Recall Night: Alan Baxter
Reviewed By The Grim Reader
Alan Baxter is back, and so is Eli Carver. With more headshots than the John Wick trilogy, Recall Night is brutally good fun. It’s time for some night moves.
There was a painful tightening of the trousers when I heard Alan was working on a new Eli Carver novella. Manifest Recall worked incredibly well by mashing up elements of gritty crime fiction alongside Baxter’s trademark supernatural flair. With Recall Night the tormented trigger-happy protagonist is back, unloading pain and suffering on the scum of the underworld. This time Carver travels to New York where he becomes entangled in a web of corruption and dark rituals. Carver doesn’t look for trouble, trouble looks for him.
Not much changes with Recall Night when compared to its predecessor, and I’m happy with that. Eli’s ghosts continue to plague him; offering witty exchanges between Carver and each other to great effect. Bones snap with a vicious crunch, heads explode in seas of red mist and the fast-pacing makes for a fun, gory time.
It is testament to Baxter’s worldly knowledge of fighting that the action scenes are so well written (he is a martial arts expert and teacher). He sure knows how to write a pulse-pounding, bone-cracking action scene that makes for a series of frantic set-pieces rivalling anything I’ve read before.
The novella format works well with Eli’s journey. A novel might be a bit too much as the plot is fairly straightforward and offers few surprises. Still, I’m not here for the world-building, I want dramatic fight scenes, a high body count and a solid cast. Baxter delivers in spades.
With a third book already in the works, Eli’s journey seems far from over. I hope his ghosts play a more prominent part in future books. By giving them more page space I’m convinced the series can be steered into even darker waters.
I’m really enjoying Carver’s bloody journey. And so…
4/5 close encounters from the Grim Reader.
Recall Night
Back from self-imposed exile in Canada where he fled to avoid the law following the blood-stained events in Manifest Recall–the first installment of award-winning author Alan Baxter’s latest supernatural thriller series–Eli Carver returns to the states with thoughts of starting over. But an accidental encounter on a train with a mysterious woman, one he soon learns has her own dangerous past, threatens to unravel his well-intended plans.
Upon their arrival in New York, the duo quickly find themselves entangled in an ongoing war between two rival crime syndicates. And with the ghosts of his own past continuing to torment him, Eli finds himself taking the darkest of turns as he’s drawn down a perilous path into a world of ancient religion and deadly occult rituals.
You can buy Recall Night from Amazon UK & Amazon US
The Grim Reader
The Grim Reader resides on the Gold Coast, Australia. A school teacher by day, a lover of dark fiction, heavy metal, Arsenal FC, bourbon and coffee at night.
The Grim Reader loves nothing more than reading and rocking.
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