The Warrior

This short debut thriller packs a wallop. Yeah, there are flaws – notably, an opening chapter that just didn't click for me, with fight mechanics that seemed . . . off somehow; and a final sentence that would've caused me to toss a paperback across the room (but a Kindle edition is safe from that fate). But the stuff between? Nice, testosterone-y fun.

It's a pretty straight-forward tale of vengeance, the lone crusader tracking down some despicable criminals, kickin' butt and taking names along the way. Not that Zeb's as lone as he thinks he is – former colleagues, friends, fellow-soldiers, handler, sister, and an almost-obnoxiously cute kid. Patterson knows his weapons, knows his martial arts (at least some forms), knows how to get that information across to his readers (most of the time). All the makings of a good, action read.

As I said, it's a short novel. Goodreads tells me it's 153 pages, and that seems about right. But the novel could've used another 100 pages or so. There was a lot that seemed rushed or under-developed. Some of the relationships developed so quickly it strained disbelief – and in these kind of books, it should be the heroics that strain disbelief.

On the whole, I liked the characters, and Patterson's treatment of them. Many of them were variations on the typical action hero types, but nicely drawn. Although, I do think a few times with Zeb that Patterson aimed for enigmatic and hit ill-defined. The more citizen-y characters, worked as well – but I could've used more details with them, why did they take so well to this rag-tag band of adventurers?

I honestly didn't see a lot of the end coming, and initially wasn't thrilled with it. In retrospect, not only did I see why Patterson made the choices he made, but understood the story he was trying to tell – not the one I thought he was telling.

A fast-paced, enjoyable read – full of action and all the right kinds of characters for this sort of book. It's commendably ambitious, just not as good as it tries to be. Still, I look forward to seeing more from Patterson.
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Note: I was graciously provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for a review. Hope he doesn't regret that.