Holm, Chris

Despite the slight letdown of the exciting beginning evolving into a procedural style story, the latest from Holm (Red Right Hand) will be popular with fans of the Bourne adventures.

Holm's "Collector" trilogy, which blended urban fantasy with pulp crime fiction, featured an unusual but likable antihero, and so it is the same here with both Hendricks and his crippled war buddy Lester, who helps him with computer wizardry. The ending slips into melodrama, but the wild and furious action, the unusual plot featuring assassin versus assassin, and the memorable characters all keep the reader racing through this skillfully told tale of vengeance. [See Prepub Alert, 3/23/15.]

Blending urban fantasy with noir mystery, Holm's debut is a dark, moody tale of fallen heroes in the modern world. Fans of Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" books, Tanya Huff's "Blood" novels, and Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter" series should enjoy discovering a promising new author.