Buying Options

Kindle Price:	$8.99
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers Price set by seller.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Deliver to your Kindle Library

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the Author

Gregg Hurwitz

The Kill Clause Kindle Edition

by Gregg Hurwitz (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

2,150 ratings

Quality issues reported

Book 1 of 4: Tim Rackley Novels

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$8.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Abridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$39.89

$35.93

$2.86

Paperback

"Please retry"

$11.43

$16.04

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$7.99

$7.55

$1.53

Audio, Cassette, Abridged, Audiobook

"Please retry"

—

$24.99

The series that started it all!

A riveting and explosive novel, The Kill Clause is a brilliantly inventive tour de force by a powerful new master of suspense.

Tim Rackley is a dangerous man of honor, a deputy U.S. marshal who is very good at his job—until everything he believes in is shattered by the brutal murder of his own daughter.

Betrayed by an imperfect judicial system, Rackley watches helplessly as the killer walks free on a legal technicality. Devastated, furious, and burning with a righteous need for vengeance, he is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options—a quest that leads him into a shadowy no-man's-land between justice and the law . . . and into the welcoming fold of "the Commission."

A vigilante group made up of people like him—relentless streetwise operators who have each lost a loved one to violent crime—the Commission confronts the failings of a system that sets predators loose to hunt again, cleaning up society's "mistakes" covertly, efficiently, and permanently. But as he is dragged deeper into a deadly morass of hidden agendas and murderous justice, Tim Rackley discovers that playing God is an excruciating and fearsome task. When his new secret life starts coming unwound at an alarming speed, he is suddenly caught in the most terrifying struggle he has ever faced—a desperate battle to save his marriage, his career, his life, his soul . . . and everything left that's worth fighting for.

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

HarperCollins e-books
Publication date

October 13, 2009
File size

1006 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

All 3 available for you in this series See full series

See included books

Total Price: $26.97

Books In This Series (4 Books)

Complete Series

Tim Rackley Novels

Kindle Edition

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

1
The Kill Clause
Gregg Hurwitz

(2,150)

Kindle Edition

$8.99
2
The Program: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels)
Gregg Hurwitz

(1,436)

Kindle Edition

$8.99
3
Troubleshooter (Tim Rackley Novels)
Gregg Hurwitz

(1,437)

Kindle Edition

$8.99
4
Last Shot
Gregg Hurwitz

(51)

Kindle Edition

Gregg Hurwitz
1,436
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99
Gregg Hurwitz
1,437
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99
Gregg Hurwitz
1,634
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99
Gregg Hurwitz
1,848
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99
Gregg Hurwitz
679
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $9.99
Gregg Hurwitz
1,724
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $1.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

“THE KILL CLAUSE is like a literary Law & Order, without the commercials. Bottom Line: Killer read.”

Amazon.com Review

The Kill Clause's opening pages will knot the stomach of even the most seasoned crime reader. U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley is expecting his daughter home for her seventh birthday party. Instead he finds a fellow cop at his door, bearing the news that little Ginny has been savagely dismembered, her remains recovered in a nearby creek. Only an hour or so later, reeling with shock and grief, Rackley learns that the perpetrator has been caught--and that some fellow cops have arranged a little one-on-one meeting for him at an isolated shack, complete with an untraceable gun. Rackley arrives, faces this monster, and...

But that would be giving too much away. Suffice it to say that this powerful opening launches a killer thriller, rich in both adrenaline-pumping action and thought-provoking issues of vigilantism, power, and the moral dilemmas of those sworn to uphold the law. Hurwitz's prose is muscular yet intelligent; he draws characters well, and he unrolls action scenes with amazing vividness (as well as treating us to lots of fascinating lore about lock picking, identity theft, and cell-phone technology). Occasionally his plot twists verge on the outlandish, and a few characters seem to exist only to speechify on a certain point of view. But these are minor flaws in this fine, intense, often un-put-downable tale. --Nicholas H. Allison

