Paladine (Paladine Political Thriller: Book 1) by Kenneth Eade

4 Stars

Publisher: Times Square Publishing

Date of publication: September 18th, 2016

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Paladine Political Thriller

Paladine

Russian Holiday

Traffick Stop

Unwanted

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

From the best-selling & award winning author critics hail as “one of the strongest thriller writers on our scene” comes the unforgettable story of an unlikely “anti-hero” in Book 1 of the five-book Paladine Series. Robert Garcia was an unremarkable man, tapped out of a promising military career to become a death squad assassin for the CIA. Retirement was not in the cards for Robert, so he disappeared instead. After he comes out of the cold to answer the call to aid a fellow soldier facing a bum rap, he is thrust back into the spotlight when he kills a terrorist, thereby saving dozens of lives. He finds gainful employment in the slaughter of jihadists, which sparks an urban legend that Robert, a dangerous and unfeeling assassin, is a living paladin, whose mission is to rid the earth of evil for the betterment of mankind. Social media gives him the name: “Paladine” and God help whoever gets between him and his next target.

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My review:

I am an equal opportunity reader. That means I will read anything (fiction, really don’t like nonfiction)I can get my hands on. I do have some genre’s that I read less of, and assassin thrillers are in that group. My grandfather used to read them all the time when he was alive and then pass them onto me with the words, “Jolie, dear, I think you will like this book.” Of course, I would read it. They were so dry and full of technical terms that I would never understand because the authors weren’t kind and didn’t include a glossary at the end. Then I would go to his house, and we would talk about the book. As he got older, the less he read (he had dementia, among other things), and we stopped discussing books. I accredit him for my deep love of reading, and I have a strong feeling that he would have loved Paladine.

Surprisingly, I liked Paladine, even though it is not what I usually read. One, this book is not dry. Two, the author kindly has a glossary at the end. I did do a fist pump when I realized this. The plot was pretty fast-paced, and it kept me on my toes as to what Robert would do next, which is what I need in these types of books.

I also like that Robert didn’t have any morals. Sure, he shoots a would-be terrorist through a window a McDonald’s, but he didn’t do it because it was right. He did it because he was in the right place at the right time. The same goes for all of the other terrorist killings. He only did it because he was being paid to do it. But he embraced the nickname Paladine, that a blogger gave him. Reluctantly, but he embraced it.

I also like seeing Robert evolving during the book. He went from someone who didn’t need family/friends to someone who missed having social interaction. I thought the scenes with the dog were sweet and added some humanity to him.

The action in this book was intense. It was a little gory, but I wasn’t expecting it to be anything less.

I also like that the author wrote from the police/FBI/CIA point of view too. But what I liked was that even people in those departments were like “he’s doing our job for us, let him be.” On the other hand, you had people on the opposite end and who were willing to go all out to try to get him.

The ending of the book was great. Lots of action and a little twist that I should have seen coming. The author’s ending comments also struck a chord with me (mainly the very end)

I would give Paladine an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Paladine. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**