Review: Mayne is a Great Story Teller and Public Enemy Zero Doesn't Disappoint.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 20, 2011
I recently read Mayne's The Chronological Man and was captivated enough to grab this novel. Public Enemy Zero is an easy, popcorn read. As in Mayne's other outing, there are no grandiose political speeches. No hidden agendas. This is a straightforward action thriller that mashes up a nerd's Jason Bourne with 28 Days Later. Our anti-hero Mitch wakes up one day after a long illness to find himself the target of uncontrollable wrath from everyone he gets close to. What ensues is a long, repetitive series of chase sequences. It sounds kind of mundane, but it's not. It's imminently readable and thoroughly enjoyable. I rooted for Mitch and as the novel progresses, you can see the shift from criminal fugitive to sympathetic outlaw. When the literary public gets on board with what you already knew, you can't help but do a mental fist bump. This is a tense, scattered read that mimics Mitch's own hare-like antics to survive. I didn't like everything about this novel. There is a preposterously unnecessary arc about The Naked Man that the book could have easily done without. There are also a distracting amount of grammatical errors, word omissions and composition problems. Despite these hindrances, I really liked this book and will start on The Grendel's Shadow soon. Go ahead and give this one a try. I dare you not to have a good time reading it.