American Paladin by Larry CorreiaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a 3.5 star review which is a fair appraisal of my experience with the book. But Goodreads doesn't allow 3.5 stars. So why did I go with 3?? I acquired the book via the author's Kickstarter campaign.
Here we go. The book is centered around Mike Spears. As a teen, he went to "the other side" or "the other world". A world populated by people who would make the Aztecs and their murderous religious practices seem almost peaceful. Normal people are kept as slaves there. Used for labor, food, and/or religious sacrifices based on the whims of the "gods" and those who worship them.
There are other creatures there as well. Equally dangerous and perhaps a bit more so.
Mike randomly made it back to our world and lost his family, lost his girlfriend, and lost pretty much every human/family connection in the process. He now lives and trains for the day when he encounters the monsters from the other world again.
We pick up with Mike after he has spent years training, wandering from place to place, and killing the human monsters from our world who our justice system sees fit to release back out into the world to victimize others once again. Mike has a code. So far, he hasn't killed anyone who was innocent.
Then he runs across someone being hunted by the monsters from the other side. The story is about hunting those monsters and saving the girl. If you can shut off certain critiques, then this is a fine book. Give it a try. It might scratch a certain literary itch for you.
If you are a fan of Larry's Monster Hunter novels, then I suspect that this book might be for you. I've not read those books for reasons that I think this book confirms. Alternatively, if you like Alistair MacClean novels, then this might be up your alley. It's not quite as good as Mr. MacClean's books but it's close enough.
I have read his Saga of the Forgotten Warrior Series and the first book of Servants of War series. I heartily recommend both as being outstanding on their own merit and vastly superior to this book.
I also want to point out that I have followed the author's career and controversies within the genre. His perspective is generally pointed in the right direction in most cases, IMO.
So why the round down to 3 stars??
- Gun porn. The author has a penchant for describing guns and ammo in loving detail. I'm familiar enough with weapons to know what he is describing, but it's really just wasted detail, in my opinion.
- Putting the subtext ahead of the text. Almost every author includes some sort of underlying theme or moral value in their story. But that subtext is covered by the text; the story narrative. Early on, the author discards the text of the story in favor of trashing Joe Biden, leftist judges, and the leftist modern politics. Again, I think his personal perspective is generally correct, but in 15-20 years, no one will know or care about those specific issues. He could have been a bit more generic and still served the interests of the narrative.
- Modern cultural references. One or two major references are probably fine. Anything more than that and the book will not stand the test of time. I have a hard time believing that all of our modern cultural references will survive the next 50 years.
- Too much showing, not enough telling. We learn about Spears' history and development via a series of brief vignettes at the start of each chapter. We are told that he has done a ton of training. We are told he experienced horrors. We are rarely shown either of them.
- Over competent character. Spears is a one-man wrecking crew. He can pick locks, shoot accurately with every weapon he encounters, is an expert grappler, and knows how to make bodies disappear. The only challenges he experience are when facing multiple humans or something from "the other side". He is The Terminator. He pursues relentlessly.
- Which leads to the lack of character development. There is no hero's journey. We are dropped into a crisis where the main character's major challenge is how to use the skills and resources he has already developed.
I was disappointed. I am a sometime Hugo nominator and I was hoping this book would make the cut. I know he doesn't want one. That doesn't mean that his superior writing (when it occurs) shouldn't be recognized. This one didn't measure up.
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