Reviews

The Gatekeeper: A Thriller by James Byrne

marbooks88's review

4.0

Dez has left his job and moved to California. But some things he can’t leave behind and when he sees someone in trouble he’s compelled to help. He finds himself in the middle of a situation that could have profound consequences. Good thing he was a Gatekeeper.

This book pulls you in and keeps you reading.

Thanks to Minotaur Press for providing an arc for my honest review.

rndecker's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

patlanders's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

siriuslyobssesedwithbooks's review

4.0

Nice fast paced thriller. I love the main character. Dez makes me laugh. The flow of the story is really nice and easy to follow. My only thing is i kept hoping for some insane, crazy, massive twist that just wrecked me..but i never got that. Don’t get me wrong! The twists were there and i enjoyed them but i was always wanting for just a little bit more. This book surprised me with its relevance to today and its take on the political rifts in the United States. I enjoy the way the author describes things and sets the scene. Really nice array of language. I marked some words for future reference hahaha.

crazyllama14's review

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

arthur_pendrgn's review

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 This was a rollicking good time since I didn't take it too seriously.
If I had, it's a pretty bleak picture of corporations getting away with murder. Even Petra chose to save her company over seeing justice for those she was purportedly concerned about.
Oh, yes, there will be many who dislike its politics. 

antonia_reads's review

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

alvalvano's review

adventurous funny inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

mojoshivers's review

4.0

A great entry into a new series. Dez is a different kind of action hero—competent but also a bit of a smart aleck. Whereas others might have a witty one-liner here and there, Dez is cracking jokes left and right. It’s like somebody combined Deadpool and Jason Bourne.

I wouldn’t say the plotting is the best in the business. There’s something about every scene that kind of stretches credibility. Sometimes it leads the plot into parody. But, like other new thriller series, that’s a problem that can be worked as the series progresses.

The bedrock of any novel series is good characters and this book introduces one hell of a guy, I figure I’ll be buying the next book to see how much the plotting improves.

dgrachel's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I think my biggest issue with this was probably the audiobook narrator. I didn't enjoy the narration and I found it easy to tune out, so I'm sure I missed things that were important and/or would have made the reading experience more interesting. As it is, I never felt invested or connected to the story. There's nothing here that stands out or makes this anything other than a cookie cutter thriller. The writing was fine. The plot and characters were fine. There were some scenes that were annoyingly sexist. I have to read the second for NetGalley, but unless it is markedly better, I won't be looking for more from this author.