LETHAL RANGE by Ryan Steck
Matthew Redd is the latest literary action hero, a mashup of a Marine Raider,
FBI field operative and a younger version of Yellowstone’s John Dutton.
It’s a lethal combination. Pun intended 😊
Once an elite war-fighting machine, Redd owns a ranch in Montana but also moonlights for the FBI when
that agency needs someone to do the heavy lifting. The twist here is that Redd’s estranged father is an FBI deputy director.
As the book opens, Redd’s FBI “fly team” is in Spain hunting an American billionaire named Gage who is a fugitive from the law. Gage is wanted for his attempt to curb the global population by (unsuccessfully) poisoning America’s
agricultural output.
But Gage has support from a shadowy cabal of global bazillionaires. The FBI team is duped and Redd goes home smarting, only to face a threat from a biker gang called the Infidels.
The first third of the
book contains a great deal of backstory about Redd’s history with virtually every other character. Once we get beyond that the novel picks up the pace and rolls more smoothly. By “rolls” I mean shoot ‘em up, punch ‘em down hyperaction scenes.
The Infidels have basically declared war on Redd, his wife and sick baby, supposedly over a run-in before Redd
left for Spain and which Redd won. Their vengeance seems unstoppable, escalating from a confrontation in a biker bar to burning down the Redd home.
At the same time, Gage is percolating his next evil plan to reduce the world’s population. Montana will be his test zone for a cleverly concocted cocktail of killer pesticide.
LETHAL RANGE does not pretend to be more than what it is—a high-octane military-fueled romp where the good guys are honorable and strong and the bad guys are evil and ugly. Short on nuance, character development and elegant prose,
it relies on Redd’s straightforward inner dialogue and high stakes action sequences, along with a salting of weapons and vehicle details, to deliver a rollicking good time.
