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Troubleshooter
By Austin S. Camacho
Intrigue Books
Reviewed by: Kevin Tipple
While third in the series featuring Hannibal Jones, the events depicted in
this novel predate the novels Blood And Bone and Collateral Damage. As
such, it serves as a perfect introduction to the series for new readers and
for those fans familiar with the series, explains how it all began.
Displaced by a fire in his apartment complex, Hannibal needs a new home, at
least temporarily. With his new struggling business open less than six
months and all records destroyed in the fire along with everything else he
owns, Hannibal is devastated and contemplating a bleak future. Thanks to
Cindy Santiago, daughter of his friend, Ray Santiago, he may get a new place
fast.
Cindy works in a small law firm and one of the partners, Mr. Dan Baylor, has
recently branched out into real estate as a developer. Cindy is sure that
she can set up a meeting and Mr. Baylor will help Hannibal get a new place.
They do meet and after Baylor checks with his staff, he informs Hannibal
that nothing is currently available. The only possible exception and one
that he is very reluctant to reveal, is in a building across the river in
Anacostia. Infested with squatters and drug dealers, Mr. Baylor has been
unable to get them out of his building despite repeated requests to the
police. The property, which he bought from the government and is intended to
be developed for low-income housing, is costing Baylor every month and
thanks to the squatters and drug dealers, he can't recoup his investment.
A deal is struck for Hannibal to clean out the building and provide security
so that repair crews can go to work. Former government agent and now
"troubleshooter" Hannibal Jones figures he has the bases covered and can
have the building emptied permanently in less than a week. But, he is very
wrong and quickly puts himself and those he cares about in great danger as
the war for control between a neighborhood and the mob heats up.
Unlike the earlier two novels of the series, this novel is more of a
character study and less of a mystery. Little detective work is actually done
since the dealers and other bad guys are quickly identified. As such, this
novel shifts more into a vigilante style of justice work with Hannibal
forced to repeatedly do battle to clear the building at considerable cost.
Over the course of the siege, not only do we see how Hannibal came into
being through insights into his character but we also see the beginnings of
the romance between himself and Cindy Santiago. Several other recurring
characters from the other novels make their introduction as well, explaining
the tight bonds that exist.
Like the others in this series, this very enjoyable novel features tight
writing, plenty of action, and intriguing characters. However, in so doing,
some reviewers have mistakenly compared this author with Tom Clancy. Please
do not be misled as this book and the others in the series have nothing in
common with Tom Clancy novels. Both authors are writing books that do not
share connections of style, character development, plotting, pacing, or
anything else in common other than the fact they both release books printed
on paper. Since Tom Clancy writes detailed techno thrillers, making such
comparisons meaningless and absurd, a better comparison might be made
between Hannibal Jones to the "Lucas Davenport" character of the Prey series
by John Sandford. Much like Lucas, Hannibal is
an intense loner by his very nature and is very selective in his personal
entanglements, romantic or otherwise. Much like Lucas, Hannibal does not
tolerate evil in its many forms and is often conflicted as to the results
and consequences regarding such confrontations. Much like Lucas, Hannibal is
often pitted against forces that devalue human life at great personal cost.
Hannibal is fast becoming an old friend that this reader regularly looks
forward to every time a new novel is released. This author and his three
mystery novels to date are well worth the read and worthy of a place on your
bookshelf.
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