Book Review - Return to Avenge by Russ J Taylor

​I recently had the opportunity to serve as an ARC reader for Russ J Taylor's upcoming release. What did I think? Keep reading to find out! If you are interested, give Russ a follow  on Instagram at @russj.taylor 

First of all, just in case you aren’t interested in anything else I have to say, I’m rating this book 4.5/5 stars. This review will be spoiler-free. I will also state that I have not read the other book in this series, though they each stand alone, and I never felt this impacted my reading experience. The previous book’s events are alluded to on several occasions, but not in a way that made me feel lost in this book.

I will start by saying I tend to read crime thrillers in spurts. I get hooked for a bit, then grow a little weary of the genre and take a break. They can be formulaic, and at times it feels as if you’ve read one, you’ve read them all. With this genre, I think a book needs two essential things if it wants to stand out. First, it needs a compelling and complicated main character. Second, it needs to have its fair share of riveting action. Return to Avenge delivers on both of these.

The story revolves around Jack Wilson, a retired detective targeted for murder by a man he put in prison years earlier. Recognizing that the power of the authorities will only go so far, Jack decides to take matters into his own hands. He strikes back at his attackers in a variety of ways, none of which I will spoil here, but most of which I truly enjoyed reading. That being said, some of Jack’s methods quickly make the reader wonder if they are right to be rooting for this guy at all, which only increased my enjoyment of the story. Who wants to read a book about a protagonist who can do no wrong? Especially in a crime thriller, we want the characters to be flawed human beings with demons in their past, and that’s precisely what we get with Jack Wilson.

The story is fast-paced and action-packed. I would typically sit down to read a few chapters at night and thoroughly enjoyed myself each time. It was like I had just been to see a really good action movie. After some long days at work, this story was exactly the escape I needed. I feel like this is a book I would have finished in two or three sittings in my schedule allowed it. I was always left wanting more. The author’s real-life experience in law enforcement really shone through with a lot of the sequences in this book.

If I had to nitpick Return to Avenge, the issues I would have are relatively minor. As I stated at the beginning, crime thrillers tend to be formulaic, and parts of this book do fall into that trap a bit. I had a hard time keeping track of some of the secondary bad guys as a result of this, they kind of blended together. But again, this book reads a bit like an action movie, and if you’re watching an action movie, do you care all that much about those characters? Not usually, so to me, this is a relatively minor flaw. I would have liked to see a few more “buddy moments” between Jack and his best friend, but again, this is a minor thing, and my own personal preference. 

All things considered, I would recommend Return to Avenge to any reader who enjoys fast-paced crime thrillers with morally gray protagonists. I don’t think you will walk away disappointed. I will certainly be checking out any future releases in the series! Return to Avenge by Russ J Taylor releases on September 1st, 2021.