Outside Forces: Days of Reckoning

by R E Swirsky

Quiet and reserved eighteen year old Michael Crowder finally has his first girlfriend. But it's not quite that simple. His new girlfriend, Lucy, has yet to break up with her current boyfriend, Johnny, who she has come to fear and insists their new relationship remain a secret until she can rid herself of Johnny. When Johnny turns up unexpectedly at Lucy's apartment, Michael scrambles and hides beneath Lucy's bed. An argument ensues between Lucy and Johnny that ends in Lucy's abduction. The abhorrent act soon draws Michael and his entire family deep into a series of nightmarish murder schemes, all perpetrated by an underground organization named "the Order", formed to correct the errors of an imperfect justice system. When the courts fail to remove the worst offenders from our streets, "the Order" steps in and delivers justice. But it seems the Order has run off the tracks and the leadership isn't the high minded moral group it started out to be. Full of mystery and suspense, this story has multiple character plots lines and unexpected twists throughout.

447 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 5, 2015

Reviews

[Vigilant Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tall and scrawny, eighteen year old, Michael Crowder finally has a girlfriend. But Lucy also has another boyfriend. Michael hides under Lucy's bed when she is abducted, and that heinous act leads to Michael's family being dragged into a series of nightmarish murder schemes.
The plot revolves around a secret vigilante organization named the Order; they were formed to correct the errors of an imperfect justice system. Toward the end, we learn the Order has run off the tracks and the leadership isn't the high minded group it started out to be.
Outside Forces is an excellent story, full of mystery and suspense. Conflict, intrigue, thrills, and unexpected twist abound.
The large cast of characters is described well and develops over the course of the story. Their intimate secrets keep popping out on all fronts.
There are evil antagonists galore to keep the reader guessing as to what is coming next and who will be impacted.
The pace is fast with multiple deceptions being played out on several sides.
To complicate matters further, Michael has suffered since childhood with a condition that would make his testimony to the police unbelievable and make him appear guilty.
The story ends in a cliffhanger that keeps open the option of a follow up story.

Editing, as usual, is the downfall preventing this story from being a perfect 5.0. While certainly not awful, there are enough missing, extra, and misspelled words to be irritating. Several sentence structures were clumsy causing one dialog to be difficult to pinpoint who was speaking.

Outside Forces receives a strong 4.0 out of 5.0.


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