Search and Destroy

October 17, 2016
Why would an English reporter, her brother, and his partner suddenly be targeted by a murderous assault near Area 51 in Nevada? The answer to that question ends up being less interesting than the premise suggests in Hilton’s debut, a series launch introducing brothers Danny and Clay Gunn. After their American dad and British mom divorced, Clay grew up in the U.S. and Danny in the U.K. By chance, the Gunns, both freelance fixers who have served in the military, find themselves in the middle of a covert operation aimed at journalist Andrea Chambers, who flees after her brother and his partner are shot dead. After she narrowly escapes her pursuers by surviving what should have been a fatal fall down a cliff, she happens upon the Gunns, who spirit her away in their RV. The assassins on her trail don’t give up easily, offering the author an opportunity to demonstrate his heroes’ combat skills. Between fights, they attempt to figure out what information the bad guys think Andrea unknowingly possesses. The MacGuffin is a disappointment and the characters aren’t much more than stick figures. Hilton makes it hard to take Andrea seriously, especially after she expresses astonishment that British citizens could be arrested in the U.S.