Cover Image: Soul Survivor

Soul Survivor

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Member Reviews

A rather interesting, though predictable, story. It's definitely an interesting read. I find the characters to be rather well done.

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Dark and intense read. This may be the 11th book in the series, but it really isn't necessary to have read the previous ten books (I haven't). In fact, there's a six-year space since book ten and this one.

I found the characters to be realistic and not over the top in any way, which would have been easy to go with sometimes, but Ford never falls into that.

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I have adored this series and have followed private detective Leo Waterman and his ragtag pack of characters since the first book, WHO IN HELL IS WANDA FUCA? I have to admit that I enjoyed most of this but poor Leo suffered so much that it was almost painful to read at times. However, the ending seemed to leave it optional to continue the series, but I hope it is continued and we see more of Leo Waterman.

These are perfect for Lee Child, Sue Grafton, and J. A. Jance fans, and anyone who likes a good mystery series set in the appealing city of Seattle.

Thanks to the publisher for the advance digital reading copy.

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Love G.M. Ford, and Leo Waterman. This story is fantastic, and the series is always great! Highly recommend every book to a lover of this genre.

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Year ago, when I first read Who the Hell is Wanda Fuca? I thought these books were rather light, fun reading.

Each subsequent book has gotten a little tougher, more intense and I love it.

When a teenager kills a city councilman for no apparent reason, the grandfather approaches Leo and asks him to find out why. Leo does some asking around and the next thing we know he is fighting for his life. His girlfriend Rebecca asks him to back off but Leo being Leo is determined to find out who almost killed him.

His search leads him into the world of white supremecy. Timely and oh so well written. He stumbles into a plot that could kill thousands and he has to stop it.

Just like Mr. Ford did at the end of the Joe Corso series, the ending will leave you what can possibly happen next.

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I have read most, if not all, of the Leo Waterman books. And, I have enjoyed this series a great deal. In Soul Survivor Leo is once again drawn into a case involving the suicide of a family friend. As Leo digs deeper into the circumstances surround the death, he realizes that there is a much larger and darker force to be reckoned with.
While this might not be my favorite Leo Waterman book, I still found it a very enjoyable read. In particular, I like the unique characters that Leo calls upon for help and the dialogue between the characters is well-done.

If you enjoy action, an unusual plot and a smashing finish, then the Leo Waterman books by G.M. Ford just might appeal to you. I, for one, am glad to see that Leo is still around.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

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Latest in the series featuring Leo Waterman. Although this seems darker in tone than previous offerings it still offers some terrific one- liners along with some graphic, but not gratuitous, violence.

The plot revolves around the assassination of a city councillor by a most unlikely assailant and Leo's investigation leads him into conflict with far right white supremacists. The plot rattles along and there is the usual
cast of well delineated support characters. Dialogue and narrative are realistic but, as always, the main focus is on Leo and Seattle.

Mr .Ford continues to delight and this is another very good addition to a memorable series.

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Leo Waterman is one of my favorite fictional detectives. Lucky me, I scored this eleventh in the series free courtesy of Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer in exchange for this honest review.

Leo has changed, and yet he hasn’t. He came into his old man’s ill-gotten fortune awhile back, so he doesn’t have to work anymore, and since his knees are going, it’s just as well. But an old family friend comes calling on behalf of a grieving parent who wants to know how her boy, Matthew, turned into a mass shooter. Matthew died too, so nobody can ask him. Waterman goes to the funeral, where hysterical gun law advocates start a ruckus, and somehow Leo finds himself in the middle of it. From there, it’s all downhill.

Waterman runs afoul of some serious thugs, and they nearly kill him. He wakes up in the hospital and learns that his assailants have carved a symbol into his chest, one associated with white supremacy.

At first the plot seemed, once we were past the hospital portion, a little too familiar. Waterman always seems to find himself opposing right-wing nut jobs, and in chasing a resolution, he always ends up leaving Seattle in pursuit of reactionary criminals in some hinterland headquarters or bunker. But upon reflection, I decided I’m good with that, since it matches my own worldview. There are some bad apples in every city, every town, but the most progressive parts of society gravitate toward major population centers. Even an elitist place like Seattle contains more laudable elements than the teeny rightwing enclaves that are established in various rural outposts.

It doesn’t hurt that the Waterman series makes me laugh out loud at least once every single time.

