DS_PointPOINT AND SHOOT
Duane Swierczynski
MULHOLLAND BOOKS
April 30th, 2013
You know how some folks will tell you to “fasten your seatbelts for this non-stop thrill ride, yadda yadda yadda…” Yeah, we’ve seen these blurbs before. But see, I’m here to tell you this, and you sure as hell better listen close:
“You better wear this flame resistant shock suit with the jetpack on the back and blasters on the wrists because this book moves faster than the Flash and hits harder than the Hulk and you sure as Hell better BE READY.”
This is how I would describe POINT & SHOOT to anyone and everyone. It may be too long to fit on a book cover, but I don’t care because this is advice you need to know. Fans of Duane Swierczynski know what to expect with his novels, and it’s this: with his books, you never know what to expect. POINT & SHOOT wraps up the Charlie Hardie Series. When last we left “Unkillable Chuck,” his battle with the secret cabal known as the Accident People had culminated with his escaping from an underground inescapable prison, and finally being… launched into space? Yeah. Launched into space.
You know what they say, there’s nowhere to go but “UP.”
Hardie has had a pretty tough time of it for the last decade or so. A former aid to the Philly police department, Hardies’ life hit the skids after a deadly shoot out with the Albanian mob. With his is personal and professional life in a tailspin, Hardie has spent his time housesitting for the wealthy, watching old movies, and drinking. And then, in a course of events that could only be born from the brain of Duane Swierczynski, Hardie becomes tangled up in a battle against the secret cabal known as the Accident People. Even though Hardie scored his greatest victory by escaping their “inescapable prison,” and setting the cabal’s greatest enemies free, he’s still launched into space at the end of book two. (HELL AND GONE.)
I know it seems I’m spending much of this review talking about the previous books, but the fact is, the events of this series are so mind-blowingly imaginative, so lightning fast paced, that POINT & SHOOT can only be described as a “HOLY HANAH. SO THAT’S HOW THE STORY ENDS” end to the crazy mind bender known as the Charlie Hardie Series.
Dan Malmon