilling. Jahn has written a real page-turner, well crafted with convincing characters and an involving plot."
Review
"Near pitch perfect . . . An adrenaline-pumped storyline and one that will leave you with your lower jaw resting on your chest. I don't believe anyone else is offering Jahn's insight and style of writing today. . . . [His] clipped and economical prose is to the bone. . . . Make sure you allocate sufficient hours to read in one sitting."
Review
"Talk about page-turning . . . Jahn is the fastest rising star in the ever-competitive crime fiction world."
Review
"Compelling, slick, exuberant, flashy, funny, fierce, and cinematic. . . . Deftly written with panache and polish. . . . This remarkable novel, a lean, psychologically unsettling noir tale, will stay with you long after you put it down and regretfully say, 'I wish I wrote that.'" —Library Journal, starred review of Good Neighbors
Synopsis
From the author of the award-winning debut crime novel Good Neighbors-a white-knuckle thriller about the lengths a man will go to for his daughter.
The phone rings. It's your daughter. She's been dead for four months.
So begins East Texas police dispatcher Ian Hunt's fight to get his daughter back. The call is cut off by the man who snatched her from her bedroom seven years ago, and a basic description of the kidnapper is all Ian has to go on. What follows is a bullet-strewn cross-country chase from Texas to California along Interstate 10- a wild ride in a 1965 Mustang that passes through the outlaw territory of No Country for Old Men and is shot through with moments of macabre violence that call to mind the novels of Thomas Harris.
About the Author
Ryan David Jahn grew up in Arizona, Texas, and California. He finished school at sixteen, worked several odd jobs, and spent time in the army before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked in television and film for several years. His first novel, Good Neighbors, won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasy (New Blood) Dagger Award, and his novel The Dispatcher was longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. Translation rights to his books have been sold in twelve languages. Jahn lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, Jessica, and two daughters, Matilda and Francine.