Noble Intentions - Season One - (Episodes 1 - 5) by L. T. Ryan takes Jack Noble in a strange direction as his services lead him deeper into the criminal element run by the all-world gangster known as "the old man".
From assassin, sniper, to all-around hit-man, Jack sinks farther into a callous killing machine mode. His ability to eliminate not only "targets" but anyone who gets in his way or could identify him become the accepted norm. When he's supposed to meet with the old man about a particular job, knowing the gangster won't wait if he's late, the diversion of a little girl crying on the oblivious New York City street distracts him. She's looking for her mother who's nowhere to be found. The old man waits as Jack rescues the girl but drives away because of the delay. This is only the beginning of all kinds of chaos and jobs gone wrong.
Again through Paris, Monaco, and small towns in Italy to complete assignments from the old man and his former French espionage connection Pierre, Jack's outlook falters and he briefly questions himself about why he took the jobs. The unexpected plight of his girlfriend Clarissa, the little girl Mandy, and the need for his best friend and business partner Bear to protect them present difficulties neither Jack nor Bear anticipated.
The seemingly endless reach of the old man leaves each of them in constant danger. When the job for Pierre takes an unexpected turn, Jack is finally in real trouble with no one to help coordinate an escape.
Prior to this edition of the Jack Noble Novels, I really liked Jack. However, in this next segment of the series, I found the character less likable, more cocky, and unwilling to do a comprehensive assessment of who he's become. His conscience flares briefly, but he shuts it down with cynical precision. He's allowed himself to retreat from true emotion and assume his confidence and skills will make a way where there is no way. Of course this is expected of men with his training and in his position. There's a hint he's growing tired of it all, wanting to get out, find a way to disappear, but he's put himself in the position of never realizing true freedom. Looking over his shoulder, on the run, rarely trusting, and in danger: this is Jack's life.
Another thriller from L. T. Ryan, Noble Intentions - Season One is filled with episodes capturing more intimate looks at multiple characters. I was surprised by the accomplished toughness of Clarissa, not sure of having been adequately prepared for it and from where it came until a casual reference to her past seems to illuminate some training from her dad and Jack not previously acknowledged. I found it slightly difficult to fathom since there had been no previous evidence of her having to hold up under such horrific conditions.
Little Mandy serves to expose the last little particles of tenderness in the trio of Jack, Bear, and Clarissa. She inspires the utmost protection from them, and although Jack trusts Bear to guard her life, she becomes a perfect bargaining tool for the old man.
There are some twists at the end of these episodes, one expected, one not so much, and another motivated by guilt.
This was my least favorite of the Jack Noble Novels because of the deterioration of Jack as a person. Becoming strictly a gun for hire, even though his targets are usually reprehensible, is making him just another hardened killer not much different from the old man's other thugs - just better at his job. Leaving a wake of damage and death, he's immune to what it's doing to him most of the time. He's handling his personal demise with more drink and cigarettes, sardonic humor and taunting - none of it working to his benefit.
While cautiously looking forward to the next "season" of L. T. Ryan's Noble Intentions, I'm hoping for some kind of personal reflection from Jack Noble, the kind that will bring back some "nobility" to his character. And once again the vacancy in stories without any concept of God amplifies the absence of meaning in life's struggles and tragedies.
Father, we're desperate for you, whether we know it or not. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.