Friday 4 May 2012

THRILLER REVIEW: Force of Nature - CJ Box

Release Date: 19/04/12

SYNOPSIS:

Joe Pickett's outlaw falconer companion, Nate Romanowski, faces the battle of his life and one he may very likely lose. His mysterious past comes back in the form of his former special forces colleague, an utterly ruthless soldier/homeland security official who knows his rise through the military and intelligence community will be derailed if Nate ever tells what he knows about their time together in Afghanistan in 1995. After years of dispatching fellow special forces team members to take him out, Nate's nemesis decides the time has come to end the threat to him once and for all. And he does it by incorporating many of the same tactics that served their unique and secret unit well in the Middle East: by recruiting locals. Nate can trust no one except Joe Pickett, who is constrained by his oath and duty to the law and the state. But Nate must involve Joe because he knows his enemy will strike at his friends in order to draw him out and the entire Pickett family will be a target. Because of Nate's fugitive status he can only fight back outside the law, and Joe must make a choice: help his friend or adhere to his principles?"


REVIEW:

Sadly for me, this new title by CJ was a book that felt like nothing new and whilst I was happy at the return of Romanowski, I felt that the overall plot lacked decent pace, solid arc and felt more like a rushed filler than anything else. Add to this a sadly lacklustre use of prose, a disappointing lack of development and when compared to the previous two offerings, almost felt like a title that was there to allow the author to sit back for breathing space rather than a serious release for the reader.

With luck the next title will pick up and give the readers more of what they want but it is going to have to be something spectacular as this title will, in my opinion, damage the authors writing credibility due to, in my opinion, a fall in standards.


1 comment:

Matthew Lee Adams said...

That's unfortunate that the quality and consistency so suddenly dropped. And your summary really says it all. Authors and editors have to try to maintain quality to retain (as well as build) on audience.

Few authors can afford to let it slip more than once unless they have just a whole lot of goodwill from a considerable history of good work.

I've stopped reading even some authors I once loved for similar reasons - they just seemed to be writing to spec and not writing because they loved it anymore, and the stories lost freshness and passion as a result.