Review: Fast pace fighting with a twist!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2013
With the wild success of the UFC, you're bound to find illegal and deadly underground fight circuits.  Malcolm is a 13 yr old who runs bets for these fight circles for his brother.  His brother however, always bets on the sure thing, Malcolm loves the underdog.  When running these bets he discovers someone by the name of "Milkwood".  A guy that gets the s*** kicked out of him, gets back up, and never ever wins.  Determined to find his secret, Malcolm follows him, but what he found is far different than even he could imagine.A gritty look of illegal fights, with quite an interesting and different twist.Setting:  Set in a backwoods town in Canada after the fight scene in New York was busted and raided, you get a gritty view of the the fights and were they fight.  Jason does a good job of setting the scene.  You can imagine dirty dive bars with sawdust on the floor making the ring, blood stains on the ground, drunken screams and hollers as the combatants tear each other apart.  Outside you get clear images of dirty apartments and dark allies, neglected by the owners.  It all seems so realistic that you almost get the feeling he's visited these types of places at one time or another.Characters:  There is a whole host of characters that shine in this book.  Malcolm is a thirteen year old boy who knows the fight scene almost better than anyone due to running bets for his brother.  If he doesn't run those bets, he gets beat repeatedly.  Which in turn makes him have a tough exterior, and have a bitter view of the world around him.  This back story and the story of his mother make him almost a like-able character.  Almost.  He still is a punk kid that should probably get his ass beat to keep him in line.Then there is Milkwood.  A fighter that consistently gets pounded and keeps coming back for more.  His father, whom he has no respect for, was a pro wrestler, and a jobber (someone who loses to promote other talent).  He never won, and Milkwood had no respect for anyone who lost all the time, much  less in a "fake" sport.  Milkwood is a fat, ugly guy that ends up saving Malcolm and ends up getting involved in a tournament to help them both make a lot of cash.  But to do that, he needs the help of his father.  The nice thing here, is that the father is an old time wrestler, and keeps his secrets close to his heart, and even tries to kayfabe his son, or not really tell him what's up.  It reminded me of the original Shiek.  When he was out, he was in character.  He even made his wife get out and pump the gas and treated her like crap to keep the image.Eventually the two end up running into a beautiful woman named Lash, who has met Milkwood in the past, and now needs his help because she is being hunted by someone.  Despite her not having a large role, she popped off the page and came alive.Interesting thing about these characters....they aren't very like-able.  Not a one.  Each have their own selfish way of going about things, each have their own underlying motivations that others do not know about, but they work.  Not everyone you meet is going to be a "hero" or a "villain".  But that's the way life works in this type of setting.  Everyone has an agenda of their own.  No friends, only acquaintances.Plot:  Malcolm goes to Canada to place bets on the fight scene for his brother, who is extremely abusive.  This makes him a bit more touchy, and a lot more pissed off.  He runs into a guy by the name of "Milkwood".  He watches this fat, hideous fighter, get the absolute s*** kicked out of him in every way possible.  He gets up, takes his pay, and he never ever wins a fight.  Determined to figure out his secret, Malcolm follows him after one evening and gets into a bit of a jam, and was saved by none other than Milkwood.  It was then he discovered his secret, and why he was just a human punching-bag, when in fact, he could win every match.Malcolm is able to convince him at an upcoming tournament that they could make a ton of money if he finally goes in and actually wins the fights and the tournament. Easy right? Wrong.  Enter Lash, a hot body that has claimed to work with Milkwood in the past.  She's in trouble and she wants Milkwood to help.  With the past that the two have had Milkwood only has blood in his eyes and wants to kill her.Jason sets up an interesting historical background for Lash, and the person that she's running from, Dizzy Colt.  An ancient family holding a dark secret, literally locked away for ages, and the return of dangerous beings.It turns out that even Malcolm has had run-ins with Dizzy before, and will do nothing to take revenge on him.Bottom Line:  Fast paced action, well described locations, characters, that while not very likable, come alive on the page, and a very unique story all serve to make this a fantastic read.  You don't have to understand the wrestling or fight lingo to get what Jason Ridler is trying to say.  You don't even have to like MMA to enjoy the story.  It's an interesting and fresh take on an already saturated supernatural market, one that will leave you wanting more.