action packed and fast paced after you get through the beginning of the book. There are a lot of characters and things going on but the author manages to pull everything together amazingly well.

Published by St. Martin's Press on January 30, 2018

I remember the television show The Equalizer as being shallow and boring. I thought the novelized version would be better. It isn’t. (I can’t comment on the 2014 movie because I haven’t seen it.) I could try to pick apart all the logical flaws in Killed in Action — I actually started listing them — but there are so many that the effort proved to be exhausting. Nor does it matter, because the brain-numbing nonsense that passes for a story here is less important than the fact that the novel just isn’t written very well. The sentences that don’t depend on a cliché are lifeless. The novel reads like something composed by a screenwriter who is used to setting down simple declarative sentences and letting actors and directors fill in the gaps.

Part of the problem is that Michael Sloan tries to do too much. There’s a human trafficking plot and a jihadists attack America plot and a rescue the wounded soldier from Syria plot and a bad landlord plot and an escape from a Korean prison plot and a “someone is pretending to be the Equalizer” plot on top of a conspiracy to eradicate all evidence that the head of a spy agency ever existed. None of the plotlines are developed in sufficient detail to be convincing, and the overabundance of stale ideas is draining to a reader who just wants to latch on to an interesting story. Sloan never delivers one.

In a novel like this, no character takes “a gun” from another character. No, they take a Marakov P-64 nine millimeter or a Glock 26 with an Osprey 9 silencer or a Heckler & Koch VP9 because gun porn fans need to know exactly what gun is in the character’s hands (or belt or shoulder holster) before he’s disarmed or killed. Warfare fans will also enjoy the scene in which a 9K114 Shturm antitank missile is fired from a Mi-24 helicopter into a UAZ-469 military vehicle. All the model numbers are apparently meant as a substitute for engaging storytelling. The novel takes note of the nutcases who make violent nuisances of themselves thanks to the gun culture that pervades parts of the country, but there’s a certain irony in pointing to the evil caused by people who too easily obtain guns while writing a book that is clearly meant to appeal to people who love their guns.

Anyway, the story revolves around ex-spy Robert McCall, who calls himself the Equalizer and does good deeds gratis for people who are facing poor odds. The same idea has more recently been adopted in the Orphan X novels, which at least have the virtue of being written with a bit of gusto.

McCall has no friends (probably because he has no personality) but he has a colleague named Kostmayer and a former boss named Control, both regulars on the TV show, who pop up in one of the endless subplots (or maybe the main plot, it’s hard to tell) in Killed in Action.

McCall’s ability to fight and defeat four men armed with knives is a common feature of tough guy fiction. In this case, it’s so common as to be dull. Sloan creates no sense that McCall might actually lose a fight. Even Superman had kryptonite to worry about. McCall is an unerring shot who is never at risk. No risk means no suspense. And, of course, hot women are dying to jump into bed with McCall, who is cool and indifferent about when and how he gets laid. No suspense there, either. I’d like to find something good to say about Killed in Action, but the book is a serious mess.

NOT RECOMMENDED

Firstly, thank you to Net Galley, the publishers and the author for an ARC copy for an honest review.

So I guess firstly I should mention that after 30% to 40% I was enjoying this book but thought this is going to be an three star book for me, too many plots, too many characters and to confusing.

I enjoyed the main character Mc Coll but honestly felt "how can I keep up with the story and multiple plots..... Okay I was wrong... My apologies to the author..

The last half came together so well, and the main story came through strongly, alongside a very good side plot that also came through so well.

In fact one of the some plots so touching and with a great hint of a moral reference and humour.

Creator of The Equalizer TV series, Michael Sloan reinvents the story of the mysterious Robert McCall—a former intelligence officer who helps desperate people in need of his unique skill set—in Killed in Action ... for nothing !

Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer.

McCall’s first client is a distraught mother who is desperate to locate her young daughter, drawn into the shadowy world of white slavery. But this client may not be all she appears to be.

At the time same, McCall is approached by a diplomat who works for the United Nations. Her son, an American Captain in the US Army, is part of a contingent advising Syrian Rebel forces in their fight against the Jihadists. He has been reported KIA, but his body has not been found. His mother asks McCall to find out if her son is alive or dead. When McCall embarks on a suicidal rescue mission in Syria, he stumbles upon a terror plot aimed at the United States. The terrorists are being protected by mercenaries known as Momento Miro―Remember That You Must Die. McCall discovers the key to the terror attacks is his one-time boss, Control, the head of a spy organization called “The Company.” He is missing. His life has been deleted from all personal and intelligence records, as if he never existed. McCall has to find his old friend and stop these terror attacks from being carried out on American soil.

McCall also has to deal with an “Equalizer” wannabe, a psychotic vigilante whose attempts to be a “hero” and rid the New York streets of violent crime are getting innocent people killed.

So yes a book you must concentrate, but a page turner with great action and fast pace throughout the last half of the book.

So a four star book.

Robert McCall, formerly deep-cover intelligence officer, is very busy doing good work. He is the one who is called when there is absolutely, positively nothing else that can be done. Nevertheless, he comes cheap--he doesn't charge. I've no clue how the man lives. His expertise is spread by word-of-mouth and former colleagues, all of whom know the man's strengths and contacts and just how very good he is. He calls himself "the Equalizer."

Well, I'd no clue that Michael Sloan was a creator of the Equalizer TV series and possesses credits longer than your arm. And Denzel?? Don't you know I'd have watched if I'd known he was the on-scene McCall. But this book? Not my cup of tea. I struggled with this one from the beginning. First, the white slavery thing--again. Mercy! We aren't talking just the white slavery plot. We are talking a multi-plotted book with sooo many characters you needed a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone. The second plot is a mission to find a missing son reported KIA--without proof of death--in Syria. And then that can't be a simple snatch and run--it becomes deadly plot #3--terrorists on US soil.

Oh wait--there's more! Not just terrorists--there is a link to his own previous boss, the head spy. Now he's missing and he probably has important intel. Lest you think that's it, there is yet another minor problem--that of some local vigilante who is trying to emulate the Equalizer's own persona, but in the attempt to be the new hero, actually causes additional fatalities. Whoa! My head is spinning!

No one is fully fleshed. Robert McCall is not made whole unless I missed it in all the details about weapons. It seems most of the characters are two-dimensional. Women are mere sex objects and usually naked. (Did I mention young? Young and naked.) Language in the F-rated class. Descriptions of the conditions in Syria and insurgency movement definitely held the imagination (and the interest). Fascinating group of peripheral characters, including those living underground (a real lesson) and the sub-plot regarding the slum lord--wouldn't we all like to see THAT happen--but alas, I fear a mere fantasy. I received this download from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Would I recommend? Not my taste. May be yours. Prepare for raw descriptions, mayhem without emotion, sexual activity, and four letter words. But does the book move? Oh yes. Sometimes too quickly.

I recommend this book for fans of old tv. It was like I was watching a television show.

4 stars

Action packed but some areas were excessive in detail.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

There are books you struggle to get through and then there are books you can't put down. This is one you cannot put down. I'm a huge fan of this book and now this author. I cannot wait to go back and read book one and read the others he's surely to write!

Action, action, action! A former spy and a network of spies and government fighting for what's right against unknown odds. A huge hit!

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.