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The Breakout    by Ryan David Jahn Amazon.com order for
Breakout
by Ryan David Jahn
Order:  USA  Can
St. Martin's, 2017 (2017)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

If you're looking for a quick, fast-paced military action adventure, then Ryan David Jahn's The Breakout fits the bill and has a thread of mystery woven in for good measure. Marine Corps sniper James Murphy has come home from a tour in Afghanistan to find his beloved sister Layla (a drug addict) dead from an overdose - he does not believe it was accidental and seeks revenge.

He takes a rifle and heads to La Paz, Mexico, going after drug lord Alejandro Rocha, who rules the area, including the local police. When they notice Murphy's surveillance of Rocha's estate, they plant drugs on him, and toss him in prison, where life expectancy is low - or will be once Rocha has found out what he wants to know (he believes that Murphy was hired by his enemies).

But Murphy has friends - when his fellow Marines learn what happened, Coop, Normal and Bogart decide to go AWOL and head to La Paz, along with Murphy's girlfriend Pilar, planning a breakout. Complicating matters is the presence of undercover DEA agent Gael Jimenez in Rocha's entourage. He's close to acquiring evidence to put Rocha away for a long time.

Though at first it seems like just another variation on Prison Break (and there is a prison break) there are several surprising twists and turns to the plot of Breakout that make it worth the read.

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