Time To Hunt is NOT a book one can miss on. Despite my best efforts to savor the book at a leisurely pace, the fast pace and non-stop high adrenaline shootouts and brutal hand to hand combat had me hooked in tight. Not just the action, but also the constant jaw dropping twists and lack of security for almost all involved characters had me turning pages to find out what would happen next.
The story picks up right after the cliffhanger of Trained To Hunt, with Hunt deciding to undertake a CIA operation to rescue his friend, Charlie Henican, who was kidnapped by Turkish authorities while on mission to find and kill Jorge Ramirez, the antagonist from Trained To Hunt who had a big hand in killing many young athletes in US through a supply of lethal amphetamines. However, the mission is not as straightforward as it may seem, with unexpected betrayals and moles within the mission that create confusion and a smoke screen through which Hunt has to navigate to get to the heart of the conspiracy while Hunt has to decide who he can trust. I would talk more about the entertaining and exciting plot, but that would spoil the fun of unexpected twists and turns in the book. I will say this, it is the ingenuity of the author to have one of the moles’ character develop in a manner that it isn’t as black and white of a decision to label the mole as an evil character, not only for the readers but also for Hunt and his team.
The action is top-notch with accurate and descriptive weaponry in shootouts and high visual appeal in the way the sequences are written so much so that the reader feels right in the middle of the shootouts and fisticuffs. One of the major accomplishments in the action sequences is the infusion of emotions into the action. Hunt and Ramirez exchange blows and shots on more than one occasion and the author does an excellent job of setting up the appropriate tension between the two adversaries and how that anger seeps into the action sequences involving the two of them, making for highly cinematic showdowns.
Another great idea explored in the book is Hunt’s vulnerability as an aging operator. With all the shootouts and brutal combat he is involved in, the book dawns on his thoughts of his own mortality as the events beg the question of how long his body and mind can keep taking the punishment before he cracks. It’s an intriguing idea and its execution paints Hunt as a grounded protagonist.
The locations in Time to Hunt are of global scale, including locales such as The Bahamas, Turkey, and Switzerland. I enjoyed the change in locations from the previous novels and it added to the exotic and dangerous narrative of Time to Hunt with a touch of espionage and spy thriller vibes.
Time to Hunt is hands down one of the best books of 2020, and continues to elevate Pierce Hunt higher in the list of the best characters in the genre. With an exciting and twists filled plot, riveting action, interesting and enjoyable characters, this is a clear winner! A must-read in every sense.
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