A stunning novel ... Kevin Powers provides what any discerning reader desires the most — complex and flawed characters, precise use of language, succinct description and believable dialogue ... The events are unpredictable. Secondary and tertiary characters have enormous impact on the narrative ... Powers sets up the scenes in a natural and seamless fashion, concealing his intentions as well as those of his characters. The surprises not only engage the reader but lead the way to further complications ... Part thriller, part police procedural, a story of power, greed and betrayal. Filled with compassion, it also addresses gender issues and the taboos of class differences ... Vivid, seemingly tossed-off descriptions abound...but the book is also filled with gems of wisdom on interior states ... Builds to a wrenching and inevitable ending. Powers takes his time with it, ensuring that the reader is fully alongside the characters as they confront adversarial forces.
A deeply compelling story that is both angrier and larger in scope than its predecessor ... The book’s trenchant social commentary is fortified by plenty (if not, at times, an overabundance) of well-written, hard-boiled action, including a prolonged shootout and a finale in which the norms of due process are cast aside. Indeed, if the novel has a flaw, it is the author’s reliance on this stark, bloody violence to create drama where a more subtle approach might have reaped greater narrative effects ... A Line in the Sand succeeds not because of its outrage or suspense, but because of its brilliantly nuanced depiction of how veterans deal with coming home to a nation that is, in many ways, as treacherous as a war zone.
A straight-up thriller, with all the pleasures and disappointments that come with a story that’s expertly told but a tick familiar ... Pretty much everybody adheres to stereotypes ... It makes for a thrilling climax, which is, of course, what thrillers are supposed to deliver. But it also delivers a sense that amid the literary battles of the last decade, the war novel lost ... Credit Powers for trying to remind readers of the consequences of war. But it would probably require another one to truly return our attention to it.
Powers’ skill as a fiction writer, as well as his experience as an Iraq War veteran, are both on display here, especially in the thoughtfully developed relationships between veterans, which add insight and heart to this thriller’s unrelenting suspense.
Uneven but eminently readable ... Powers generates a satisfying sense of suspense, and his strength lies in drawing fully realized characters, from the protagonists down to the support players. The prose, though, varies, ranging from refined to purple and unnatural ... Still, this is an enjoyable outing that will have readers hoping for future Wheel adventures.