I have read too many mysteries in which the sleuth is shot, stabbed, or whatevered, and when they wake up in the hospital, the first thing they do is rip out their IV, hobble into their clothes, and scoot out the door against doctor’s orders, material reality be damned. This inclination is inching its way onto my hot-button list of stupid plot points I never want to see again, and so I am greatly cheered by the way Ford writes this portion of the book. Leo’s in the hospital for a good long while, because he’s hurt. He’s really hurt. At the outset, he’s in a wheelchair, and then he needs additional surgeries and physical therapy. He leaves when he’s discharged. I’m pretty sure I hollered my thanks at least once here.

Ford’s corrupt cop characters are among the best written anywhere. I also love the intrepid desk clerk named Dylan who uses what little power he possesses for the forces of good.

This story is a page turner, and it’s hilarious in places. Last I looked, the Kindle version was only six bucks. If you love the genre and lean left, you should get it and read it. Your weekend will thank you for it.

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It has been six years since the last Leo Waterman outing. A lot has changed. Leo is older, richer, retired from the P.I. business, and the series has gotten darker. Much darker. And old friend of Leo's dead asks him to look into why his grandson, a gentle boy on the autism spectrum, should suddenly assassinate a Latino councilman. Leo declines. The old man kills himself. And then the story gets really dark. This is likely to be the last in the series, but I hope not as it is also the very best one yet.

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In the book Soul Survivor, author G. M. Ford bring PI Leo Waterman back to discover why a teenager with no record would assassinate a city councilman during the council meeting. But Leo must be onto something as he investigates and is beaten almost to death. Thousands of lives could be affected by what Leo has found!
This was a good fast paced read. The narration from Leo’s point of view could be a bit snarky and bog the story down but it was a good book. I would recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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It is a very well researched book that looked into how young people can be drawn to extremism. It is also a interesting mystery novel about a reporter who always gets involved in stories he covers .

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Don't hesitate if you haven't read the earlier books in this excellent Seattle based series. Leo Waterman has gotten himself in deeper in what he thought was going to be a casual investigation than he could have imagined. An elderly friend asks him to look into the incongruous actions of his grandson= who killed a city councilman- and then the friend commits suicide. This leads Leo down the rabbit hole of white supremacy, conspiracy and lots of bad acts. He's got a good crew of people who work with him- and Ford has a way of making you know who these people are in just a few sentences. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a neatly plotted, nicely written thriller than sometimes gets a little close to the edge but definitely will keep you turning pages.

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I loved this book and it was - BANG - being hooked since the first pages.
I read it as fast as I could as I was engrossed in the plot and wanted to know more.
A very good, fast paced and enjoyable thriller. It's well written, with a solid plot, and the characters are well written and interesting.
Even if there're other 10 books in this series I had no problems in understanding the characters and their relationship.
I will get the other instalments as I really liked this one.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this ARC

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You know how there are crime series that you just love and adore? Well, GM Ford's Leo Waterman's series set in Seattle is one of those for me. I have got to know the offbeat characters over some time, and as soon as I start to read, they begin to come back to me as though they are well loved friends of long acquaintance. This latest offering is a real humdinger of an addition, with Leo finding himself out of his depth, way way out of his depth where the life he lives has a metaphorical earthquake blow it apart, with the pieces flying in every which direction. Matthew Hardaway shoots a socialist councillor and is then shot dead by security. Leo had met the learning challenged and strange Matthew when he was a young boy but only the once. When an elderly crony of his father's, Asa, the grandfather of Matthew asks Leo to look into how Matthew came to commit this act, Leo refuses, he has put his life as a PI behind him. He is shaken and guilt ridden when he finds out Asa commits suicide.

So Leo being Leo, he talks to Martha, Matthew's mother, sees that she is being followed only to find himself with life threatening injuries and a sign carved into his chest. It takes a long time for Leo to even begin to function as a human being again as he embarks on the difficult and painful journey to recovery. The savage and inexplicable act has Leo smouldering with rage and a need to find who did this to him. He is supported by his close coterie of friends, the trio of long term drunks, Joey Ortega, Carl, the rastafarian twins, and the genetically ambiguous Gabriella 'Gabe' Funicello. Rebecca, Leo's long term girlfriend, and King County Medical Examiner, supports Leo but the strains in their relationship are beginning to show as the two come face to face with who they are and whether they really can sustain a long term future given their fundamental differences in character. Leo finds no-one wants him to look in Matthew's life, not the police, not the community, and they are willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure that he does not. Since when did obstacles ever stop Leo? However, he is unprepared for the dark and dangerous hole he falls into as he comes up against the kind of white racist alt group that poses a threat to the country that no-one could have imagined.

