A reader will often perceive a review like this as lukewarm. Often that’s right. However, I see this one as hot and cold. There was much about Dan’s War I liked, and liked a lot. But this was offset with enough that I didn’t. The premise and the overall story both worked for me. The characters, especially the protagonist Dan, were distinctive and non-stereotypical. All the elements of a good thriller are here.
The problems I found were the kinds of things that tend to throw me out of a story. Some of these were editing and proofing issues, with this book just exceeding my somewhat intolerant threshold for such issues. Others were lines that had me saying, “Huh, how does that work?” For example, “odors of dead crawfish, beer, and swamp mud floated in.” Really? You’re driving through a Louisiana bayou, crack the window of the vehicle, and the smell of beer from the outside is that strong? Or talking about the miles per gallon a prototype of an electric car got? When did we start measuring electricity in gallons? I’ll leave it to you to figure out what it might mean to say that a boat “maintained a steady, though rumpled ten knots.” I think I know what it was trying to say, but it seemed like a strange way to say it. Despite this, thriller fans who don’t mind occasionally tripping over a word should find Dan’s War a worthwhile read.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **