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Bernard Lee DeLeo

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Hard Case: John Harding is a Cage Fighter, Marine, and Assassin for the CIA (John Harding Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Bernard Lee DeLeo (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Book 1 of 19: John Harding Series

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"Jack Reacher fans, say hello to John Harding, in a series you won't put down: He grew up mean, running away from his alcoholic father at the age of 14. With a little help in the form of a new identity, the runaway becomes John Harding. While in special ops overseas, he's recruited by CIA agent Denny Strobert, who sees something besides a knack for languages and combat skills: he knows he's found a killer."

- Kindle Nation Daily

HARD CASE begins in a back alley warehouse in East Oakland, CA, where Harding fights for money, and to keep his skills honed, coupled with the fact he likes it. Harding does odd jobs with the only guy he trusts implicitly, his handler and manager, Tommy Sands. They bodyguard, escort tourists around the Bay Area, and do bail bond, skip trace work for a lawyer named Tess Connagher.

Two events throw Harding’s seamy life in the shadows out into the light. Strobert is ordered to enlist Tess Connagher’s law firm to act as an intermediary with Harding in order to protect an outspoken Afghani woman whose family Harding protected long ago. The woman’s father requested him, and the state department realizes they’ll be off the hook if anything happens to Samira Karim while under Harding’s care. Secondly, Harding fights a particularly brutal fight with a Russian mob backed fighter named Van Rankin who hates Harding. They’d had words.

The YouTube video of Harding’s subsequent beat-down of Rankin goes viral along with many of his prior fights. When Rankin’s Russian mobster backer, Alexi Fiialkov pushes for a rematch on the UFC circuit, CIA Agent Strobert sees infinite possibilities since the United Arab Emirates has part ownership in the UFC. Some matches would be taking place in Dubai, where the CIA knows targets of opportunity show up from time to time.

Tess Connagher, both fascinated and repulsed by Harding, cannot stay away from him. She rapidly finds out Harding is not some East Oakland leg-breaker, and being around him can be very dangerous, whether you’re his friend or his enemy. She makes a couple of serious errors in judgment - Tess thinks she can control Harding, and she uses him to help Lora, her older sister.

The John Harding Series

LINK - http://amzn.to/2BmaRyV

Book 1 of 19

John Harding Series
Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

16 May 2013
File size

731 KB
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Product description

About the Author

I own a one man automotive repair shop in Oakland, CA. I write adventure fiction and have fourteen of my novels offered for Amazon Kindle. My three latest novels are: COLD BLOODED published by Wild Child Publishing, HARD CASE published by RJ Parker Publishing, and THE PROTECTORS published by RJ Parker Publishing. My new paranormal novel LANCELOT was released in October of 2012. I published my humorous paranormal romance, LAYLA, in November of 2012, and my YA paranormal, DEMON in December. DEMON is the first book of a YA trilogy. I served aboard the USS Ranger (CVA61) from 1969 until November of 1972. I earned an AA degree in Auto Technology from Chabot College in Hayward, CA, and a BA degree in English from Cal State Hayward. My hobbies are basketball, backpacking, and scuba diving. My favorite dive spot is Point Lobos near Pacific Grove, CA.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0083NUPY2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ RJ Parker Publishing; 522 Pages edition (16 May 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 731 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 437,063 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 2,327 in Hard-Boiled Mysteries
- 3,621 in Hard-Boiled Mystery
- 7,356 in Police Procedurals (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,743

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Bernard Lee DeLeo

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Born and raised in Warren, Ohio, Mr. DeLeo writes Pulp Fiction in many genres. He served aboard the USS Ranger (CVA61) from 1969 until November of 1972. After the Navy, he earned an AA degree in Auto Technology from Chabot College in Hayward, CA, and a BA degree in English from Cal State Hayward.

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Raj Bahadur

A fascinating life journey of a young boy

Reviewed in Australia on 24 February 2014

The brutality and the action scenes of this novel justify its title to the core. An extremely energetic young run-away boy named John Harding transforms though several roles in the society in his life. He is discarded, helped and finally recruited in the Marine Corps. His harsh view of justice gets him involved in a couple of serious cases.
Apart from the action, this book raises several important questions. If you want to make a new life for yourself, can you escape the past? Can we construct our identity without roots and their history? Whatever the case, 'Hard Case' is a book which should not be missed. It is realistic, shocking and humorous at the same time.

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geoffrey hill

I enjoyed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 November 2020

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Be a bit right wing for some people but have thoroughly enjoyed this s series and the Cold Blooded series. I brought the first Cold Blooded book about 4 months ago(August 2020) and have bought both series. Congratulations to the author. With what has been happening in America this year year, very topical and the series began in 2013.

Marie

Suspenseful as in almost scary? Definitely!

Reviewed in Canada on 29 October 2017

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While the story runs along smoothly with hidden smiles even when situations are described sometimes in repulsive details, this book is for those who enjoy reading about what used to be called boxing, but in this book it is not a “sport” but rather
a violent mix of martial arts with boxing gloves with all the painful details. The main character, in my opinion, is a man who , despite his violent actions, still has a good way of acting with young people and still come across as a rough James Bond ( without the fancy cars). If you are into this ...Enjoy!

One person found this helpful

claudette valliere

Harding does rock.

Reviewed in the United States on 18 November 2013

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Didn't quite know what to expect with this one but loved it from page one.

John Harding is a 6'5" tall. He's one big guy. A guy with loads of know how.

He was a Spec Ops Force Recon Marine, He does work for the CIA and he's a Mixed Martial Arts cage fighter.

Harding had one bad childhood. He ended up in the Marines. A good move for him. He has a penchant for languages and is hell on wheels when it comes to survival and taking out the bad guys.

After he got out of the Marines he got into the MMA in a big way.

During his first fight a slow ref caused the death of his opponent. Because of that most of his fights are impromtu, pick up fights. He makes money.

His agent is Tommy Sands. He's a good agent and friend.

Harding beats a guy in a MMA bout. A guy he wasn't supposed to beat. This gets the Russian Mafia involved. They had backed this guy big time. Lost loads of money. The Mafia leader wants a rematch. He's a guy Harding can do business with. A guy who turns out to be a pretty good friend.

Of course the monster has to recover first. It will be a while before another fight..

Tess Connagher is another sometime employer for Harding. She works for a law firm and uses John to go after bail jumpers.

Tess also has the hots for Harding. A fact Harding is willing to go along with. That is until Tess uses her closeness with John to set him up for a meeting with Dennis Strobert. Harding and Strobert do Govt business together occasionally. The fact that Tess is involved in this meeting is something Harding is not happy about.

Good thing. Tess is too pissy for my money. Don't like her at all. Glad she's gone in Book 1. Good Gawd what an idiot she is.

This meeting with Strobert lands Harding in a bodyguard assignment. The assignment involves a young lady he last saw when she was eleven years old. She has since grown into a beautiful, passionate young lady. She's passionate about Democracy for her homeland. Afghanistan and rights for women in the Muslim world.

This turns into one great story full of action, old friends, new friends, a traitor and John Harding in the middle of it all.

One good read and well worth those five stars.

3 people found this helpful

Mixmaster

like a good Marine counts his shots fired

Reviewed in the United States on 11 March 2015

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This is the first of the "John Harding" character series. In fact I have just finished the second in the series but I promise.. NO SPOILERS other than its an indication that I wanted more. Harding is a former Marine, an quasi legal mixed martial arts / cage fighter and a stone cold killer. Who has been recruited by the CIA for very special operations and sanctions. The character is believable and well fleshed out. As is the violence, sex and cunning of all the characters. On the down side the author makes several key technical mistakes but I wont go there as they might be considered as "spoilers" and I promised I wouldn't do that. As the character of John Harding is written in the first person however I will suggest that the author seek help in the firearms department. A former combat US Marine and CIA Operator would never, ever refer to a pistol or rifles magazine as a "clip" Its not a "clip" Its a "magazine". there is a big difference. He also refers to his Colt .45 Automatic Pistol. ( which properly should be referred to as a 1911 ) That John keeps tucked in his backside pants waist band.. Now, that's a lot of gun to stick in a waistband next to your spine and still be able to walk normally. The next issue is typical of Hollywood not novels, that of the unlimited amount of ammo in a pistol. One that just keeps on shooting and never runs out. . John, like a good Marine counts his shots fired. Johns "Colt" fired 15 by his count and still had 4 more . ( I counted along with John ) problem is that Colt 1911's in .45 hold seven rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. that makes eight not 19. Ooops.
Other than this annoying small stuff this is a good read and a page turner. Im hooked and will buy number three. .

One person found this helpful

Kiwiboer

couldn't put it down

Reviewed in Canada on 30 September 2014

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I liked the fast pace action and the diversification of John Harding's talents.
Good start to a series, now onto Book 2.

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Hard Case: John Harding is a Cage Fighter, Marine, and Assassin for the CIA (John Harding Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

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Bernard Lee DeLeo

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