Review: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because Amazon doesn't do fractions.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 9, 2013
JD Mader is the modern day Louis L'Amour. I cannot tell the difference between the two, and this is not a bad thing. Simply put, Mader writes modern day westerns. But, instead of horses, we get motorcycles. Instead of cowboys, we get bikers. Instead of vast deserts and ranch lands, we get San Francisco.This is the second Matt Stark novel. I enjoyed the first one, but felt The Biker wrapped up too neatly. Hannigan's Fight suffers from the same what-ails-you; another clean ending where no one was ever really in much danger. The villain is dynamic, though, and you have to keep reading to find out what this nutjob Hobb is going to do next. You can relate to the bad guy, if only for the briefest of instants, and that's awfully scary.I flip-flopped back and forth between three and four stars until I finally landed on 3.5. The writing is excellent, but that's par for the course when it comes to JD's work. The ending is sort of anticlimactic, but I've come to expect that from Mader, as well. In the end, Hannigan's Fight felt like Mader's previous two novels (Joe Café‎ and The Biker) shuffled together. I get that real life doesn't always have a big, climactic ending, and that some problems work themselves out without any outside help, but when you read an entire book only to find out that the main character could've just stayed home, you're only left wanting to throw your Kindle against a hard surface.And, yes, though I didn't like the ending, this book is well worth the read, mainly because of the journey leading up to the destination. I suggest reading The Biker before Hannigan's Fight, though. Be forewarned, JD Mader is addictive.