Finished Mo 9/15/14
I found this in my collection, and I had read it in September of 1997, The book is a debut novel and is the first in the Tyler Vance series by Clay Harvey. I noticed on Amazon that today, there are several more of his novels featuring this character.
Tyler Vance is a highly trained military man who served in the DMZ of Korea during the 80's. Apparently there were special American forces who did 'dirty deeds', and Vance was one of the most skilled. He has been back in the States for many years, and one day he is at a bank and brutally foils a bank robbery. He kills two of the criminals, and one of them is the brother of the international gang leader.
The plot hinges on the fact the the US doesn't want it known that such a highly skilled killer was schooled by US forces, and Vances old army boss intercedes to help. Although he knows that Vance can do all that is necessary, he doesn't want him to go too far and bring attention to this secret program.
Once Vance realizes that an international criminal gang has him in their sites, he knows that all of his friends and family are at risk. The gang is kind of a mash-up of a huge Mexican gangster and two Croatian/Serbian brothers. A 'gang for hire' on the international criminal market.
Vance's wife had been killed by a drunk driving several years before, and he has the sole custody of a four year old son, Cullen.
The climax of the book is how Cullen is kidnapped, and Vance and his team kills the bad guys and rescues his boy.
The novel is set in Greensboro, North Carolina
McDuffy and Fanner- local cops who do almost nothing to help Vance. McDuffy is an ignorant bully, and Fanner goes by the book, but only to cover his ass.
Dave- Vance's pal from the military. They were friends since young boys. He's a 'mountain of a man' and equally skilled in martial arts and arms.
McElroy- Vance's old boss in the military. He's actively helping, but strives to conceal who Vance really is.
Heather Patterson is Vance's girlfriend. She is getting a divorce from Jason who has come out as a gay man. Vance has respect for this man because he saved Cullen at one point in the story. 'The Tree House Incident'. Web is Heather's son who is a friend of Cullen.
I'd read more of these (if the library has them), but the only thing that I could locate about the author is kind of negative. Just as Tyler Vance makes his living writing for gun magazines, so does the real-life author, Clay Harvey. But, there is a post on the internet where several people who have dealt with him have some negative comments.
Link to that post-
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/247338/Where_is_Clay_Harvey
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