If you're in the mood for a slightly unconventional thriller where rugged individuals with exceptional outdoor skills struggle against the odds to outwit the bad guys, some of whom may be working for government agencies, then 'Pursuit'may be just what you're looking for.

'Pursuit' is Indy Quillen's second thriller about Fox Walker, a Native American with extraordinary tracking skills. It happens six months after the end of the first novel,  'Tracker'.

'Pursuit' gave me not one but three rugged individuals who are good in the outdoors: an ex-Navy SEAL on the run, Fox who is called in by the FBI to pursue the SEAL but who begins to feel that he's hunting a man who doesn't deserve to be hunted, and Nataya, Fox's partner, who also knows how to live off the land and who, at the start of the novel is supposed to stay home out of harm's way but clearly isn't going to.

I settled down with it, expecting to spend a few hours reading and ended up finishing the whole thing in a day so that I could see how everything worked out.

Although most of this story is a detailed and very credible description of Fox's pursuit of the ex-Navy SEAL through the mountains, a lot of the tension comes from cross-cutting this with events elsewhere focused on figuring out what the FBI's agenda is and who really killed the woman the ex-Navy SEAL was convicted of killing. Both paths through the story have lots of threats and periods of intense, violent action and the overall resolution is quite satisfying.

This is an engaging thriller that gets its edge from the easy-to-believe-in descriptions of the tracking and survival skills that Fox and Nataya and the ex-Navy SEAL all have and by the way in which Indy Quillen highlights the different world views that drive how these skills are used.

Every now and again, I like a thriller where rugged individuals with exceptional outdoor skills struggle against the odds to outwit the bad guys, especially when some of the bad guys are working for government agencies.

In 'Pursuit'. I have three rigged individuals: an ex-navy SEAL on the run, Fox Walker, an exceptional Ute tracker called in to pursue the SEAL, and Fox Walker's companion who is supposed to stay home out of harm's way but clearly isn't going to. The FBI seems to be being lined up in the role of bad guys, so that's credible enough, although why any Native American would work for the FBI is beyond me. 

So, I'm escaping into the mountains in Colorado and waiting to see if the three rugged individuals will find a way to work together to bring down 'The Man'.

My 100th review and I’ve been mulling this over for a few weeks. I’m an admirer of indy author, Jane Davis’ work, so much so that I bought my Kindle copy in advance and looked forward to the launch. The author’s customary style is again deployed to good effect and the narrative is engaging and draws the reader into the respective experiences and feelings of the characters, but I think herein lies my difficulty and I stress it is my problem.

The story-lines centre on the aftermath of a major incident at a London underground station (St. Boltoph and Old Billingsgate), in which fifty nine people lost their lives. “For over thirteen years the search for truth – for the undoing of injustice – has eaten up everything. Marriage, friendships, family, health, career, finances.” Such a devastating, albeit fictional, loss of life is clearly fertile territory to examine the sense of loss, anger and despair of those bereaved family and friends left to mourn and the aching instinct for answers (‘why’?), accountability and the public vilifying of the blameworthy.

Unfortunately, this fictional account of a disaster, in which so many perished, has coincided with such an array of actual disasters, still etched in the public consciousness and pored over in the media that we are, sadly perhaps, all too familiar with the post disaster landscape (Grenfell fire; Manchester bombing; Hillsborough; 7/7; 9/11). I’m not suggesting that a novel is an inappropriate platform for exploring the human response to sudden catastrophic loss and the enduring impact that ripples outward. It just seems to me to be an emotional devastation, which may lack appeal if the reader is seeking ‘entertainment’, or an escape from ‘reality’. Though here I should probably record a ‘conflict of interests’, in that having trained as a crisis support worker for such eventualities, it is difficult not to read this book through a professional lens.

In any event, this ambitious book is very well written and the respective discoveries and cathartic journeys of the key bereaved characters are also cleverly offset by the experience of Eric, a law student who comes without the emotional baggage of those directly affected, but nonetheless is grounded in his own life’s challenges. Naturally the experiences of surviving partners, parents, siblings, and friends will be different and Davis handles this diversity well via the delicate parallel plotlines. In some senses the one ‘unknown victim’ is the saddest of all. However, while the toing and froing, pre and post- incident and across the multiple perspectives does confer a certain fragmentation within the storytelling, the narrative is successfully woven to a satisfactory conclusion.

On balance, I think Jane Davis pitches the tone about right. Not so bleak as to trigger compassion fatigue, but not so sanitized as to run the risk of appearing implausible. Fortunately perhaps, most of us can overlook the licence granted to the fiction writer, to fashion an interesting account and Davis has certainly made good on a tricky theme. For me, it’s proved a bit too much like a busman’s holiday, but I acknowledge I don’t have a neutral perspective and shall ponder other reviews to get a more balanced view. That the author should tread here at all does her much credit.

Overview:

An entertaining thriller that makes a fast, light, weekend read and creates some real page-turning tension.

The Story:

Native American with phenomenal tracking skills helps search mountain forest in Colorado for a serial killer and finds a woman living in the wild. As he tries to look after her others are trying to find her, including a reporter from a trashy magazine, some FBI consultants and perhaps a serial killer.

Things I Liked:

Good pacing, taking enough time to bring the bits of the story together yet winding up to real I-have-to-turn-the-next-page-RIGHT-NOW tension at the end.

Clear, credible descriptions of how to live in a forest, using only what you find there and a clear sense of place. I could see the forests and the mountains clearly.

The empathy built for the "Wild Woman" and her simple view of life in the natural world.

The slow trust-building process that Walker used with her was well-described.

The fact that our heroine looks after herself rather than waiting to be rescued.

The action scenes at the end are well-timed. clearly described and deliver perfect tension.

Things I Thought Could Have Been Better

I struggled with the way Fox Walker spoke. He didn't sound like any Native American I've ever met. The perceived inauthenticity bothered me. It bordered on the patronising, although I'm certain that wasn't the author's intent.

The final scene was a bit too soppy for me. I thought the outcome was plausible but the speed felt contrived.

I've always found the idea of broaching the Comics/Graphic Novels genre as daunting.  There are so many options and I know so little about any of them.  But the other day, my husband and I were out on a quest.  A quest to find expansion card packs for Munchkin.  Does anyone know this card game?  ADDICTIVE.  Our search drove us to new-to-us local comic shops.  As I eyed the rows of comics on my way to the back of the first store, I found I could hold out no longer.  In particular, this comic caught my eye.  I bought the first three in the series.  Dark and steampunk and paranormal?  Yes, please.  Can't wait to run through these.  The artwork is gorgeous.