The Reaper Follows by Heather Graham (Thriller/Crime Novel, 2024).
This is the fourth (and apparently the concluding novel) in the Amy Larson/Hunter Forrest FBI series. Though Heather Graham is a successful and frequently published author, I frankly have some trouble with her work in this series. I’ll address my criticisms in a bit. But first let me say that she brings this four-book about the main characters taking down the last of the blood-thirsty Four Horsemen and at last identify and defeat the evil mastermind behind it all in suitably violent fashion.
Amy Larson is a Special Agent with a Florida-state outfit, temporarily on loan to the FBI and partnered with stalwart FBI Special Agent Hunter Forrest to stop the over-the-top and seemingly mindless efforts of the self-appointed Archangel of Death’s followers to bring about a literal Apocalypse. Oh, and these two high-level cops are in love.
In the previous novels, these two and their many law enforcement allies have taken down the first three Horsemen (brutal nutjobs representing war, conquest and famine). So they’re on a well-earned vacation in a ritzy hotel when the mangled remains of multiple victims turn up in oil drums deep in the Everglades. As with the previous outbreaks, the gruesome scene also features a tiny statue in the shape of a horse–this one is pale and is the calling card of Death. Accordingly, Amy and Hunter are summoned for yet another gory, dangerous and frustratingly drawn-out investigation. Twists and turns abound, including multiple violent encounters with brainwashed followers who don’t even know quite whose murderous will they’re obeying.
There’s nothing wrong with that, as such. Graham does a fine job portraying the beautiful but dangerous wilderness of this fabled River of Grass. The murky Fourth Horseman and the even more mysterious, supposedly bright but ruthlessly mad individual who’s somehow brought about all four books’ worth of savage horror keep our two primary heroes (and the small army of assorted law enforcers behind them) running from place to place effectively.
My main problem is that it all gets into a strangely repetitive pattern: Another horrific mass-killing is found, Amy and Hunter (and various associates) come running, what limited info possible is uncovered, then their bosses order them back to their hotel to eat, rest and rejoin the hunt in the morning. There, they shower (together, more often than not), make love (off-screen) and get some shut-eye. The next day unfolds, in a different corner of the Everglades and/or neighboring areas, all over again. Can gruesome multiple murder scenes, enlivened with increasing frequency with encounters with the ultimate bad guys’ deranged (and mostly inept) followers, begin to get, well, almost boring?
For me, it honestly did.
Other things grated on me, to one degree or another. Some of the dialogue struck me as hard to credit. Sure, law enforcement people have their own language patterns. When two or more meet, especially being introduced for the first time, one isn’t bothered by something like “This is Special Agent Amy Larson.” But the use of full names and titles over and over and over again, even with people who’ve been working together for days just doesn’t ring true for me.
Worse, on two occasions (on the same page!) one of the investigators commits this bit of blatant literary laziness: “I know you all know this already, but–” then info-dumps something readers sort of need to know (if they haven’t read or don’t recall the detail from previous books in the cycle). It sounds (and is) forced and a veteran writer like Graham knows how to introduce background info in a more dramatic manner–I fear she just didn’t feel like bothering.
And really, how many times must we be reminded (hit over the head with it, actually) that, despite all the bloody nastiness these characters are confronting, Amy, Hunter and the other shining examples of enlightened detective humanity here are still, against all odds, compassionate and goodhearted?
Then there’s the rising politician whose whole campaign is based on his being (if there’s such a thing) an extremely moderate in all things. Is he too good to be true? We’re told repeatedly that he has ideas and opinions, but aside from wanting to “bring everybody together and compromise” we hear nothing about his policies. Actually Graham never comes right out and says what office this man is running for! There’s a bit of hints that he might make a good President, but as an Independent with a staff of ten and a breathtaking inability to see the need for security, the idea he could achieve election is laughable.
Sorry folks.
If you like the idea of way-too-good-to-be-true Special Agents eventually tracking down crazed bad guys in between recurrent bouts of (totally off-screen) sex and so-earnest-it-hurts dialogue about how things are just too nasty, with occasional gun-play and standoffs with hungry alligators for spice, this is the book for you.
For me, not so much.
jimleeauthor 