Just off the bat, I think I read somewhere that he may be working on another book. I hope so, because I'll be buying that one as well.
There are several themes that run very strongly through the story; Family, Friends, The Second Amendment, and taking personal responsibility for your own self defense. I'm sitting here trying to be analytical about this review, but this little voice in the back of my head keeps saying, "Hell Yeah!". It's distracting me.
I started off rather slow reading this book, read some, then some more, a day or two went by and then I read some more. The story line crept up on me and somewhere along the line I got hooked into it. I think I read the whole back half of the book today. (it is not a short fiction book)
One of the things I really liked in the plot was that there were a few "oh shit" moments beyond the control of the protagonists that really made me think "oh crap". I give the action "scenes" two thumbs up. Truth be known though, some of the best writing in the book dealt with family. Now, for a single twenty something, this wouldn't resonate at all, but being a Dad and a Grandfather (still getting used to that, I'm only 52) that spoke to me. Do Not Fuck With My Family. I Will Ventilate You Egregiously. Sorry, I digress, that was me. That wasn't in the book.... specifically. (well, ok it sort of was, smirk)
I think the only thing that I had a problem with in the story is that there seemed to be several "competing" main characters. J.D. did an admirable job of bringing together a diverse set of characters in the beginning of the story. The story line did a good job of picking me up from the first page and introducing me to the characters. As the story developed I had hooked into Dillon, the main..main character, but there were a number of really strong characters in the story line and as I got near the end of the climax of the story, I began to lose track of who was who. I read a negative review at Amazon, part of which called out the main character dressing down a Senator in a hearing as unbelievable or some such. The Amazon review made me laugh. Like I haven't wanted to do that, or haven't done so watching a video on my 'puter or a nooz report on the TeeWee (stole that term from Tam). Frankly, I'd have preferred to just walk up and bitch slap them silly.
There were parts that really touched me. There were parts that made me think, "I would so not like to be in that situation with my finger on the trigger". I really liked the book.
Did I mention that I'll be buying the next J.D. Kinman novel?
[edit] Damn I suck at reviews. I totally forgot to mention the CIA, FBI, Former Navy Seals, NSA Spooks, Terrorists, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and boats. Wait, no Trains..but everything else. And lot's of sweet sweet shooty goodness.
** Image above shamelessly stolen from AOA's blog.
** in the spirit of full disclosure, I paid for the book with actual money, not an EBT card. FTC please kindly go fuck yourselves.
Glad you enjoyed it. The next one coming out (shooting for 1 October) deals with small businesses taking care of each other in order to give Uncle Sam, Big Busines and Wall Street the Big Finger. When the unholy trifecta sends their "intimidators" out to the small businesses, they get a lesson in what the First and Second Amendments are all about and what their significance is.
ReplyDeleteTitle is "Altar of the False Gods."
--JD
This book is horrible. The characters are shallow and so fake it is hard to stomach them. The story line has a good base, but is executed badly due to the sorry characters. Really? A Ted Nugent rip off?
ReplyDeleteThe book was so predictable, the characters so shallow, and the plot so shallow, that I was able to skip up to 30 pages of worthless "filler" stuff and still not feel like I missed anything in the story. The add in of the adopted daughter was also not needed, and added nothing to the story except for a sorry setup for the terrible ending.
Just a terrible book.