Books & Literature

Book Review: Marshall’s Law, by Ben Sanders

When a federal agent is kidnapped to learn the whereabouts of a former undercover cop now in witness protection, the race is on for both sides to hunt down the other.

I was surprised to learn Marshall’s Law is a sequel to Ben Sander’s fourth novel, American Blood, because there is no hint of a former story in this highly enjoyable crime thriller. In any good novel, all the primary characters have a backstory, but Sanders ensures that the reader doesn’t feel like they’ve missed out, even as he launches into the action from page five.

The adventure opens with the attempted kidnapping of federal agent Lucas Cohen to find the location of Marshall Grade, a former undercover cop who is now in witness protection. Cohen escapes and sets out to uncover who is after Marshall while, across the country, Marshall himself is coming out of hiding to hunt down those who want him dead.

With a cast of rough and tough characters, Sanders not only keeps the tension high, but drops the reader into an underworld of uneducated thugs with their simplistic outlook and bad grammar. Only the two central heroes, Cohen and Marshall, speak with any semblance of education. For the rest, you can almost hear Rocky Balboa speaking the words. It’s a line-up of believable and well-rounded characterisations.

The race for both sides to find the other is complicated by the associations between the characters, adding extra layers of intrigue and danger. Sanders has mapped out a well-crafted story where some loyalties remain questionable until the end. It’s a feat that’s not as easy as it seems, given that he tells his tale from the perspective of all the main players.

Marshall’s Law and, no doubt, it’s prequel, should appeal to lovers of crime thrillers, particularly with its refreshing rogues gallery of atypical primary characters.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10:  8

Published by: Allen & Unwin
Released: January 2017
RRP: $29.99

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