I bought 7th Son: Descent by J.C. Hutchins in early November and since then we’ve been playing a little shell game. Much like Good Omens, which I bought in ‘91 or ‘92, I managed to set it down and misplace it, only to find it again and start the cycle over.

Thankfully this little game of cat and mouse with Descent won’t be played out for nearly a couple decades. I managed to anchor on and keep the book at my side until I finished this last week. (I really should find Good Omens again)

Like Good Omens part of the precarious cycle is born out of a familiarity with Descent. Not because I’ve read the first 50 pages nearly a hundred times, but because I’ve heard it all before, at least the beginning of the 7th Son saga.

7th Son: Descent began life, at least to the public eye, as a podcast serialized and performed by the author, J.C. Hutchins. And I’ve heard the first words oh so many times over and over.

“The President of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four year old boy.”

Read more »

It’s bad enough to work a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, but to be called in to a special meeting of key personnel on a Saturday really sucks. It can’t get much worse, but for Jamie DeBroux, a PR copy man, husband and new father, it’s going to be the worst day of his life.

Set in Philadelphia, Duane Swierczynski’s Severance Package hits you over the head in the first chapter by killing Paul Lewis, a non-essential character to events of the book, though essential to the underlying character of Molly Lewis. Then you are shuffled through the cast of characters who work for Murphy Knox & Associates, a front company for the hybrid intelligence agency CI-6. It’s a bit confusing as we are raced through the roster, but quickly comes together once the meeting convenes.

Murphy Knox & Associates is being liquidated and unfortunately in the world of CI-6 that means the employees, agents and civilians, are to be terminated.

Literally.

Jamie DeBroux can’t believe it when David Murphy, their boss, announces that they must all die and there is no escape from the building. But when co-worker Stuart drinks the deadly mimosa at David’s suggestion, Jamie clearly understands this is no joke.

Swierczynski then proceeds to take our PR protagonist through an ultra violent ride with the help of his “office wife” Molly Lewis as his fellow co-workers are taken out one-by-one. With violence cranked up to 11, Jamie DeBroux’s only desire is to survive, escape the building and get back home with his wife and child.

Severance Package is hi-octane fiction that burns hot and fast. I could easily see it adapted into a movie by Guy Ritchie or the likes.

—

I enjoyed Duane Swierczynski’s book well enough that I picked up The Blonde and pre-ordered Expiration Date.

Next up is J.C. Hutchins‘ 7th Son: Decent.

Three years ago, 2007, I read Robert Crais‘ The Watchman, featuring Elvis Cole sidekick Joe Pike. Up to then, my experience with the character Elvis Cole or writer Crais had been relatively recent and limited to a handful of books. Just enough background to know that Joe Pike was Cole’s partner. A silent partner who did the job that was necessary and had no qualms about taking it to the limit.

I like Elvis Cole, a quick lipped sharp as a tack detective, but until The Watchman I had little feeling for Joe Pike, the enforcer, the muscle. That book would change that, jumping Pike to being one of my favorite fictional tough guys.

When I found out a few months ago that a new Joe Pike novel was coming out – I couldn’t wait to get The First Rule.

Read more »