In the sequel to The Room of White Fire, Roland Ford is hunting down a mysterious killer, jockeying for position with the FBI, and risking everything to save a friend in terrible jeopardy.
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.
