The Ranger by Ace Atkins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an interesting read and one that I haven't quite figured out.
Despite lavish blurbs from Michael Connely and John Sandford this is not much of a mystery. What reveals there are are barely foreshadowed and exist to drive the action forward, not to demonstrate the heroes powers of detection.
The writing is sparse, descriptions are mostly eschewed in favor of dialogue and action. Fortunately, Atkins has a rare gift to clearly define characters and their relationship in a lines of a conversation
The action is serviceable. The best part, when the Ranger and his buddy Boom (a fine addition to the rank of Hawk-like sidekicks, and all the more appropriate since apparently Atkins has been tapped to continue the Spenser series...) decide on a whim to wreck the local meth labs.
The plot moves along at a rapid-enough pace. Atkins does a nice job of keeping Quinn tied to the plot even once we stop caring about the initial mystery. (Note, though, that the fact that we stop caring about the initial mystery is not a good thing...)
The biggest problem that I have with the novel is that I didn't feel like Atkins has much to say. Being a stalwart and brave hero is good. Being a skinhead who pollutes the town with meth is bad. Being a disingenuous preacher or a developer who sells out his small town is worse.
Since most of the villains survive (which is refreshing, by the way) I intend to read future volumes to see if maybe this was just a set up of a longer epic. As it is, it's a fine quasi-western, but not as remarkable as I was hoping.
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