Marked For Death

It’s a metal-jacketed certainty that Matt Hilton’s many fans are going to be delighted with this latest Joe Hunter outing. Big on action and lightning-fast on pace, this one finds Joe and his buddy Rink agreeing to take on a simple baby-sitting job in Mexico Beach, Miami, for a bunch of celebs having a good time. It means wearing a tux but the money’s good and what could possibly go wrong?

Well, plenty is the answer, and right from the off, Joe’s talent for helping the underdog gets him into a world of trouble. Finding one of the guests in the men’s washroom abusing a woman is a no-no in Joe’s book, and after a brief scuffle with the man – whom he dumps on his back – Joe is out of there with the traumatised woman. She tells him her name is Trey, but also that she happens to be the wife of the man who was beating her up … who just happens to be a Chechen terrorist named Mikhail Viskhan.

Light the blue touch-paper and stand back, because this is where the action really takes off, leaving one of Joe’s bodyguard colleagues dead and he and Trey on the run from the vengeful and vindictive terrorist, one who seems intent on ripping Miami apart in the hunt for his wife and gunning down anyone who gets in his way. As Viskhan seems to have a number of well-trained gunmen helping him immediately triggers warning bells in Hunter’s mind.

But who the hell is this man?

The question is partly cleared up when he learns from Trey that her husband has been trafficking immigrant workers for industry and the sex trade. But that’s just a side issue; he’s also been talking about a ‘spectacular’ – code for a terrorist event – right here in Miami, during a forthcoming parade when thousands of people will be packed together enjoying the festivities.

Already being hunted by the cops for the death of one of Viskhan’s men and unable to go to the authorities with his suspicions, Hunter’s only option is to go nuclear – and that means calling in his own back-up. He contacts Rink and his other regular buddy, Harvey Lucas, to get their gear into play and find out just who this Viskhan is and what he’s planning to do.

This book comes with a health warning: it’s in the name of the central character, Joe Hunter. Normally a nice guy, when he, his friends or anyone else he cares about is threatened, he doesn’t play nice.

The action blasts around at toxic speed all over Miami and out at sea, where preparations are being made for an all-out assault on a high-profile target on land. If I mention Mar-a-Lago, fun-palace for the rich and famous and weekend home from the White House for a certain US President, you can probably join the dots.

I won’t say more, other than if you like having to read with an oxygen mask handy, the pace and furious action of this book will have you reaching for your supplies in no time.

Recommended.