This is the 4th book in the Gibson Vaughn hacker series. It wasn't one of my favorites (those would be the first and the third), but still an entertaining story with some desired closure on a couple issues from past books. What I think sets this series apart from other books in this genre is the character development and dry, almost dark humor. That wasn't as prevalent in this one, which is why it lost points with me. The story was easy to follow though, with a manageable amount of characters. I also think you could read this one even if you haven't read any of the others, which is a plus. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for a chance to read this ARC.

Drug and criminal businesses stretches all round the world and even in an idyllic place like the Algarve. Fugitive Gibson Vaughn and his three friends living in shelter provided by the local drug lord, soon find out they still have not outrun trouble, as the ransome business takes a new turn. Baltasar Alves their landlord requests (commands) help to release his latest drug shipment from a ransom demand, failure to do so would plunge the crime boss into serious problems with supplying Mexican cartel. The author puts on paper what you see with TV series like El Chapo or Narcos, graphic violence to protect the family and the business from any possible takeovers. It is well packed with action, some mystery and of course the no holds barred bloodshed.

Another great book in the Gibson Vaughn series by Matthew FitzSimmons! I think what I like about this series is that while it has a lot of elements of other series (action, Thriller, good vs. evil, etc.) the characters in this series are more complex. It’s not just one person, but a full team that each have their back stories, their reasonings, and their drive. I think being able to see all the individuals come together as one team is what makes these stand out. I look forward for the next book in the series to come along!

Thank you to Matthew FitzSimmons and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

The Best Gibson Vaughn Book So Far

This is the fourth book in the series. The last book, Cold Harbor, was a real rollercoaster of a story. I was hoping for another good novel, but this novel over delivered! This novel opens on the waters off southern Portugal with a fishing boat that is not fishing for fish. The next day Gibson Vaughn gets ready for a morning run. He is sharing building owned by an old associate of George Abe who is the local crime boss. George’s employees, Dan Hendricks, ex LA cop, and Jenn Charles, ex CIA, share the building. They are all lying low as they are the subjects of a global FBI search for them along with a paramilitary organization, Cold Harbor. They are all relaxing and enjoying the present and not seriously looking to the future as they will have to leave sometime. All four were collected and brought to the estate of George’s old associate. He has a problem, a major drug shipment has been high jacked, and he wanted their help. Everyone in his organization that he formed from four drug gangs is against it. The novel takes off from here and navigates through many twists, turns, and misdirections all set in an environment of much internal conflict within Gibson’s team, much internal conflict within drug organization, and much conflict between Gibson’s team and the drug organization. At this point my attention was locked into this story. I finished it in three days that has only happened once before.

The aspect of that I really enjoyed how the author turned a team that was in a real deep doldrums and transitioned into their old selves to meet the many obstacles in their way.

The B-story was quite rich and the author wove it into the main storyline quite well. Since this novel started with all of the main characters at a low, some of their pent up feelings were being expressed by the characters. As the team coalesces to the task at hand, more history and feelings are revealed. All of this enriched my reading enjoyment and kept me reading.

There was some vulgar language but all were context appropriate and no graphic sex scenes. There violence but they were quick murders. Only one scene of torturer that one was mostly implied. These aspects should not impose barriers to reading this novel.

While the start of this novel did refer back to the events of the last novel, all references were explained so if this is the first novel of the series that you will read, not having read the first three should not lessen your reading enjoyment of this novel. If fact, it might make you want to go back and read them.

Overall, I rate this novel with five stars. I am definitely waiting for the fifth novel in this series due out in November 2019.

I have received a free kindle version of this novel through NetGalley from Thomas & Mercer with a request for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this novel early.

I like this series. It continues to deliver. Gibson drives the characters to do the right thing. All of gang grows a bit.

It took me a few chapters to get into this book after reading book #1 in the series a few years ago and not reading #2 or #3. After I got the review of where the characters have been, I really started to enjoy the book. IT is the story of Gibson Vaughn and his crew hiding out in Portugal when a crisis befalls their benefactor. Gibson and his people get drawn too deep too quick and it is a fast paced read to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend to all. Thanks to Thomas and Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC for my review.

I've read all the books in this series and this is one of my favorites so far. I really enjoyed the change of scenery in this book. While the others are mostly set on the East Coast, moving to Portugal was a fun change. The gang is back together and find themselves in the middle of a fight they didn't start and want nothing to do with. While I wasn't extremely excited with the subplot towards the end, FitSimmons leaves us ready for book 5 (I hope)!

I found this book a great improvement over the author's last book. It kept the reader interested and looking forward to the next page. The one criticism I do have about this book is that again the author did a poor job of integrating needed information from the past books in this series into the present book.

Debris Line is the latest in Matthew Fitzsimmons' adventures of Gibson Vaughn. I loved The Short Drop and was entertained by Poison Feather, Cold Harbor, and Debris Line, but the first book was definitely the best in this thriller series.

Debris Line finds Gibson Vaughn, Jenn, Hendricks, and George in a small coastal village in Portugal. Their host? A drug smuggler who owes George a favor and is willing to harbor the fugitives for a time.

Then a drug shipment is hijacked. Not taken, but threatened with destruction, and Vaughn and his team must repay the privilege of having enjoyed the kingpin's sanctuary. Or else.

