Swift Vengeance by T. Jefferson Parker is an incendiary new thriller ... this timely and terrifying story packs an emotional punch, and I shed a few tears. It’s powerful stuff, and Parker is a master at giving his readers exactly what they want in a good thriller (plenty of action and thrills) while not skimping on fully realized characters with relatable and, at times, tragic motivations. This is also a fascinating exploration of a little-known area of the military—remote drone operators—and how they cope with their missions and their aftermath as well as how, under the right conditions, someone can be radicalized and driven to murder ... he’s a highly versatile author that just keeps getting better and better.
Military drone operators know they are dealing in death, but there is something oddly impersonal about killing from such a distance. For those who are hunted, it doesn’t feel that way. T. Jefferson Parker asks readers to think about that as he unleashes non-stop action in Swift Vengeance .... the new series succeeds not only in entertaining but also in challenging readers to ponder the circle of vengeance unleashed by the Iraq war and America’s seemingly endless war on terror.
There’s...vague Islamophobia in Parker’s collection of Saudi and Syrian suspects, every one of whom is defined by the violent events of their lives, but the man knows how to keep the pages turning. Investigator Roland Ford’s client has been threatened with beheading, possibly in retaliation for her part in the drone killing of civilians in Aleppo. Parker keeps quite a few balls in the air, skillfully steering us toward and away from a batch of possible killers while maintaining a twisty, relentless pace. As a result, his Vengeance is swift, indeed.
The characters in T. Jefferson Parker’s Swift Vengeance are finely limned, and the complex narrative unfolds into a real and timely page turner ... Readers will feel a great deal of empathy for the private investigator as they careen through the twists and turns of this exciting procedural ... The razor-sharp prose is especially brilliant here, and readers should be prepared for a heady treat.
Parker's insights are thought provoking and his characters are complex. PTSD from combat in the Middle East is familiar to most of us from the media. However, the [e]ffect that operating drones and killing from a distance has on the persons who do this for the military is something that we have perhaps overlooked ... Swift Vengeanceis a mystery that you will find hard to put down.
Roland Ford is a compelling hero: financially comfortable but not emotionally complacent, empathetic and equipped with the training and inclination to vanquish wickedness. Mr. Parker’s devotees should be well-pleased.
This was a very exciting, fast paced, non-stop action packed adventure to find the person behind these terrorist attacks before he kills again. As they get closer to finding the murderer, there a few surprise violent encounters that were brutal and escalated the search ... a very well done edge of your seat suspenseful thriller, and Parker had us on the edge of our seat, especially in the last ¼ of the book. As we raced to this exciting explosive climax, we had no idea who would survive. I suggest you read Swift Vengeance, which was excellently written by T. Jefferson Parker.
A widowed ex-cop and ex-marine combat veteran, Ford carries his own emotional baggage. He is a kick-ass warrior with a heart of gold but a head overflowing with painful memories. Parker’s writing is sharp, and each character in the extended cast is unique and finely nuanced despite the super-fast-paced narrative. The themes of redemption and revenge run on parallel tracks, occasionally intersecting. This is quintessential California noir.
A private eye seeking to help a military friend matches wits with a devious, deviant killer ... Digging into [character Kenny] Bryce’s history puts Ford on the road to finding Caliphornia, and when he does, the tale morphs from a whodunit into a nail-biting cat-and-mouse thriller. Prolific Parker’s impressive prose and skill in sketching concise character portraits make his complex follow-up to The Room of White Fire (2017) an all-too-believable page-turner.
The stakes rapidly rise ... The hunt for Caliphornia is suspenseful, the backstory behind the threats is disturbingly horrible, and the denouement is scary and satisfying. Parker deepens the narrative with musings on Ford’s life, the horrors and ambiguities of the war on terror, and the fine line between justice and vengeance.
