How far will the Eagle Scout fall in his quest for vengeance, justice, and revenge?
Walter Nash sort of had it all as a well paid finance wizard at a top notch firm. He, his wife Judith, and daughter were living a good life until the FBI came calling after the death of Walter’s father. They recruit Walter as a mole and whistleblower to take down his employer because it happens that Sybaritic is a money laundering machine for an Asian criminal mastermind, Victoria Steers. When everything falls apart and Walter is framed for horrible crimes, he goes on the run and has to reinvent himself from mild mannered banker to killing machine.
Walter is a complex character who is basically just a really decent and moral guy who has quite the transformation in this action packed thriller. The author’s deliberate pacing draws the reader in waiting to see what will happen next. The story is filled with all the usual types of good guys and bad guys. There’s the faithful friend who helps Walter become who he needs to be. The slimy super rich bosses who take whatever they want —except blame or responsibility. Conniving women. Lots of fighting and grisly descriptions of maiming and murder. I felt some sympathy for him except for how he, well I don’t want to spoil anything. I want him to succeed in his mission to take down this global criminal enterprise, I really do, and I understand we will see more about it in the sequel coming next year.
Definitely a book that will keep you glued to the pages and you won’t even realize that it’s a bit longer than usual. I know what I hope will happen so will definitely be in line to find out if the author avoids the cliches in this character’s metamorphosis and personal growth.
I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrators were a full cast with MacLeod Andrews as the main character and supporting voices from Christine Lakin, Larry Herron, Shiromi Arserio, and Will Collyer. The men did an excellent job of dramatizing the story with appropriate flair, tone, and giving each a unique and distinctive voice with consistent and authentic accents. There was a female voice that just was not good and was used for many of the women in the story. The voice sounded the same for all of them and didn’t seem to integrate smoothly into the scene nor was the emotion there. The female voice was flat and unengaged. I have no idea which of the two narrators this person was. The other female did better but not by much. I wish that roles would be identified with large cast recordings. Overall, however, because of the strong male voices, the production enhanced my enjoyment of the book.
This is the first book in a new series with sequel coming out next year. Read in order.
Genre and tags: Everyman becomes superhero to save family, transformation, spies, global criminal enterprise, murder, extortion, FBI, family drama
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