Hard Target - Softcover

My literary career has been marked by a number of events, none more significant than an accidental meeting 20 years ago while researching my first novel, "False Accusations," at the California Department of Justice's crime lab. I started chatting with FBI agent Mark Safarik, a profiler at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and Agent Safarik subsequently invited me out to Quantico to tour the Academy. My immersion in the world of serial killers, rapists, bombers, and arsonists was off to an eye-opening start. Over the course of seven years, I’d made numerous trips to the BAU, had countless hours of conversations with Agent Safarik and his partner, attended FBI training courses, shot submachine guns with the Academy’s head firearms instructor, edited four published FBI research papers on serial offenders, and parsed serial killer interviews with Agent Safarik. I was finally ready to write my third novel, the first featuring FBI Profiler Karen Vail—the national bestseller, "The 7th Victim." Oozing sharp wit and sarcasm, Vail means well but, like you and me, makes mistakes. Despite being a skilled profiler, she suffers unease about the decisions she makes because lives are on the line. Errors prove costly. Vail has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers because she's real. The head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers association described Karen Vail as “a cop you'd go through a door with"—a phrase used to describe a colleague with whom officers trust their lives when bullets are flying. Vail directs the action in "The 7th Victim,” “Crush," "Velocity," "Inmate 1577," and the short story “Fatal Twist.” She also has a meaty role in “Hard Target,” which brings back enigmatic covert operative Hector DeSantos (who debuted in my second novel, “The Hunted,” and who partnered with Vail in “Velocity”). My years of research and training with the FBI, DEA, US Marshals Service, Scotland Yard, and SWAT have shaped the stories I tell and the diverse characters that populate my novels. So sit back, crack the spine--or swipe the touchscreen--and immerse yourself in the gripping world of Alan Jacobson thrillers. Finally, FBI profiler Mark Safarik and I co-authored a 23-page personal safety booklet that’s available free on my website, AlanJacobson.com. It'll help you and your loved ones stay safe by avoiding the crosshairs of violent criminals. And be social--follow me on Facebook and Twitter. See you in cyberspace!

A grand slam... Filled with action from beginning to end, Hard Target is Alan Jacobson s best work to date... While the story is fictional, it s definitely not farfetched. If you ve ever wondered about our government s vulnerabilities, read Hard Target it s like shining a spotlight into a dark, dank, mysterious basement: You might be surprised at what you find hiding there. --New York Journal of Books

Authenticity makes this novel work. Jacobson delves deep into the inner workings of government agencies like the CIA and the FBI to create a realistic fly-on-the-wall scenario. Hard Target reads like a real case with real people, and readers will be blown away when it s over. [It is] Alan Jacobson s latest page turner. --Associated Press

A wild ride from start to finish. While not exactly part of his bestselling Karen Vail series, it most certainly takes place in Vail s world, and indeed she has a featured role in the book. But despite the familiarity of some of the characters, HARD TARGET is not quite like anything you have read before. /Jacobson s novels are known for the incredible amount of research that he pours into them, and HARD TARGET is no exception. Jacobson gives an in-the-room, over-the-shoulder viewpoint to each and every scene and detail that occurs in the book, which in turn quietly ratchets up the adrenalin level sentence by sentence, page by page. If you want thorough, Jacobson is your man. He lists around 26 different real-world sources for the derring-do and goings-on that occur here. Yet, the narrative never feels burdened or over-laden with details. Instead, the facts and minutiae that propel the novel make it even more suspenseful and interesting. It is one of those books that readers actually feel smarter for having read but without sacrificing entertainment value. /HARD TARGET is one thriller that you absolutely should not miss, a work that is as current and frightening as tomorrow morning s headlines. --Bookreporter