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    The Kill Clause: A Novel
    The Kill Clause: A Novel
    The Kill Clause: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

    The Kill Clause: A Novel

    Written by Gregg Hurwitz

    Narrated by Peter Friedman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Tim Rackley, a deputy U.S. marshal, watches helplessly as his daughter's killer walks free on a legal technicality. He is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options -- a quest that leads him into the welcoming fold of ""the Commission.""

    A vigilante group made up of people like himself -- relentless streetwise operators who have each lost a loved one to violent crime -- the Commission confronts the failings of a system that sets predators loose to hunt again, cleaning up society's ""mistakes"" covertly, efficiently, and permanently. But Rackley soon discovers that playing God is a fearsome task. When his new secret life starts coming unwound at an alarming speed, he is suddenly caught in the most terrifying struggle he has ever faced -- a desperate battle to save everything left that's worth fighting for.

    Editor's Note

    Blockbuster author…

    Featuring a US marshal turned vigilante, “The Kill Clause” is the first in the series that launched Gregg Hurwitz to fame. Read it now, while his next novel is being adapted for the big screen by Bradley Cooper.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateAug 31, 2004
    ISBN9780060786403
    The Kill Clause: A Novel
    Author

    Gregg Hurwitz

    Gregg Hurwitz schreibt mit seinen Thrillern rund um Evan Smoak - ORPHAN X einen Bestseller nach dem anderen. Er ist derzeit Co-Präsident der International Thriller Writers (ITW). Als gefragter Comic-Autor arbeitet er für Marvel (»Wolverine«, »Punisher«) und DC (u.a. »Batman«), schreibt Drehbücher für die großen Hollywood-Studios und Artikel über Politik und Kultur für das Wall Street Journal, The Guardian und andere renommierte Zeitungen. Seine Bücher sind mit zahlreichen Literaturpreisen ausgezeichnet und regelmäßig auf der New York Times-Bestsellerliste. Die inzwischen 23 Thriller wurden bisher in 33 Sprachen übersetzt. Die Filmrechte am »Orphan X«- Universum wurden an Warner Bros. verkaufen. Mit seiner Familie und seinem Rhodesian Ridgeback lebt er in Los Angeles, wo er leidenschaftlich Fußball spielt und sich dabei häufig verletzt. Bei der Recherche für seine Thriller hat er sich mit Navy SEALs auf Schießstände geschlichen, ist auf den Galápagos-Inseln mit Haien geschwommen und hat verdeckt in Sekten zur Gedankenkontrolle ermittelt. Zuletzt erschien auf Deutsch „Dark Horses. Ein Orphan X Thriller“ im Ronin Verlag, wo auch die meisten seiner Hörbücher auf Deutsch veröffentlicht werden.

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    Reviews for The Kill Clause

    4/5

    122 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Gregg Hurwitz is my go-to author when looking for an easy, quick read. His characters are believable even though the situations and plotline might not be.The main character "Rack" joins a vigilante group after the suspect murderer of his daughter was released due to legality. Being a former U.S. Marshall, he has all the skillset to complete one task. He becomes suspicious of the group and begins to backpedal and investigate the individuals in the group. With both the police force and the group after him, he struggles to survive. The rest is for you to read and enjoy.
    • 5/5
      Really great story amazing plot, The characters were really great at the voice made it come together .
    • 4/5
      Good book. But the author does much better in the Orphan X series. Those are solid 5 stars.
    • 5/5
      Very good book well worth reading. Drama,suspense,action for mystery junkies.
    • 5/5
      The author manages to deliver a story with all the action you’d want yet in a realistic manner. Fantastic book.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this story and and will be reading more of this series. Gregg Hurwitz seems to write characters that I enjoy.

