Friday, July 22, 2022

 What Did I Think Of My Little Peek Into. . .



The Watchers

In this second Victor McCain Thriller, we find our man of the hour settling into his new role as the Hand of God. A vocation from which he will never have a chance to rest – until his death, that is. So, what remains of his life is bound to get ‘difficult.’

And it does:

*************

For bounty hunter Victor McCain, life is complicated. After losing his soul, he agreed to become the new Hand of God, God's bounty hunter on Earth. His job? Track down and kill the worst forms of evil Satan can dish out. But when an ancient threat resurfaces, soon the hunters become the hunted. In this action-packed sequel to The Hand of God, Victor is closing in on his brother Mikey, who cost him his soul and stole the woman he loves. Soon he discovers his brother's "back up" plan: to unleash beings chained in the darkness from the early days of man in order to bring about the annihilation of the human race. With the help of fellow bounty hunter Winston Reynolds, computer geek Kurt Pervis, and the enigmatic Brother Joshua, Victor is ready to spring his trap and rescue the lovely Samantha when it all goes sideways. Now each member of his team is being targeted for elimination. The only question is, can they stay alive long enough to save the world.

*************

Set three months after the event’s in The Hand of God we find our main protagonists, McCain, Kurt and Winston gelling into a cohesive whole. Which is just as well, because when a couple of over adventurous college kids inadvertently release a group of imprisoned fallen angels, McCain has his work cut out for him. Don’t forget, on top of his normal assignments to rid the world of evil, he still has to put an end his brother. And further distractions abound, due to his ongoing hunt for Samantha, kidnapped at the end of his last adventure.

All in all, this leads into another riotous assembly of fun, fear, and frantic fight scenes. As before, Acree manages this free-for-all rather skillfully, by injecting healthy doses of real-time plot and character development into an ever evolving landscape of danger. It’s well paced, deftly played out – a lot happens, but you don’t lose track of what’s going on, to who, and where – and you can appreciate the work that gone into delivering a polished story. I particularly enjoyed the blunt, dry humor and the even blunter no-nonsense violence when the occasion called for it. (I know, I’m a baaad boy).

And even better, Acree’s use of inner thoughts and dialogue helps you appreciate McCain’s ongoing struggle to put his ‘job’ over personal issues. Issues he often fails miserably to balance satisfactorily.

All in all, great stuff!




No comments:

Post a Comment