I cannot wait to see where GM Ford takes the series after the earth shattering events that happen here. Leo finds himself under the kind of pressure and danger that is never going to go away, pushing him into thinking of what choices he has and wondering in what direction he should go in. This is a fast paced, action packed thrill ride of a novel which I absolutely loved reading. For me, it is all about the characters, I just cannot wait to reacquaint myself with them again. Fantastic series that I recommend highly. Many thanks to Thomas and Mercer for an ARC.

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Okay...so when I requested this one, I had no idea that there were already TEN books in this series.
But, that didn't stop me from reading and absolutely LOVING this one, though! In fact, I can't wait to go back and pick up the other 10.
PI Leo Waterman is a fantastic character. He was well written and perfectly developed. I lived for being in his world. But, of course Leo's girlfriend was a total nag. Female characters like this always irk me to no end, so I just put her out of my mind while reading this one...in fact I just skimmed the pages she showed up on. So, I managed. :)
Anyway,this was a good one. I recommend it to everyone!

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Leo Waterman is back, living in his father's house that he inherited after the old man dropped dead. Leo also inherited a lot of money, but he can't openly use it since the old man was behind a lot of illegal and extra-legal shenanigans. One of his father's old cronies asks Leo to investigate how his grandson could have been responsible for the murder of an Hispanic city council member in a remote town in Washington state. Leo turns him down because he is not longer a PI and is not interested. But, when the old man dies, purportedly a suicide, Leo cannot help getting involved. When he is beaten, almost to death, after following a truck down an alley, things get personal. It takes almost a year for Leo to recover and he is now on the trail of the miscreants. No one wants to be on the bad side of Leo Waterman. White supremacists are a problem in remote parts of Washington, but Leo is a one-man wrecking machine. He discovers the young man was indeed turned into a killing machine by the hateful rhetoric of the alt-right and now they have set their sights on Leo. Another adrenaline-filled ride from G.M. Ford.

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I thought this book started out slowly but I was intrigued by Leo's character enough to keep reading-boy the things he keeps getting himself into while trying to solve the mystery why a troubled young man would suddenly go to a city meeting and shoot someone. Leo finds himself involved with some shady characters all while his earnest gang of miscreants and computer hackers try to solve the mystery before Leo is killed himself.

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With all the mystery writers crowding the bookstores nowadays, it is difficult to finish a story without some measure of disappointment when considering consider the time lost in reading a substandard tale. Thankfully, the few hours spent with “Soul Survivor” became an unexpected treat.

G. M. Ford has crafted an adventure/thriller, one that begins as a mystery and ends with multiple pulse-pounding climaxes. This book introduced me to former PI Leo Waterman, a man graced with fortune and, at times, incredibly horrible luck. Waterman relates the events, his inner thoughts laced with his dark view of the world. Although he tries not to become entangled in a mystery he initially attempts to avoid, Waterman is dragged along for the ride, eventually a willing player in a scheme even larger than he ever could have imagined.

Mr. Ford keeps us engaged at all times, injecting danger whenever the story hints that it might begin to slow down a bit. The balance of adventure and realism without stepping into the realm of the impossible makes “Soul Survivor” an enjoyable read. Highly recommended. Five stars.

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This is probably the most exciting chapter yet in the life of retired Private Investigator Leo Waterman.

A teenage boy suddenly assassinates a city councilman. He's had no other problems with the law .. so why would he suddenly turn violent to the point of killing someone?

Leo finds a link to a white-power retreat that's amassing an army for a far reaching endgame.

After being physically attacked, will this case be the one case that kills hundreds, maybe thousands, of people ... including Leo Waterman?

As the previous 10 books in this series, it is well written with memorable characters and exciting stories. Although a part of a series, this is read easily as a stand alone. I confess I haven't read the others in the order they were published, but that didn't destroy the pleasure of reading them.

Its fast-paced and full of action. Several twists and turns will keep the reader riveted to each and every page.

Many thanks to the author / Thomas & Mercer / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this crime mystery. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

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What can I say? It’s Leo Waterman and Gabe all the way this time, with Carl and the “reggae twins,” but very little if the Zoo crew. Leo is asked by an old associate of his father’s to look into why the man’s grandson would have snapped and assassinated a politician Leo turns him down, but when the old man kills himself, he has second thoughts and starts turning over rocks. He is very quickly in over his head.

Another exceptional novel by G. M. Ford. I was thrilled to get it from NetGalley, and devoured it in a day.

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