Funk Rating: 9 out of 10
I'm a sucker. I admit it. Give me a great story, with great characters and a fun plot, and I'll fall hook, line and sinker. I'll happily ignore the minor flaws, the unbelievably stereotypes that make the story hang better, and the reality flaws of "no one would do it that way"...
This a page turner. A "block out the world, I'm finishing this chapter. I mean the next chapter. I mean the whole thing." kind of book. Not that it's one you'll remember for the rest of your life, not that there's any real meaning or story behind the story here. There isn't. But at the end, you can't help but feel for the main character, a guy named Fade, who is an admirably decent guy. For an assassin who's been screwed by the US government (that trained him and turned him into who he is).
Unlike Bosch, or Pendergast, or some of my other favorite characters (Lou Boldt, Lincoln Rhymes, Sean Drummond, Gabriel Allon, Jack Reacher, Archy McNally, etc.), Fade will not return in future stories. He's too precious, and too unique. And there's another complicating factor... But he may be the most memorable...
If you like a book that doesn't require much thinking, is highly entertaining, and when you put it down you say "WOW", check this one out. Mills doesn't use the Mark Beamon character at all in this one, and it may very well be his best one yet... A superb summer read for an airplane, a beach chair, or when you just can't fall asleep...
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