V.'s Reviews > The Jugger

This starts out like a mystery. You have no idea what's going on or why Parker is out in the middle of nowhere. It's a clever change of pace to keep things fresh in a series that often plays on the character's singl-mindedness and reliance on routine.

The slow unwinding of what is essentially a non-plot (the macguffin is that there isn't one) is well handled, and Parker's actions in attempting to keep his Charles Willis cover intact is typically brutal.

The narrative structure uses a lot of falshback, to show us how things came about, and sometimes this felt unnecessary—I was more interested in the here and now than the backstory (which I sort of already pieced together)—but still a fast, well written read.

Excellent unexpected ending that makes the next book a must read (as soon as I track down a copy).