Review: "The Contractors: A Thriller" by Harry Hunsicker

Anyone who has read the Lee Henry Oswald series by Harry Hunsicker knows that the author does not write the Dallas Chamber of Commerce ad copy type of books. The Dallas streets in his books are not of glitter and not necessarily always mean. Instead, these streets are broken dreams, cracked asphalt and the five dollar whore on the corner who might be turning tricks to feed the child she will soon lose to the state. These are streets where nobody cares because everybody has a sob story. Bad things happen to all on the streets of Dallas in his books and The Contractors: A Thriller raises that bar to all new levels. 

While nearly everyone has heard of the private contractors working in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere overseas, they also are working her at home. Jon Cantrell and Piper are contractors for the DEA and a lot more as well as being romantically involved. As the book opens they are on the trail of Lisa, a missing 14 year old teenager. Hired by a retired crooked cop named Sinclair they need to find the girl and get her back home. Not only will that get them paid, it will allow them to focus on another job.

Under their real job of working for the DEA, they are going to raid a local warehouse and seize the drugs.  Unlike their sideline business with Sinclair where they get paid a small amount, this sanctioned job will pay big and be fully legal as they operate as private contractors for the DEA.  That is their plan for how to handle work, but they have no plan for how to handle their relationship going forward.

They aren’t the only private contractors working for the DEA and other parties in the Dallas Fort Worth area.  They are not the only ones that have a plan for the warehouse or the contents inside.  While others know about the secret cartel witness being held captive in the warehouse, Jon and Piper have no idea nor do they have any idea what they are in for when they find her. As the already fragile relationship between Piper and Jon disintegrates, they will have to battle in a flight across Texas trying to stay ahead of the many people who want them dead for various and often competing reasons.

It is going to be a brutally long week in August and not just because of the Texas sun.

Those who expect a serious mystery in the style of the excellent Lee Henry Oswald series will be disappointed in The Contractors: A Thriller. Instead, think of this more like a summer movie such as The Expendables for example. There will be carnage and mayhem, the body count will climb, lots of weapons will be used mixed in with plenty of explosions, and the heroes will escape certain death again and again. In short, a fun read that one should not take seriously. That is not a disparagement. It is a fact and one that clearly a number of reviewers elsewhere failed to understand as they didn’t get it.

This is a fast paced action orientated novel where nearly everyone has very few redeeming qualities. A thriller in every sense of the word where character development is limited and told in occasional bursts of backstory to give readers a break from the frenetic forward pace. Written in a movie type style of very short chapters and very few reflective moments for the characters, the book nearly constantly is focused on moving the characters forward at a hard pace. Constant explosions, gunfire, and mayhem, drive the book forward where everyone has an agenda and will use anybody and any means necessary to get their way.  The Contractors: A Thriller by Harry Hunsicker takes readers on a violent and bloody rampage from one end of Texas to the other in a read that constantly twists and turns on ways that should keep readers hooked to the very end.

The Contractors: A Thriller

Harry Hunsicker

http://www.harryhunsicker.com

Thomas & Mercer (Amazon)

http://www.apub.com

February 2014

ISBN-13: 978-1477808726

E-Book (available in paperback and audio)

514 Pages

$4.99

E-Book ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014