The Bourne films have done such a good job of imprinting what a government spook gone rogue should look like that it’s hard for variations to get any kind of purchase. I simply want Jason Bourne. Look at the Bourne franchise’s fourth outing. I’m not buying it, I want Jason Bourne. I want Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.
Dave Zeltserman’s The Hunted has a similar problem, in that for the first few pages I couldn’t picture him as anybody other than Matt Damon. It didn’t last long. That’s not Zeltserman’s fault, it’s mine. Because once you get past that, this is a pretty cool novella about Willis, a killer for a government agency which has gone off the rails. After killing more than twenty people, he starts questioning whether his targets are actually part of an insurgency his handler says is out to destroy the United States.
The book is not long, and you could read through it in an afternoon. Its language is as sparse as the main character’s personality, though he does love the dog of a man he has murdered.
The book is enjoyable, though it never really gets the blood pumping. It’s hard to feel much for Willis, even if he does eventually conclude that the agency he kills for has warped well beyond common morality. He is a cold fish with absolutely no ties (apart from the dog), who spent 11 months unemployed, and was so desperate for work he killed unquestioningly. Maybe he didn’t think about the first few murders, but with somebody who clearly has conscience, I’d expect the self-analysis a little earlier.
The agency’s reasoning didn’t convince me either, unless they’re a paramilitary wing of the Tea Party. I couldn’t buy it.
Still, I raced through, and Willis will undoubtedly gain depth and breadth in future books in the series.
Jason Beech Author 