Guest Reviewer Larry W. Chavis: I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes

I AM PILGRIM by Terry Hayes

The body of an unknown and unidentifiable young woman is found face down in a bath tub full of acid in New York. In Turkey, a newly-wed billionaire tumbles to his death from a cliff top, an apparent accident. Far to the east, in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, three abducted Europeans suffer unspeakable deaths, laboratory rats in a monstrous experiment. Finally, a former top covert agent, seeking to leave his dark world behind, instead finds it catching up to him in Paris, and, under the code name, Pilgrim, becomes the pathfinder who will link these disparate events together, exposing a threat unimaginable in its evil, well-nigh unstoppable in its execution.


Though this is a first novel, Terry Hayes is no stranger to writing, having written and produced such movies as "Payback," "Road Warrior," and "Dead Calm." In I AM PILGRIM, Hayes turns his hand to the novel, in a story peopled by real, flesh-and-blood characters, with all their virtues and vices--no cardboard cutout villains or flawless heroes here. His manner of telling their stories, with well-designed viewpoint shifts and interspersed with sections of backstory that, somehow, do not interrupt the story flow but rather build it, allows the reader to see and feel through the characters' eyes and minds in that way that every book tries to do, and so many fail. I've read thrillers that I enjoyed, but rarely, if ever, have I read one that enthralled me like I AM PILGRIM. 




Larry W. Chavis ©2017

Deciding at the advanced age of 44 to earn a physics degree to complement his theological degree, Larry enrolled in the University of Southern Mississippi, where he spent three exciting, if exacting, years, accomplishing his goal with honors. Upon graduation, he entered the public education system, teaching physics, trigonometry, and calculus. Semi-retired now (although still teaching two classes), he has a bit more time to work on writing. Larry has had stories published in "Crime and Suspense Ezine," "Kings River Life Magazine," and the anthology, Ten for Ten, edited by Tony Burton. Larry lives in south-central Mississippi with his wife of 38 years and a severely spoiled Shih-tsu named Sammie.