Fast-paced with twists and betrayals and a new protagonist/antagonist? hacker group responsible for the heist. The spokesperson has a great deal of knowledge about Vaughn. Whoever these people are, we can expect to hear more about them in the next book.

Read in July. Blog review scheduled for Nov. 1.

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer
Thriller/Suspense. Nov. 13, 2018.

Debris Line (Gibson Vaughn #4) by Matthew FitzSimmons

In Book 4 of the series, the author seamlessly transitions to a radically new and far more exotic location, and meets the challenge with a fresh, plausible plot, authentic local ethnic flavors, and the usual array of creative twists and turns in a suspense thriller.

Many readers were introduced to Gibson Vaughn in Book 1 of the series, "The Short Drop", featured back in 2015 as one of the first offerings of Amazon First Reads. Ever since, action and adventures of the IT hacker and former Marine have been non-stop and enthralling.

In this installment, the protagonist is joined by his comrades in arms and fellow fugitives - at times lethal foes, Jenn Charles, Dan Hendricks and George Abe in an idyllic respite, with the back-drop of a "debris line" on a sun-drenched beach in a small coastal town in Portugal - which turns out to be anything but a holiday in the sand.

Drug smuggling Portuguese mafia types, Romanian gangsters and the Mexican cartel are set as antagonists, in lieu of US private military contractors and US government officials and operatives depicted in previous installments.

You'd never guess what Gibson does in his final game-changing hack.

Review based on an advance reading copy presented by NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Amazon Publishing.

Debris Line is the fourth excellent and fast-paced thriller in the Gibson Vaughn series written by author Matthew FitzSimmons. I highly recommend this series. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advance copy.

The protagonist of this series, Gibson Vaughn is a favorite of mine. I have enjoyed every book in this series so far and I always eagerly await the next one. I was thrilled to receive an ARC for this one, which is #4 and found it to be just as exciting as the others in the series. I like to read series in order but I don't think it's necessary for this entry that you do so. If you haven't tried this series yet then waste no time righting that.

I'm between 4 and 4.5 stars.

I'm not sure exactly how I found Matthew FitzSimmons' series of thrillers featuring former hacker Gibson Vaughn and his cohorts, but this has been a pretty terrific set of books so far. The Short Drop utterly blew me away, and while Poisonfeather didn't quite have the same magic, Cold Harbor was as "vintage FitzSimmons" as it is possible for an author's third book to be.

His newest installment of the series, Debris Line, finds the characters in a totally different setting, but it's not long before they find themselves in another heap of trouble, although this time it's not entirely of Vaughn's (or any of the others') own making.

After their last "adventure" left them being hunted by federal agents—and worse—Vaughn, along with Jenn, George, and Hendricks, are laying low on the beautiful beaches of a coastal town in Portugal. It's hard to quibble with gorgeous weather and scenery every day (especially when you were once held captive in a prison for quite some time), and it's nice to have peace without having to watch your back every second, but Vaughn knows that all good things must come to an end sooner than later, or they'll all grow soft(er).

His fervent pleas to his compatriots that they begin planning their exit fall on deaf ears. But when their host, a notorious drug kingpin who owes George an old debt, asks for their help in determining whether he has a coup on his hands in his massive cartel, they realize that paying the piper is the only way they'll be able to escape—if that. The group finds themselves in the middle of a massive power struggle, one with potentially disastrous consequences that could blow back onto Vaughn, Jenn, George, and Hendricks.

When Vaughn starts digging into what appears to be a textbook hijacking of a shipment, he discovers the cartel has interesting enemies—and there's far more at stake than drugs and money. But the stakes are higher than they've ever been, and the crew is as far from their comfort zone as possible—and not everyone is even sure that they should get involved. Somehow they wind up on a whiplash-inducing ride of divided loyalties, immense risk, and in one case, love might even be involved. None of these are good keys to survival, and all of them together could spell danger.

Every time I read one of FitzSimmons' books I'm reminded what a terrific group of characters he has created in this series. While Vaughn is certainly the tortured and flawed hero/anti-hero, in this book it was refreshing not to see him so hangdog—at least until he realizes what a mess it is they're in. I enjoyed the way FitzSimmons dug deeper into the dynamics between the group members, tugging at some resentments which have been simmering just below the surface for some time.

This book definitely had a slow start, as the change in setting and the new cast of characters took some time to get acclimated to. Additionally, this is a book that utilized more of Vaughn's computer skills than some of the previous books, so it takes a while for the real action to get going. But when it does, well, FitzSimmons takes his foot off the brakes and just lets the story barrel downhill—fast. His knack for action scenes as well as dialogue are on sharp display once again in this book.

While you could read Debris Line even if you've never read any of the other books in this series, I'd definitely encourage you to pick the earlier books first. There are mentions of incidents from the previous books, although not a lot of details, so having that prior knowledge would definitely be helpful. Beyond that, however, if you don't read the previous books, you'll be missing out on a pretty terrific series, so why do that to yourselves?

Count me in for standing on line and waiting for FitzSimmons' next book, whether it's another installment in the series or not! (Given that this book doesn't get released officially until November, I won't actually stand, but you know what I mean.) Read these books!

NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Another winning read in the Gibson Vaughn series. FitzSimmons has another winner on his hands. A definite good beach read!