Review: A Gritty Thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 29, 2012
One of Russell Blake's many gifts is his ability to take current events and twist them until they squeal. He does it again in KING OF SWORDS with the fight against the Mexican drug cartels, blurring the line between justice and vengeance. El Rey is the legendary assassin whose expertise is in demand by the cartel leaders. Captain Romero Cruz is the detective whose burning goal is to bring down the cartels and save Mexico's future. The passion of both men was born in brutal violence, and Blake leverages their hate and need for retribution to maximum effect.Cruz becomes entangled with El Rey when a captured cartel boss hints at an assassination that, if carried out, will irretrievably alter the North American political and military landscape. As he and his small team dig deeper into the possibility that this claim is true, Cruz grows more certain that the elite assassin has been put into play and that the entire scheme has been created by one of the most powerful entities in the world. The implications of this murder and its origins are so vast that Cruz cannot trust even his own government to help him stop El Rey.As always with Blake, this is a fast paced read that left me breathless. I'm looking forward to the next match-up between El Rey and Cruz. Highly recommended.