After the events of PATRIOT ACTS, Atticus Kodiak is living a very secluded life in Greg Rucka’s WALKING DEAD. He and Alena reside in the former Russian area of Georgia, only for their world to be massively changed when new neighbors move in. Atticus and Alena become fast friends with them, but they’re quite a family.
The story opens with Atticus in the defensive, thinking someone is trying to get into his home. But it turns out, it’s actually the neighbors who were being attacked, an Atticus makes a horrifying discovery: The family has been brutally killed in what is no doubt a professional killing, wiping them all out except for the daughter, who is missing, most likely kidnapped.
Even when the local police investigate, they say it’s a murder-suicide, without even really looking into it. But Atticus figures the police were paid off not to delve deeply into the matter, so he makes it his mission to track down the killers, and bring back the missing girl.
The novel is a total page-turner from the get-go. There is not one lull in it. I mean, once Atticus gets going into his hunt, the action never lets up. It totally feels as though Rucka spent his off-time reading some old men’s adventure books.
What will surprise some who have followed the series is that Atticus tries to hold off on brutality, especially when questioning people who are involved in this horrific human trafficking operation. He could have easily taken care of certain facets of it, but lets them live for his own reasons. It feels as though he is getting tired of solving all his problems with bullets in people’s heads.
But fear not, readers: There is plenty of gunplay to make up for it. The story is a globetrotting adventure that takes him from his home to Turkey, Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam and Las Vegas, all while acting like a focused machine who is only after one thing: the missing girl. No matter who has her, someone is severely going to pay.
Sure, Atticus lives in a world where a new passport is only a phone call away. It makes some of the book seems a bit comic-book-like, but that is also where Rucka spends his time, so that can be forgiven. WALKING DEAD is a thriller that is such a fast read, you wish it would not end, even after 300 pages. How many writers are capable of that type of storytelling? —Bruce Grossman
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• 52: VOLUME ONE by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME TWO by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME THREE by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• 52: VOLUME FOUR by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Keith Giffen
• PATRIOT ACTS by Greg Rucka
• PRIVATE WARS by Greg Rucka
• QUEEN & COUNTRY: DEFINITIVE EDITION — VOLUME 1 by Greg Rucka
• QUEEN & COUNTRY: DEFINITIVE EDITION — VOLUME 2 by Greg Rucka
Related posts:
- Patriot Acts
- Queen & Country: Definitive Edition — Volume 1 / Volume 2
- Mystery Writers of America Presents The Blue Religion: New Stories About Cops, Criminals, and the Chase
- 52: Volume One
- 52: Volume Four
