Review: Thriller opens window into world we would rather ignore
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2012
Russell Blake is known for using his fiction as a means to educate. Or at least to get readers to start thinking for themselves. King of Swords is no different. In this fast-paced thriller, he takes us on a journey into Mexico (where he lives) and sits us in the front seat of a rollercoaster - the amusement park itself the impact the drug war is having on the people of Mexico. The story is great, and the ending I found to be refreshingly real. This isn't your candy thriller supported by all the general clichés and unbelievable circumstances... this is a dose of reality-based fiction that you won't soon forget. It's entertaining, but it's disturbing simply because it's so real. Though the characters are fictitious, the people that make up the background of the story are real in the sense that they represent an actual population and its unique, desperate challenges... challenges that we, in the US, might not actually want to realize... might not actually want to sympathize with... But Blake's story makes it impossible to remain unmoved, and a new yet simple empathy will keep it with you for a long time. May even change some of your ivory tower views...