Gone Bad

It’s nice to change one’s reading every now and then, and plump for a shorter book – a novella – than the standard meal of a full-length novel.

Such is the case here, with J B Turner switching the changes and coming out with a Jon Reznick novella to follow on from his three previous Reznick thrillers to keep the storyline and character going.

If you’re expecting a quick dip into something a little slower, however, don’t be fooled; shorter doesn’t mean slower, and the pace and tension in this title is every bit as ferocious and relentless as the others.

This time Reznick gets a call from FBI Assistant Director Martha Meyerstein , who has relied on his unconventional help in the past, and is told that a former Delta colleague, Hunter Cain, who was committed to a maximum security prison for leading a no-holds-barred militia with an avowed intent of overthrowing the current US government, has busted out.

But this isn’t simply an escape by a desperate psychopath to be free of his restraints; this is considered to be a deliberate plan by Cain to carry out a bloody terrorist spectacular somewhere on the US mainland, and the escape has been carefully planned and executed with the help of his white supremacist supporters.

The main problem for the FBI and Homeland Security – and Reznick – is that nobody has a clue as to the where or the when or even the what?

It’s Reznick as usual who provides the focus on the chase for Cain, using his usual uncompromising methods to track down his quarry, starting with known associates until Cain finally realises that his former colleague is hard on his trail. And the point of view switches effortlessly between Reznick, Cain and Meyerstein, giving a cinematic overview of each character’s actions and thoughts so that the action never slows.

But Reznick’s methods cause problems for Martha Meyerstein , who comes under close scrutiny from senior figures in the FBI and Homeland Security for her apparent reliance on the freelance operator and his ruthless way of disregarding the rule of law to deal with his enemies.

I won’t give anything else away, as this is a novella. Suffice to say, if you like your stories hard and relentlessly tense, this is one for you. Reznick is a good guy with a very bad attitude, and once he’s on the scent, goes through anything and anybody to do his job.

Recommended.