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A motley crew of ex-cops and fringe characters, who have all lost loved ones and seen the villains walk, are organized into a vigilante hit squad by a media personality who sees this as a good launchpad for his books in this first thriller in a projected series by Hurwitz (Do No Harm; Minutes to Burn). The squad-or the Commission, as it calls itself-chooses as executioner Tim Rackley, a US marshal and former Special Forces muscle who is vulnerable to their offer, having just lost his only child in a gruesome attack ("her remains had required three biohazard bags to depart the scene"). Devastated, Rackley leaves his job and his wife, a county sheriff, to take the assignment, disappearing into the murk of L.A. to begin a series of high-tech hits on high-profile criminals who have slipped through the system's cracks-including the man who, Rackley believes, killed his daughter. But Rackley suspects the Commission of fuzzy logic after one unclear target assessment leads two of the Commission (a murderous pair of bulked-up ex-cop brothers called, none too subtly, the "Mastersons") to go on a rampage, invoking the Commission's "kill clause"-the immediate (and brutal) dissolution of the squad. Caught between his former law enforcement colleagues and the Mastersons' rising bloodlust, Tim must risk one more vigilante act to put justice back in the hands of the courts. The high gore level and farfetched premise give the novel a cartoonish edge, but Hurwitz's deft descriptions of Tim's methods of disappearing, breaking-and-entering, and stealing identities are convincing, and his fast-paced plotting will keep readers riveted. Tim is a promising series hero, with his multitude of skills and conflicted loyalties, and Hurwitz is off to a fine start with this first installment.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From AudioFile

Deputy U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley's daughter was murdered. When the killer goes free on a technicality, Rackley is approached to join the Commission, a group that seeks to take justice into its own hands. Peter Friedman patiently and methodically follows Rackley's change from lawman to vigilante, his deep voice rumbling throughout. When the Commission begins to overstep basic social ethics, Friedman's characterizations coax the listener into suspending disbelief in the story. As Rackley seeks justice, Friedman's pacing carries the listener to the conclusion. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. While completing a BA from Harvard and a master's from Oxford, he wrote his first novel, The Tower, a psychological thriller set in and around San Francisco. Minutes to Burn, Hurwitz's second novel, originated during a research trip to the Gal#193;pagos, where he confronted marine iguanas on lava plains, hiked through the islands' curious Scalesia forests, and contended with enormous crab spiders in shower stalls and toilet bowls. Upon his return, he spent months tracking down scientific experts around the world -- ecologists, geologists, entomologists, virologists -- continuing to indulge his fascination in the archipelago and to flesh out what would become Minutes to Burn. While undertaking the military research for the novel, Hurwitz dealt with an extensive network of Navy SEALs and related operators. He was obligated to familiarize himself with sidearms, meals-ready-to-eat, M-16s, SWAT ranges, and hand-to-hand techniques -- much to the derisive amusement of attendant Navy SEALs.

Hurwitz's father, sister, and grandfather were all physicians, so growing up, he was regaled at dinnertime with tales of swallowed quarters and severed fingers. He was also subjected to vigorous discussion regarding the boundaries of medical ethics, which provided him a foundation for his previous national bestseller Do No Harm. In the course of researching the novel, he shadowed doctors in the UCLA emergency room, harassed government operatives to teach him surveillance techniques, and delved into psychological research on childhood trauma.

He has published several academic articles and now lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on his fourth thriller and the screenplay of Rogue Warrior (based on Richard Marcinko's autobiography) for Jerry Bruckheimer Films. He is currently working on the sequel to The Kill Clause. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FC12EQ
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1006 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0060530383

Best Sellers Rank: #78,565 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #425 in Vigilante Justice Thrillers
- #965 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #2,436 in Crime Thrillers (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
2,150 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Gregg Hurwitz

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of twenty thrillers including OUT OF THE DARK (January 2019). His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in thirty languages. Additionally, he's written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks. Gregg lives with his two Rhodesian ridgebacks in Los Angeles, where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

2,150 global ratings

5 star		55%
4 star		31%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

William Silent

Rack is the man!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

I've read most Orphan novels and enjoyed each. With the law enforcement angle this is a bit different but just as engaging. I keep km y eyes open for Mr Hurwitz' next mission !

