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The strengths and weaknesses of this book make you want to pull your hair out. The paradox is that this covert action thriller is well plotted with a seemingly authentic setting that is a lot different from other novels in the same sub-genre. The writer knows his material, and the book is loaded with verisimilitude. It's an interesting story that keeps an action-loving reader on tenterhooks. The suspense is sustained marvelously from page to page. For plot and setting, I'll give this book four stars out of five. There is much clinical sex depicted (a movie version would have to be rated XXX), but that might be considered in keeping with the hard-core violence of the rest of the story. Its main fault is that it's one of the poorest edited books that I've ever read. More on this below. Known as Raven, Daniel Riordan was once the most feared of Protestant paramilitary enforcers in Northern Ireland. Now he lives in Canada with his second wife and their children and works in information technology. Suddenly he's called in by 'Feather' Featherstone, a former British SAS commando who has started a mercenary paramilitary enterprise in Canada with links overseas. Featherstone wants him to join his company, and his first assignment will be to deliver the ransom money to free the kidnapped young daughter of a French millionaire. Thus begins a trail of blood and guts that ultimately leads Daniel to his familiar haunts around Belfast. We learn a lot about the Northern Ireland troubles, including the fact that there are not just two sides, but many more, such as the British military operation, the Irish Republican Army, the Protestant political opposition, and a rogue Protestant paramilitary group that looks upon all others as the enemy. In this case, the rogue group plans to use the ransom money to buy a dirty atomic bomb to explode in central London. The leader of this group is Sean Wallace, who killed the kidnapped child after the money was delivered, and Riordan swears to make him pay. In the meantime we're dealing with people on all sides who have become so used to cruelty that they would think nothing of torturing their best friends. 'Nailer,' for example, is so called because he likes to hammer large nails through the joints of his victims. In the background lurks the equally amoral Major Fisher, who uses his position in the British counter forces to strike out viciously at all who stand in his way, including his own agents. The suspense in this story is chilling as we go from one horrific murder to another as all sides strive for supremacy. But along the way we are distracted by error after error in unbelievable numbers. There are wrong words ('He was a widow'; 'Coup de gras' instead of 'coup de grace') and bad grammar ('It was the gendarmes'; 'He absented mindedly'; 'There was a few grunts.') There are too many cases where repetition of a word sounds bad, such as: 'Religious conflicts were always baffling to someone who had never experienced the intensity of racial or religious conflict.' And there are many instances of a given word being used twice in close succession, making the line read poorly. In a number of cases two words read awkwardly because they should be separated by a comma, but aren't, as in these cases: "Would you like a cup of tea love'' or "We've got the Rover outside boss" or "Jesus Daniel, would you sit in peace''. Benny Hill used to do the opposite when he'd insert a verbal comma in 'What is this thing called love'' to make it sound as 'What is this thing called, love'' There's more, but I've made the point. It's a shame that an otherwise well-crafted story has to be marked down for lack of a decent edit. I would hope that any future novels in this series will be reviewed by a good editor -- the cost is more than justified. In the meantime, if you like this type of thriller in general, I would suggest that you go ahead and read RAVEN'S REVENGE in spite of so many editorial errors. It will reward your effort.
Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, February 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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