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DEAD RECKONING
by Robert Furlani
Writers Club Press, March 2002
213 pages
$14.95
ISBN: 0595219608


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Jimmy Taggert has spent thirty years as Darien's Sheriff. His plans to retire with his wife are ruined when Baker, a terrorist comes to town, robbing the bank and killing Taggert's wife in the process. Taggert then sets out to get his revenge, culminating in a struggle at Niagara Falls, while the President of the United States is held hostage.

Firstly, I would be very surprised if Furlani had written this novel without a film script in mind. He packs it full of action and plot developments that would not look at all out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster. However, this is not to say that character development suffers, since Furlani tries to make Taggert seem as human as possible, and Baker, as evil as possible.

However, Baker's malevolence did not ring true for me. Furlani made him and his gang as repulsive as possible, using all kinds of insults and abuse. However, in the next breath, Baker is described as being immensely intelligent and he does not seem the type of character who would be reduced to cheap, sexual insults. Nowadays, the bad characters are stereotypically well-educated, well-spoken people. Baker does not fit this mould and personally, I found it disconcerting.

Nevertheless, Furlani clearly has talent as an action-thriller writer and perhaps should consider adapting DEAD RECKONING for the screen. It is a fast-paced novel that occasionally gives into clichés, and perhaps could do with some slightly tighter editing, but as a whole, it is an exciting and genuinely enjoyable read. DEAD RECKONING does not pretend to be something that it is not. It is a pure and simple Hollywood thriller.

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Reviewed by Luke Croll, November 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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