Fiction Book Review: Strong Cold Dead: A Caitlin Strong Novel by Jon Land
Jon Land, Author
Forge, $26.99
(352p) ISBN 978-0-7653-3513-5
This eighth installment of Land’s Strong Series is a journey from post-Civil War Texas mystery to 1930s Canadian Mounties to modern-day terror on American soil. A mass murder must be solved, leading feminine and fatal Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong toward generations-old Comanche secrets that could either mean cancer is curable or death is near. The pace and thrills build as an Indian reservation draws industry, a mastermind, and murder. An ISIS strike looms with sights set on Houston after those whom Caitlin loves most are targeted, and she suspects a blast from her past. Strong is an action hero alive in her own presence. Chuck Norris would nod in a smirk of reckoning alongside Strong. This is one ranger who proves her ability to work with fellow good guys despite her “Hurricane Caitlin” reputation. She glowers through the author’s words, cool, collected, flawed…ready to shoot from the hip and straight off the page. As readable as Caitlin is, her literary presence does not overwhelm the other characters of Strong Cold Dead, not by a long shot. Particularly menacing is charismatic ISIS leader Hatim Abd al-Aziz, recruiting children to his cause while disguising his “penchant for violence”. Caitlin’s former green beret love interest packs a skeleton or two into more than one satisfying wallop.
Reviewed on: 09/08/2016
Release date: 10/04/2016
