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Vigilante justice has long been a theme in literature and cinema. Westerns capitalized on the idea of the lone gunman meting out punishment for evil outside of the law, and more than a few of the pulp detectives dealt with criminals without relying on a judge and a jury. In 1969 Don Pendleton's Matt Bolan starting building up a staggering Mafia body count in The Executioner series, while Robert Parker introduced Spenser, a sometimes law-abiding but equally effective crusader in 1973. Fields' writing echoes both of these authors in his gritty tale of vengeance and madness.
The book begins in 1966 with a contract killer for the Mafia teaching his teenage son the finer points of fishing and murder. The storyline then fast-forwards to 1980 and picks up the plot threads and several of the characters from the author's first book in the series. The kidnapping of teenage girls has started again, and the sadism of Reverend Jeremiah Towers' sons is in full form. Vietnam War veteran Gene Brooks is back but is joined by an equally tough warrior, Wesley Palladin, the young boy from the first chapter who has followed in his father's footsteps as a contract killer but also as one who refuses to kill the innocent. Connor Brooks and Matt Henry are back, too, but Matt's past abuse by Mr. Henry results in some fatal fruit after coming under the influence of a new father figure.
Fields years in education are evident in his skillful writing and deft plotting. Readers new to the series may struggle a bit with a storyline that relies heavily on knowledge of the first book, but for Twin River fans and lovers of graphic violence and psychological disturbance in fiction this novel shouldn't be disappointing.