The story opens with Jack Palace being paroled from prison. Now as he makes his back to the city he out to meet up with the man who was an ex-cell mate and one who saved his life in prison. Jack now owes him a favor and he is out to set it square to move on. Tommy is the boss’s son and now the boss is dying. Tommy feels like everyone is after his father title the boss. He is correct, he is also paranoid and becomes more so as the story goes along. He also wants Jack to collect some outstanding debits for him. This he does with no problem until one man. Turns out that, that man is actually Joey the mechanic a hit man but is going by an alias. This is really the start of the many problem that begin for Jack and the few friends he has. One of his friends or who actually taught him how to do some of the things he does ends killed by Joey. So you can see where this is going. Jack also is wanting to find love and thinks he does with Suzanne, but because of all of the violence surrounding him can this really work? Meanwhile as you go through the story you are also told Jack’s story in bits from childhood to how he came to meet the people in his life, and how he came to owe Tommy this favor which is really what started all of this to begin with. Just when you think you have this story figured out there is a little twist at the end which added to the story and really made it work for me. I also liked how he would go back in his mind and think back in time, and especially the time he spent in prison those moments and descriptions felt real. Good characters and a good story.

Yard Dog by A.G. Pasquella if you are looking for alot of action, some humor, a little bit of sex and alot of action...did I say a lot of action already?! this is the book you have been looking for. Fast paced, draws you in and holds your attention, great characters and great storyline! I will be looking for more from this author in the future! Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers Dundurn for this this ARC book and letting me give my honest opinion.

Published in Canada by Dundurn on November 24, 2018

In the tradition of The Sopranos, Yard Dog is propelled by violence but fueled by characterization. Jack Palace is out of jail. A gangster named Tommy wants to get him back into the life, going on routes with his men as they collect debts. In the tradition of stories about aging gangsters, Jack is tired of the life. He’s at war with his sense of fatalism. Another character calls him delusional for believing that he’s not a gangster. He probably is delusional but his attempt to discern a faint line between right and wrong makes him an interesting guy.

It doesn’t take long for Jack to improve the way Tommy does business, but problems arise when Tommy wants Jack to collect debts that are owed to Tommy’s father, particularly a debt owed by a hit man who isn’t inclined to recognize Tommy’s authority to collect on his father’s behalf. A struggle for power dictated by mob politics threatens Tommy’s position as dueling mobsters wait for Tommy’s hospitalized father to draw his last breath.

One thing leads to another in this fast-moving story, and before the novel’s midway point mobsters are at war with other mobsters — or at least they’re at war with Jack, who can do more damage with a bag full of knives than most platoons can do with serious weaponry. Jack prefers knives because they’re clean and accurate; innocent people don’t get killed in the crossfire.

The plot in Yard Dog isn’t complex — lots of people want to kill Jack and he needs to solve that problem, sometimes by killing his assailants — but the point of a crime novel like Yard Dog is to raise the reader’s adrenalin level without making the reader leave the couch. The story easily accomplishes that goal. The ending is satisfying if not entirely unexpected.

Yard Dog isn’t a comedy but it has some very funny moments, at least for readers who aren’t disturbed by the humor of psychopaths. Some of the creative rants in which gangsters indulge made me laugh out loud. The story is also written with some heart. The fact that people find themselves in positions that require a certain amount of killing doesn’t necessarily make them incapable of feeling emotions or of following an ethical code. A.G. Pasquella imagines stone cold killers who have a sensitive side, killers who pursue revenge killings not from a sense of tradition but because they loved the people for whom they exact revenge. That doesn’t make revenge a morally sound choice, but it humanizes the characters who decide to pursue it. On the other hand, some of the characters are just being true to their violent natures.

Yard Dog features a few brief but graphic sex scenes. Readers who are disturbed by the thought of other people enjoying sex might want to find something else to read. Readers who are disturbed by violence probably won’t want to pick up a crime novel, much less this one. On the other hand, readers who enjoy an intelligent take on gangster fiction might want to give Yard Dog a try.

RECOMMENDED

Really enjoyable thriller. Great characters, plot and a new series I will be looking forward to more of.

Author A.G. Pasquella has some impressive credentials, writing skills and, apparently, a reluctance to reveal much else about himself. That’s okay because his latest book, “Yard Dog,” is an okay thrill ride that doesn’t need extra hype about its writer.

Jack Palace, protagonist of this series, is supposedly an honorable man that repays his debts. After being released from jail he gets involved with Tommy’s troubles. Bad choice, because Tommy is a mean and vicious leader of crime and corruption in Toronto's mean streets, and violence is bound to reappear in Jack’s life. It does, and many nasty people keep dying. Jack has to keep killing and running to repay his debt.

Not much to the story about a crook trying to live in his father’s shadow and paying a price for his efforts. There’s rampant violence, abundant nasty language, and bodies being scattered over the landscape. Oh, and some sex too. It’s intriguing reading but nothing too intellectual going on.

Jack loves his knives. He has them strapped all over his body but seems to be able to get to them quickly and cut whatever needs to be sliced open. I wondered throughout the book how he was able to be so flexible with stiff steel taped to all his limbs. And how was he able to free up all this weaponry in time to save his butt.

This is a fun read with just enough interest to carry the reader over to the next scheduled educational book.