The Ruthless: David Putnam

The Ruthless: David Putnam

How do you cope with the death of your child and your grandson caused by someone else? How do you deal with the death of a daughter that was made to appear as if she took an overdose when in fact she did not? Bruno Johnson is a tough black cop who is going through rough patches that most would not be able to deal with. Justice his brand of justice is not quite within the law but effective. Will he be able to enact justice on the criminal who killed his teenage daughter Olivia and his grandson? Then the murder of the judge who he was the bailiff for in his court is shot and killed along with his wife in cold blood. What is the connection to another murder that the judge was a party to and who wanted him out of the way? Karl Higgins is his undercover name working with a special unit to get weapons off the streets and make deals with known criminals. He is also a deputy sheriff for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. Appearances are deceiving as most think he has been released from the police force for misconducts and poor behavior. Working two sides of the street in his new job or role he helps run high sting operations run by a sociopathic arms dealer named Nigel.
Hoping to take down this person and make these covert deals Bruno gets caught up in the murder of the judge and his wife working with Robby Wicks who is not exactly on the up and up all the time. Can he get the killer or killers of the judge, deal with the stings and then go after Derek Sams who was the father of his two grandchildren, let out of jail under the pretense that he could help find the judge’s killer leaving Bruno more than angry remembering what he did to his grandson and his daughter? Bruno is haunted by a dream involving Derek as we learn what he did to make his point and hoping that Derek would finally learn his lesson and not mess with Bruno but sometimes lessons need to be repeated and Bruno was going after him no matter what to avenge the death of his daughter and his grandson. Added in Alonzo is living in a place with more children in a situation that he hopes to correct. But the courts are not always in the favor of grandparents or great grandparents and he might wind up with Derek’s people if he cannot figure out a way to take him down.
Added in he wants to understand the reasons why he never knew his mother and the author flashes back with the help of his father to when they met and their relationship and more. The harsh reality about what happened to his mother and the two people she became involved with took a lot for Bruno to process and his father to tell. Lies, money, deceptions all around in the past, present and possibly the future. As Bruno must face off with two dangerous men who decided to take down his boss at his other job and now he had to decide the next step. Dealing face to face with Derek was brutal and the result will surprise readers as the law is now on the wrong side and justice was invalidated if you think about it as Derek took away his daughter and grandson and someone was defending him and his actions. Now that his boss was out of commission and seriously injured would he go after the two that did it and will he avenge the death of the judge?

Bruno holds his anger in and at times lets it all out especially when in the bar having to pretend to be one of the tough guys and not allowing anyone to get the better of him. Bruno fights within himself to learn the truth behind his daughter’s death but first he must decide which side of the fence belongs to him as Johnny Sin and Jumbo want to make another gun deal but is he being played? Derek is taunting him and goes after getting custody of his only son and then things heat up even more as author David Putnam takes readers and Bruno down many dangerous paths that might lead to changing his life forever.
When Nigel is severely hurt and beaten, and Derek seems to think he is above the law and each time he is arrested why does he get set free? His crimes are known and yet he seems protected from jail time but someone has decided to change that and what happens next will forever change the life of Bruno but what will the outcome be?
Gun deals are set in place. James Barlow, Black Bart’s son is heading up the team to take these guys down and Bruno wants in, but will he follow the protocol? But first Bruno meets with an old friend of Olivia and information gets out and he needs to decide what to do with what she tells him. Wicks has his own agendas in mind and both he and Bruno have wanted it played out their own way, but which one comes out on top, and which one will burn for what happens next? Lives are at stake; reputations are no longer solid, and someone finds out and spills who he really is and what he really does. An ending that is heartbreaking and the results will change the course of his life as author David Putnam leaves us wondering the fate of Bruno, his family and an ending that readers will have to decide was justice enacted the right way? Who should pay the price for what happened to those that deserved what they got? What is next for Bruno when the final impact of what happens falls on his shoulders and realizes did I do the right thing or am I as guilty or like THE RUTHLESS? Each character carries his/her own weight and the credibility and the depicting of each is so true to life that you can feel the tensions they each experience and the way each one enacts the law or breaks it. Justifying their own actions and at times not thinking things through explaining for the impetus and impulsive results and actions, once again David Putnam creates  novel filled with real life experiences, true to life outcomes when related to social services and a character like Bruno Johnson that you must love and respect.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews