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Frank Balenger is a troubled soul who is trying to pick up the pieces after everything he went through at the Paragon Hotel almost six months ago. He joined, under false pretenses, a group of urban explorers who were going to explore this famed New Jersey landmark before it was to be demolished. Once he was inside he was forced to use all of his Ranger training to try to save the people he was with from the dangers encountered inside the hotel. He managed to find some answers about his past inside the hotel and he managed to rescue a young woman by the name of Amanda Evert who was held prisoner inside the hotel. In David Morrell’s 2006 novel CREEPERS, Balenger started out as a hero only to then become a shell of whom he was after what happened at the hotel. It is six months later when SCAVENGER begins and Balenger has not recuperated from his emotional trauma. He is taking it one day at a time as he tries to find his new purpose in life. It will come sooner than he thinks, once a person he cares about is kidnapped and made to play an unusual game with a lot at stake. Balenger is forced to play as well if he wants to rescue the person he loves. Morrell then starts the non-stop thrill ride with surprises at every turn. However, don’t try to make sense of the villain’s motivation. It is there where the weakest link to the story lies. In an action-adventure capacity, SCAVENGER works. There is a lot of action inside the story as Balenger tries to regain the life that was taken from him during the previous novel. The game the kidnapped woman is forced to play is rather intriguing but it is not as well-developed as a reader would like. The villain? Er well, that’s another story. The mastermind’s motivations are a little bit too much once the end is reached and all is revealed. It was a bit anti-climactic considering the situation the characters were placed in. Still, Morrell has some interesting things to say when it comes to video games. For that, it is worth the read. The action is good too, but I don’t know if I want to see Balenger again in another story. He has already gone through a lot and suffered enough. There are too many similar in TV and books today.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, June 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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