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

Have read all the Gray (Grey?) Man books, I thought nothing could be better. I was wrong! He hooked and reeled me in for one fantastic ride. Loved the ending. Outstanding read!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

Very enjoyable, fast paced and too close to the reality of a confused judicial system and systemically violent law enforcement officers.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

The Kill Clause

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

The book was highly rated on Amazon and was a subject that I had wondered about over the years. What if there was a committee who does what should have happened to the worst criminals, but the people were failed by the courts? The storyline was absolutely believable, but was hard to fathom at times. The "conscience" of a cop versus what is right. The family toll described was tough to read, but realistic. The ending was too clean and a bit unbelievable. A good read but only a 3.8 out of 5 rating.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Carole T

Shaky start, but worth it in the end.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

At first I didn’t like this character, but he grew on me as the story progressed. I believe there are follow up novels and I will probably read them. I’ve enjoyed Hurwitz’s other novels so I have high hopes for the next ones I read.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J S

Great author

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have read all of his books and enjoyed them very much. Would recommend.

Helpful

CF

Do you like vigilante justice?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 24, 2011

Verified Purchase

Than this book (especially the beginning) is a book for you. Tim - a debuty marshall - lost his daughter. The murderer of his girl could leave the courtroom as a free man, because he couldn't understand his miranda rights when arrested; he is deaf. Tim quits his job, his marriage is at risk. Then a so called commission contacted Tim. Their goal is to look for guilty criminals, who were not found guilty by a judge, although the whole world knew, they were guilty. They kill those criminals; with a belief of a higher fairness.

Then Tim found out, that life isn't so easy, as the commission wants to belief him. He abort a killing job and ... I don't want to talk to much, cause now follows the part, you have to explore.

Hurwitz is a good writer and he writes with a fast pace. Every side is thrilling and you want to know, what will happen next: will he renew his marriage, will he find a way to cooperate with his ex-partner, who is now on a hunt on him, could he stop ... (no, nothing more).

This book let you alone with a bad feeling: perhaps you could understand, how it could hurt, when you lost a beloved by a crime. But is it right, to take the law in your own hands? I belive it is not and so I'm confused by this book. And I don't know what to think about Tim, when he changes his mind about killing those criminals. O. k., but I think also, this is what Hurwitz wants. He play games with his readers. And he knows how to.

The only con of this book is its length. When you reach the last third of the book you increase the tact of pressing the forward button of your kindle. In the end it is to long with to much irrelevant contents. So I think 4 Stars will make it.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chris

Exciting

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book was the most exciting reads I have had in a long time. Kudos to Mr. Wurwitz. I loved the book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

healthysean

Another New Character From Thriller Author Gregg Hurwitz

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

The first novel in the gripping Tim Rackley series from the internationally bestselling author, Gregg Hurwitz and author of one of my favourite action series, Orphan X, The Nowhere Man/Evan Smoak.

Tim Rackley is a dangerous man of honor, a deputy U.S. marshal who is very good at his job -- until everything he believes in is shattered by the brutal murder of his own daughter.

Betrayed by an imperfect judicial system, Rackley watches helplessly as the killer walks free on a legal technicality. Devastated, furious, and burning with a righteous need for vengeance, he is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options -- a quest that leads him into a shadowy no-man's-land between justice and the law... and into the welcoming fold of "the Commission." A vigilante group made up of people like him -- relentless streetwise operators who have each lost a loved one to violent crime -- the Commission confronts the failings of a system that sets predators loose to hunt again, cleaning up society's "mistakes" covertly, efficiently, and permanently.

But as he is dragged deeper into a deadly morass of hidden agendas and murderous justice, Tim Rackley discovers that playing God is an excruciating and fearsome task. When his new secret life starts coming unwound at an alarming speed, he is suddenly caught in the most terrifying struggle he has ever faced -- a desperate battle to save his marriage, his career, his life, his soul... and everything left that's worth fighting for.

The action and technology devices keep this fast paced thriller moving along, interesting characters including Bear, a good friend, lots of very nasty characters.

