Genre: Thriller
Description:
“Everyone has a secret. But some are deadlier than others…
Former Homeland Security Agent Lars Christopherson is not what he
seems. Despite his impressive skills and impeccable record, Lars has a dark
side few are aware off. And those who discover his secret rarely live to tell
the tale…
Frederic Ulrich is a man with a mission. A skilled agent of Germany’s
BND intelligence service, he is determined to right a wrong from his past, and
shut down a deadly Hungarian crime ring once and for all.
When these two unlikely allies are forced to work together, they
quickly uncover a sinister threat - a vast criminal conspiracy, poised to
unleash environmental chaos on the United States. To stop this monstrous terror
plot, they’ll have to put their differences aside and work together. But trust
is hard to come by in the shadowy world of espionage and crime.
And sometimes, the only way to stop a monster is to become one…”
Author:
Lucas Sterling is the author’s pen name and information about him is
limited. He currently has two other books available. One, a short story that is
a satire on banking, and another, the first book featuring Lars, the
protagonist of this book.
Appraisal:
This book isn’t your typical thriller and the protagonist, Lars, isn’t
typical either. Whether these qualities are positive or not is going to depend
to some degree on the reader and their tastes. For me, it cut a bit both ways.
We’ll start with Lars. The series is called “Lars the Hitman” and that
tells you something about Lars. While at first glance this would seem to make
him the bad guy, those who fall victim of him in this story are people whose absence
will make the world better. It’s hard to see this as a negative. It turns out
that Lars is set for life from a financial standpoint, so the big money he
receives for performing these hits is donated to charity to make the world even
better.
While it isn’t unusual for a thriller to stretch the readers ability
to suspend disbelief, I found that this story did it more for me than is
normal. Yet I liked it enough to keep on reading, so I guess it didn’t quite
cross the line, but it definitely came close. The story had a tendency to take unexpected
turns that kept me guessing more than a typical thriller, which is generally
good. However, those were sometimes the moments that pushed believability for
me.
Last, the ending was satisfying, yet mildly disappointing. Giving the
specifics is likely to be a spoiler, but I’ll say that the end has two deaths,
one that the reader wouldn’t have wanted and the other that they would have,
but the way it happened was a bit of a let down. In spite of having some
aspects of the story that I wasn’t that thrilled with, I liked that it pushed
the norms in different ways, liked the main characters, and can see myself reading
about Lars’ next adventure.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
A limited amount of adult language and some graphic violence.
Although this is the second book in a series reading the first book isn’t
a requirement to follow this one.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
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