Nothing Short Of Dying by Erik Storey
Aug. 11th, 2016 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Clyde Barr has been on the run for sixteen years. Now he’s back in the Colorado wilderness, hoping for a quiet life.
Then Clyde receives a frantic phone call for help from his sister. But the line goes dead. She’s been taken.
Clyde doesn’t know where she is. He doesn’t know who has her. He doesn’t know how much time he has. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her …
Clyde Barr has been living in the Utah mountains ever since his release from a Mexican prison a week earlier. A former mercenary estranged from his sisters, his plan was to live quietly until he could work out what he wanted to do next. But everything changes when his sister, Jen, unexpectedly phones him one night. Jen’s in trouble and she needs Clyde to come and get her. She’s been taken by a man who needs her to do something for him, after which he will kill her. The line goes dead before Clyde can get any more information but he isn’t going to let that stop him. Clyde will call on old friends, old enemies and use skills he’s hoped to forget in order to save his sister and only dying is going to stop him from achieving that.
Erik Storey’s debut thriller (the first of a series) is billed as a mix of TAKEN and JACK REACHER and while Storey’s action scenes are sharp, fast and credible and he’s excellent in his description of landscape and scenery, the story literally makes no sense and is full of holes that Storey doesn’t really try to paper over. Clyde Barr himself is no different to other heroes in this genre – a lone wolf ex-mercenary with a code of honour – but the first person narration gives him more depth than most. I was pleased that Clyde’s sidekick, Allie, gets some development beyond being an instant love interest for him and I liked the way she was prepared to stand up to him and for herself, although I could have done without the tragic backstory or some of the later events. Unfortunately the antagonist is two-dimensional, his plan doesn’t make a lick of sense, nor his reasons for kidnapping Jen and the final confrontation is a let down. I was also disappointed in a key plot twist, which is telegraphed far too early and which even Clyde seems to admit he should have seen coming. The book has a high body count and the action scenes – particularly the fight scenes – are well choreographed and I think Storey captures the mountains and wilderness beautifully. Ultimately there’s a lot of groundwork here for the rest of the series and while this book didn’t really come good for me, there’s enough for me to want to read on.
The Verdict:
Erik Storey’s debut thriller (the first of a series) is billed as a mix of TAKEN and JACK REACHER and while Storey’s action scenes are sharp, fast and credible and he’s excellent in his description of landscape and scenery, the story literally makes no sense and is full of holes that Storey doesn’t really try to paper over. Clyde Barr himself is no different to other heroes in this genre – a lone wolf ex-mercenary with a code of honour – but the first person narration gives him more depth than most. I was pleased that Clyde’s sidekick, Allie, gets some development beyond being an instant love interest for him and I liked the way she was prepared to stand up to him and for herself, although I could have done without the tragic backstory or some of the later events. Unfortunately the antagonist is two-dimensional, his plan doesn’t make a lick of sense, nor his reasons for kidnapping Jen and the final confrontation is a let down. I was also disappointed in a key plot twist, which is telegraphed far too early and which even Clyde seems to admit he should have seen coming. The book has a high body count and the action scenes – particularly the fight scenes – are well choreographed and I think Storey captures the mountains and wilderness beautifully. Ultimately there’s a lot of groundwork here for the rest of the series and while this book didn’t really come good for me, there’s enough for me to want to read on.
NOTHING SHORT OF DYING will be released in the United Kingdom on 25th August 2016. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book.
Clyde Barr has been on the run for sixteen years. Now he’s back in the Colorado wilderness, hoping for a quiet life.
Then Clyde receives a frantic phone call for help from his sister. But the line goes dead. She’s been taken.
Clyde doesn’t know where she is. He doesn’t know who has her. He doesn’t know how much time he has. All he knows is that nothing short of dying will stop him from saving her …
Clyde Barr has been living in the Utah mountains ever since his release from a Mexican prison a week earlier. A former mercenary estranged from his sisters, his plan was to live quietly until he could work out what he wanted to do next. But everything changes when his sister, Jen, unexpectedly phones him one night. Jen’s in trouble and she needs Clyde to come and get her. She’s been taken by a man who needs her to do something for him, after which he will kill her. The line goes dead before Clyde can get any more information but he isn’t going to let that stop him. Clyde will call on old friends, old enemies and use skills he’s hoped to forget in order to save his sister and only dying is going to stop him from achieving that.
Erik Storey’s debut thriller (the first of a series) is billed as a mix of TAKEN and JACK REACHER and while Storey’s action scenes are sharp, fast and credible and he’s excellent in his description of landscape and scenery, the story literally makes no sense and is full of holes that Storey doesn’t really try to paper over. Clyde Barr himself is no different to other heroes in this genre – a lone wolf ex-mercenary with a code of honour – but the first person narration gives him more depth than most. I was pleased that Clyde’s sidekick, Allie, gets some development beyond being an instant love interest for him and I liked the way she was prepared to stand up to him and for herself, although I could have done without the tragic backstory or some of the later events. Unfortunately the antagonist is two-dimensional, his plan doesn’t make a lick of sense, nor his reasons for kidnapping Jen and the final confrontation is a let down. I was also disappointed in a key plot twist, which is telegraphed far too early and which even Clyde seems to admit he should have seen coming. The book has a high body count and the action scenes – particularly the fight scenes – are well choreographed and I think Storey captures the mountains and wilderness beautifully. Ultimately there’s a lot of groundwork here for the rest of the series and while this book didn’t really come good for me, there’s enough for me to want to read on.
The Verdict:
Erik Storey’s debut thriller (the first of a series) is billed as a mix of TAKEN and JACK REACHER and while Storey’s action scenes are sharp, fast and credible and he’s excellent in his description of landscape and scenery, the story literally makes no sense and is full of holes that Storey doesn’t really try to paper over. Clyde Barr himself is no different to other heroes in this genre – a lone wolf ex-mercenary with a code of honour – but the first person narration gives him more depth than most. I was pleased that Clyde’s sidekick, Allie, gets some development beyond being an instant love interest for him and I liked the way she was prepared to stand up to him and for herself, although I could have done without the tragic backstory or some of the later events. Unfortunately the antagonist is two-dimensional, his plan doesn’t make a lick of sense, nor his reasons for kidnapping Jen and the final confrontation is a let down. I was also disappointed in a key plot twist, which is telegraphed far too early and which even Clyde seems to admit he should have seen coming. The book has a high body count and the action scenes – particularly the fight scenes – are well choreographed and I think Storey captures the mountains and wilderness beautifully. Ultimately there’s a lot of groundwork here for the rest of the series and while this book didn’t really come good for me, there’s enough for me to want to read on.
NOTHING SHORT OF DYING will be released in the United Kingdom on 25th August 2016. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book.