An impressive start to this series, maybe a little too long, but I understand an introduction to a new character and introductions to many rather nasty villains.

I do have number two and three in the series ready to start, although I personally prefer the Orphan Man series

But a great author and 4 stars

7 people found this helpful

skotl

Detailed, exciting drama - fantastic book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fantastic book, and great value for money coming in at 560+ pages of must-turn drama.

Other reviewers have done a better job than I can of explaining the story line but what I loved about this book was the graphically described descent from a man who believed justice was black and white, into what essentially became vigilantism dressed up as a noble clearing-up of the justice system's failures. And then his jarring realisation that he was turning into the people he was trying to kill.

As a father I had to turn several pages at a time whenever the author discussed what happened to the main characters' child, but that's because it was visceral, raw detail that helped shape the narrative within the book. It can be uncomfortable reading at times, but the author lays it bare for us to see and (a little) understand.

Tons of fantastic technical detail - don't let that put you off if you're not into procedural thrillers because there's enough to be interesting, without making it sound like you're reading a manual.

The book is billed as "Tim Rackley Book 1" and I can't imagine where the hero would go after this but I sure hope Gregg Hurwitz lets us know.

10 people found this helpful

A. W. Skinner

Deeply unpleasant.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I stumbled upon Mr Hurwitz by accident and enjoyed the Orphan X series, with the exception of The Nowhere Man, so decided to try his earlier work. The Tim Rackley character just does not work for me, nor does his awful wife. The violence in this book is horrendously graphic. The plot simply does not work, and most of the characters are hideous. I could find no redeeming features. His writing does get better with practice although the graphic violence continues in the Orphan X series, but it is at least more comic book violence than Tim Rackley's, which verges on the pornographic.

3 people found this helpful

Clive

TECHNICAL DETAIL AS IT SHOULD BE; A STORM OF A BOOK

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

I've only recently discovered Gregg Hurwitz and he's rapidly becoming a favourite. I'm aware that I may not be a 'typical reader' in that I really enjoy most technical detail and I like to believe that it's accurate even when, really, I wouldn't know if it wasn't! I also like credibility to be stretched but not too much. Gregg Hurwitz satisfies these requirements in glowing style while still providing fully fleshed-out characters about whom the reader really cares.

As other reviewers have said, this book manages to portray a hero who is on a crusade but who never becomes a 'bad man'. Too many novels of this type are poorly written, in an adolescent style and become like text versions of a shoot-em-up video game. Not this one. This is proper writing, well plotted and paced and, even though extreme, the violence always seems appropriate. The one jarring note within the character representation is that, having established Rackley's wife's character as a strong, intelligent and capable woman, she allows a 'cuckoo' to enter the family nest inappropriately. This, to me, was a break in the reality. The character of Bear is brilliant and I didn't appreciate some of the importance of minor detail revealed early on until those details became so important in the final few pages.

Having now read The Kill Clause and Orphan X, there are some very obvious similarities in the make up of the main characters and the plot lines, so I just hope that, having stumbled upon a new (to me) author, Gregg Hurwitz doesn't turn out to be a one trick pony. But I've thoroughly enjoyed both books so I'll now follow both characters through their next adventures. Good writing, entrancing technical detail, a fast pace with plenty of action and all just this side of believable: bring it on!

2 people found this helpful

Paris

Gratuitous violence and little else

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 25, 2020

Verified Purchase

What was I thinking of? A book about vigilantes? Read 8% and gave up this nasty, violent paper thin story of cardboard cutouts and lovingly described guns and shooting. Perhaps D Trump would appreciate it, not me. So hard to tell from reviews what will suit but this was a big mistake on my part. Why did I love George Pelecanos on a theme not so dissimilar but oh so differently ( read superior) written. Guess that’s why GP is so widely recommended and I’d never heard of this guy. My mistake, will not touch with barge pole and just pleased I’d not paid a fortune to try this author.

Buying Options

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the Author

The Kill Clause Kindle Edition

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

Review

Amazon.com Review

From Publishers Weekly

From AudioFile

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the author

Gregg Hurwitz

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries