Red Right Hand

Starred review from July 25, 2016
Near the start of Holm’s explosive and timely sequel to 2015’s The Killing Kind, a tourist taking photos with his daughter’s cell phone manages to capture not only a terrorist attack on the Golden Gate Bridge but also the image of an older man thought long dead by both the FBI and the shadowy criminal organization known as the Council. Frank Segreti gave evidence against the Council seven years earlier and—allegedly—got blown up for his troubles. Now he’s back, and FBI special agent Charlie Thompson knows that the only person who can protect him and lead her to the Council is one of the Bureau’s most wanted. Enter hit man Michael Hendricks, who’s been gunning to take down the Council ever since it dispatched its own hit man to take him out and his best friend got caught in the crossfire. While Charlie begins investigating a Syrian group claiming responsibility for the Golden Gate attack, Michael travels to San Francisco to find Frank amid the law enforcement mayhem. Holm expertly balances weighty issues of national security with more intimate personal losses, and makes it clear that the best stories happen in the gray area between good and evil. Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Company.

Narrator John Glouchevitch's deep, rich, slightly breathy voice works for thrillers. He conveys suspense especially well. This is the second in Holm's series about a hit man who kills other hit men. It revolves around an apparent terrorist attack on San Francisco and includes a panoply of Bay Area touches. While peppered with violence, the story isn't jarringly gruesome. Instead, Holm gives listeners well-crafted, sometimes lengthy descriptions and shadowy global conspiracies. Glouchevitch's pacing is good, if occasionally a little slow. His dialogue voices all sound similar (except for the real villains) but aren't difficult to identify. They'll keep listeners engaged. F.C. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

July 15, 2016
A fast-moving novel featuring the return of hit-man hitter and antihero Michael Hendricks (The Killing Kind, 2015).Tourist Jake Reston takes a video of his family with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Suddenly, a tugboat crashes into the bridge and explodes, causing massive damage and an unknown number of casualties. CNN obtains Reston's video of the disaster and televises it repeatedly. A bystander happens to appear briefly in the video. It's Frank Segreti, thought to be long dead by the Council, an umbrella alliance of organized crime groups. An incredulous Council member says, "This doesn't make any sense. We blew Segreti's ass up seven years ago," so "how'd he just end up on my TV?" Meanwhile, Hendricks wants to take down the Council, the Council wants to find Segreti and kill him again, and Segreti wants to get far away from the scene of the blast, for which the unknown "True Islamic Caliphate" immediately takes responsibility. FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson wants to protect Segreti, a federal witness, but is ordered to focus on the investigation of the bridge blast. A woman named Cameron wants to help Hendricks "stop bad guys" because he'd previously killed the man who'd been hired to off Cameron's mother. A Council bad guy named Chet Yancey interrogates Reston about the man in the video. Meanwhile, there's Sal Lombino, who is "solely responsible for executing Council orders" and is known as the "Devil's Red Right Hand." Unfortunately, bad person though Lombino is, he doesn't seem to earn his terrifying nickname. It's a complicated story with a few twists--nothing stunning but entertaining enough. Readers will root for Hendricks, even though he's on the FBI's Most Wanted list, because he has a more solid moral code than your average murderer. A good choice for thriller fans.

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August 1, 2016
Did you tick off the wrong people? Do they want you dead? The next voice you hear may belong to Michael Hendricks, an Afghan war veteran with an offer. For a fee, he'll hit the hit men for you. But Hendricks' career as the killers' killer goes sideways when a federal agent asks him to protect a potential witness. Frank Segretti knows too much, and keeping him alive means Hendricks must confront Segretti's enemies, a criminal United Nations. Chaos follows, turning uglier as we learn the U.S. has outsourced dirty work to a private company represented by a charismatic scumbag who wonders if terrorists are serious about dying for their god or secretly hoping one of their buddies volunteers for the mission. The novel brims with nice turns on genre conventions, like Hendricks' PI codesimilar to Sam Spade'sand the wisecracking moll, here a computer whiz mocking Hendricks' efforts to sound hip. Good story, good action, some startling turns of phrase: The last thing you'll ever see, Hendricks warns a baddie, is your teeth leaving your face. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2016

Years ago, FBI informant Frank Segreti was presumed to be dead when his safe house was blown up. Yet, the video of a terrorist attack in San Francisco shows Segreti to be very much alive. Determined to protect her witness until he can testify, FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson hires Michael Hendricks, a military covert operative-turned-hit man (of bad guys). His best friend and tech guru was killed by the same mob organization that's trying to take down Segreti, and now Hendricks is determined to burn down the group. VERDICT This follow-up to the acclaimed The Killing Kind (nominated for four major mystery awards, including the Anthony) is a real thrill ride. Jeff Abbott fans and adrenaline fiction junkies will appreciate how vividly the shadowy world of military contractors comes to life in Holm's skillful hands. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/16; see author profile on p. 80.--Ed.]

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016

A hit man who kills only other hit men (see The Killing Kind), Michael Hendricks is asked by Special Agent Charlie Thompson to protect a federal witness targeted by the evil Council.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.