Coincidence of coincidences … this sequel was published – out of the blue – less than one week after I posted my review of ‘The Escape’, the first book in the series. Although I didn’t say it in my review, I had wondered if the author had had second thoughts about continuing the series, given that the first book was published more than three years ago. But my suspicions were ill-founded. So, of course, I had to buy the new book.
And I’m glad I did. I think it’s even better than the first book: more believable factually, and with more shades of grey in the characterisation. But it’s retained the gory violence which was such a feature of the first book, and which may turn some readers off.
One small thing I noticed was to do with the setting of the fictional Sovereign City. In my review of ‘The Escape’, I had said that – as far as I could tell – the city wasn’t expressly stated to be in the USA (although it was clearly very ‘American’). In this book, it very definitely is located in the USA, even though there is no indication of where, and in practice it does seem to operate in its own self-contained world like a kind of mini-state.
My main reservation about the first book was that the characters were generally all so unpleasant that I didn’t really mind if anything bad happened to them. I wonder if others had given similar feedback, because there is a definite positive change in this book in the portrayal of Bryan Wattson, the main character who is blackmailed by a police officer into infiltrating an organised crime family. Yes, of course Bryan is still a bad guy. Someone whose first remark after killing somebody is to say that he wished the victim hadn’t broken down and begged for his life because it made him feel “all gross”. But this time, Bryan is sucked into a world of criminals who are more depraved and ruthless than he is, so in comparison he becomes someone for whom you can feel some sympathy. For example, when to his dismay he is asked to demonstrate his loyalty to the gang boss by killing someone who has only ever been good to him. Or when he feels physically sick after he and another gang member have to manhandle an elderly couple who are unable to afford the protection money they owe.
There is also a bit more humour than I remember from the first book. Black humour, for instance, when Bryan, once a criminal kingpin, now has to learn the ropes about operating on the bottom rung of a protection racket. (Although I did query his surprise when he finds out that the bad guys are providing protection against their own gang – isn’t that how most protection rackets work?!) There is also some memorable chuckle-out-loud humour, such as when Bryan thinks his new shark-themed gang nickname will be a “take-no-shit badass” name such as Hammerhead … only to discover that he’s been named Gurry instead. I also liked Bryan’s casual, bantering relationships with his apartment receptionist and his journalist employee … although there is more to one of this relationships than initially meets the eye.
A gripping read, therefore, which I devoured in a couple of sittings. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. But the same caveat applies as with the first book, namely that you really do need to enjoy this type of thing. If prolonged descriptions of torture aren’t for you, you may do better to look elsewhere.
And will there be a third book? Well, I don’t want to give too much away …. but if there is, please don’t make us wait another three years.
