COLLISION, Jeff Abbott’s latest thriller, does what a good thriller should: grab you by the throat and take you for a ride, threatening to push you out at 60 mph. It centers around two unlikely allies who don’t prefer the company of one another. Pilgrim is the archetype special ops/black ops warrior, while Ben Forsberg is a corporate consultant specializing in government contracts, whom we meet on his mental last leg.
The love of Forsberg’s life was killed in a random act of violence while honeymooning, and now, just as his fragile psyche attempts to crawl back to normal, evidence links him to a couple homicides. Pilgrim, a key member of a CIA false-flag operation called Cellar, actually had something to do with the murders and in pointing the finger at Forsberg.
Pilgrim suddenly finds himself shut out of the Cellar and out in the cold. Both men find themselves hunted, cut off from all hope thrust together and not willing to trust each other. As in all good thrillers, this is set up quickly. Eight pages in, a sniper unknowingly misses his mark and doesn’t know he’s in trouble until a point man shouts in the radio, “He’s gone!”
The scene continues: “Nicky glanced into the rearview just in time to see the big guy running up behind the car, drawing a gun from underneath a jacket. For half a second, shock seized him. Then he ducked for the Glock he kept under the seat and closed his fingers around it. The driver’s window exploded and agony lanced his shoulder.”
The big guy asks, “Who sent you?” Thus, you find yourself introduced to Pilgrim, one kick-ass shooter whom you better kill with the first shot if you want to keep breathing.
COLLISION is a page-turner that won’t disappoint. You follow the men along as they attempt to pull the curtains back and find out why they’ve been marked for death and who’s really pulling the strings. They’re hunted from all sectors, and always seem to be behind the curve — but two steps ahead of the law and the killers hunting them — as the book’s subplot slowly unveils itself to the reader.
If you’re not acquainted with Abbott’s work, give COLLISION a read. I think you’ll enjoy it, and if you know his stuff already, you surely won’t be disappointed. —Bart Brunscheen