      4 Stars for a fun read.
    • 3/5
      The plot takes off like a rocket from page one and never loses steam. The story revolves around the brutal murder of the young daughter of law enforcement officers, Tim and Dray Rackley. As the Rackley's deal with a parent's greatest nightmare, things become even worse when the alleged murderer is set free because of a violation of his 4th Amendment rights during his arrest. Tim is so distraught over this turn of events, that he considers taking the law into his own hands. As he comtemplates this action, Tim is approached by an unusual band of vigilantes known as The Commission. Each member of The Commission has suffered a great personal loss along the lines of the Rackleys. And, in each of their cases as well, the perpertrator has gone free because of some legal technicality. The story keeps going at a fast pace as the body count builds and culminates in an action packed climax.

      Although it's an interesting story line, it wasn't as riveting as I expected. The idea of a decorated law enforcment officer doing something like this was very disturbing to me.
    • 3/5
      It's got the typical mystery/thriller earmarks; let's run some of them down. The main character, Tim Rackley, is in law enforcement (deputy US marshal). He's got a tough-sounding nickname (Rack) that only his friends are allowed to use. In thsi one, we get a sort of two-for-one deal because his wife Andrea (Dray) is also a deputy, in the sheriff's department. Rackley has murky family issues in his past (with his father) and reacts badly to being called Timmy. A brutal murder takes place in the opening pages; in this case, the victim is the Rackleys' young daughter Ginny. Some questionable tactics by the marshals, plus the perpetrator going free, both combined with the department's unwillingness to back Rackley on an incident that blows up in the press results in him going rogue. So, you know, he's a good guy on the wrong side of the law now.He gets involved with a group of people calling themselves "The Commission," whose charter is to kill some people who have evaded justice for their crimes based on legal technicalities or other failures of the system. They will research all of this, give them a fair shake based on the evidence, and then decide whether or not to kill them. Rackley will be their executioner. You can probably guess most of what goes on after that, but often the enjoyment is in how a particular author gets from point A to point B, not in figuring out where point B is. I thought it was a decent book, but didn't particularly make me want to read more in the series (I can't remember the last time I was drawn in by a series, so you may want to take that with a grain of salt). Recommended for: fans of Justified, people to whom vigilante justice seems like a good idea.
    • 3/5
      In The Kill Clause, a group of ex-cops and others form a vigilante execution squad. They find where injustices have been performed and the perps that have been able to escape justice from the system, and execute their own justice. They recruit Tim Rackley, a county sheriff and former US Marshall and Special Forces operative who recently lost his own child in a homicide. Rackley agrees and begins to take out some of these targets. He’s disgusted by the Mastersons, a pair of brothers who are also part of the group, who seem to be doing this simply to satisfy their own blood lust. Rackley involves the kill clause, which dissolves the group, and then has to hunt down the Mastersons to stop them on their trail of murder.This novel is fast pace and visceral, qualities that I enjoy. On the down side, I thought the writing was mediocre and the story line was a bit farfetched. It was enjoyable to a certain degree, but not a novel that is going to resonate long after you’ve read it. Although, I would recommend reading it, this isn’t exactly a great novel.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
    • 4/5
      Very Good! I recalled scenes of Hal Holbrook in Star Chamber all throughout the book. Vigilante justice with some interesting twists. While I did predict a bit of the outcome early on, there were enought twists and sub plots, along with a fast pace that kept me interested to the end.
    • 4/5
      Not a bad book. When it first got going, I didn't think it was all too original, but then there were a few twists and turns that made the book better than expected.The seven year-old daughter of US Marshal Tim Rackley and his LA cop wife Dray is brutally slain and Tim is given the opportunity by his cop friends to kill the guy responsible. He decides against it. Then Kindell, the murderer, goes free on a technicality. Rackley is recruited by a group called The Commission to be point man to go after heinous criminals who get away on technicalities. The carrot on the end of the stick is another shot at Kindell. This is where I roll my eyes and think, "The Star Chamber."But things go a bit differently, which strengthens the plot considerably. I think Hurwitz is a good writer; he really illustrated the pain and anguish the Rackleys experienced due to the loss of their little girl."The Kill Clause" is nothing spectacular, but it's not a bad read to pass the time.
    • 2/5
      It started ok. But the plot was weak, unlikable characters and I didn't like the voice talent.