Deadlock: A Thriller

Written by James Byrne

Narrated by John Keating

In this sequel to the highly praised The Gatekeeper, Dez Limerick, one of the best new thriller heroes returns.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick ("Dez" to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. Now retired from his previous life, Dez is just a bloke with a winning smile, a bass guitar, and bullet wounds that paint a road map of past lives.

Jaleh Swann, a business journalist hot on the trail of an auditor who was mugged and killed, lands in the hospital just one day after her Portland apartment is ransacked. When Jaleh’s sister, Raziah, reaches out to an old friend for help, Dez has no choice but to answer. The Swann sisters have been pulled into a dizzying web of cover-ups and danger. At the center lies an insidious Oregon-based tech corporation, Clockjack, which has enough money and hired guns to silence just about anyone—including this rag-tag trio. Luckily, Dez’s speciality is not just to open doors, but keep them open—and protect those working to expose Clockjack’s secrets.

More stands in the way of the truth than just one corporation. When hired thugs come to the finish the job and attack the Swann sisters at the hospital, Dez does what he does best. Now, the two captured men (and the corpse Dez left behind) attract the attention of not just Clockjack, but of the Portland police, the D.E.A, and the U.S. Marshalls. Dez and the Swann sisters are on the run from powers beyond their control and means. Outnumbered, under resourced and outgunned, Dez must use all his skills to keep his friends safe and stand up to corporate conniving. After all, the one thing Clockjack didn’t count on? A good man with a simple job to do.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Aug 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781250896346

James Byrne

JAMES BYRNE is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews for Deadlock

[Emily Lassiter Branch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second book in the Dez Limerick series, and having read and loved the first one, I was really happy to jump into this new adventure with Dez. And this one did not disappoint. Dez is an interesting guy - a jack of all trades, and master of many - especially the important ones like, oh, saving the world. In his past professional life he was what's known as a "gatekeeper" - excelling at opening doors (both physical and virtual doors) and keeping them open long enough to complete the job at hand. In his "retirement" he enjoys traveling and improving his amateur musical skills, but somehow still finds ways to use those professional skills from his past life. He's the kind of action hero I like - he has a distinct moral compass, he's fiercely loyal, he has a quirky sense of humor. His adversaries here are part of a company that's supposedly all on the side of good - but underneath the shiny altruistic surface, they're a completely different beast. The powers that be in the company make a gross tactical error when they threaten one of Dez's friends and her sister, and that fiercely loyal side of him kicks in. Fun read - actually fun listen, I listened to the audio version and as with The Gatekeeper, the narration by John Keating was excellent. Can't wait to see what lies in store for Dez in the future.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.