Customer Reviews

Judgment and Wrath

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Matt Hilton's new character, Joe Hunter, a former Special Forces operative who is now a private operative for those in need, burst onto the scene in his electrifying debut novel, "Dead Man's Dust". "Judgment And Wrath" confirms that Hunter is a character that will be around a long while and one that should appeal to all Jack Reacher fans. While preferring the addictive nature of the first Hunter book, "Judgment and Wrath" is still a strong sequel that indicates Hunter will get better abd better as Matt Hilton hones and fine tunes his fine writing skills.

Joe Hunter is an appealing character based on his back story, his martial arts and combat skills, his personally honed philosophy of how to treat bad guys, and his intuitive/analytical talents. Watching Hunter's back and helping with his cases are his two former military colleagues, Jared "Rink" Rington and, to a lesser extent, Harvey Lucas. In "Judgment And Wrath", Hunter is paid to find and return Richard Dean's 17 year-old daughter Marianne who has run away with her boyfriend, Bradley Jorgenson, the scion of a mega-wealthy family deep into the financial pockets of the military due to weapons and vaccine development. Dean implies she is the victim of abuse and he wants Hunter to take extreme measures to keep them apart.

Hunter quickly determines something is amiss as Marianne and Bradley seem deeply in love and she has no intention of leaving him. Joe fortuitously interrupts a deranged contract killer named Dantalion who has been sent by an unknown party to kill Bradley and Marianne. Dantalion is one of those love-to-hate incredibly viscious villains who believes he is an invincible fallen angel. If anything, there is a little too much time devoted to Dantalion's thinking and plotting for my taste.

But Dantalion is a vindictive killer and soon begins an onslaught to kill not only Bradley and Marianne, but also Hunter and Rink as well as anyone else foolish enough to get in his way. A cat and mouse pursuit carries the middle section of the book as Hunter and Rink work to protect those threatened by Dantalion while seeking the opportunity to take him out. The book concludes with an electrifying chase through the Florida swamplands that turns into a personal battle mano-a-mano between the Hunter and the hunted that will have readers gripping their chairs and holding their breath.

My only quibbles this time around are an occasional snatch of dialogue that does not live up to expectations and an over reliance on bad luck and/or serendipity to forestall an earlier conclusion to the battle of wills between Hunter and Dantalion. But make no mistake, this new series by Matt Hilton should be high on the purchase list of anyone who enjoys edge-of-the-seat thrillers built around a basically good but lethal hero who, in the Jack Reacher tradition, is not someone to be trifled with or threatened. Never make it personal with Joe Hunter--the consequences are deadly. A recommended read for all who enjoy action thrillers.

Before I tell you how much I enjoyed JUDGMENT AND WRATH, I am going to attempt to correct a minor misconception about Joe Hunter, Matt Hilton's primary protagonist. Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, Hunter is not a clone of the worthy Jack Reacher, Lee Child's creation. While Hunter is possessed with a skill set similar to Reacher's, the two men are very different in a number of ways. Reacher operates off the books and is a nomad, moving from place to place without attachments. Hunter works with a team and has a change of clothes at the ready; while he doesn't exactly advertise his services as a problem fixer, he's not really a shadow figure, either. I mention this only because much has been discussed of the characters' similarities; they are different, each very capable of standing on their terms.

Which brings us to that portion of the program where we discuss Hunter and JUDGMENT AND WRATH, Hilton's second Hunter novel, on their own merits. Hunter is an interesting character, blessed with a glib tongue and an intelligence of high enough range to make him one of the more dangerous creatures in the brush. He also knows when to ask for help, which is there in the form of his pal and business partner Jared "Rink" Rington, who has been to a rodeo or two in his time as well.

JUDGMENT AND WRATH gets rolling when Hunter is retained for a retrieval job by a man named Richard Dean. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. While it's true that Dean seeks Hunter's help in finding his adult daughter, Marianne, and returning her to him, he also hints that he wants Bradley Jorgenson, Marianne's millionaire boyfriend, singing in the choir invisible as well. Hunter is not a hit man, but when he hears from Dean about Jorgenson's abusive ways and sees Marianne's "after" pictures, he is inclined to make an exception. Hunter learns soon enough, however, that he is not the only one who has Jorgenson in his sights.

A mysterious, somewhat insane and extremely capable assassin who calls himself Dantalion has also been retained to do both Jorgenson and Marianne. Dantalion has taken the name of one of the fallen angels, and the appropriation, as one discovers early on in JUDGMENT AND WRATH, is fitting. Dantalion and Hunter cross swords and paths violently and repeatedly as they pursue each other across South Florida, leaving a swath through the rich and famous and those who wish they were. To complicate matters, Hunter discovers that the woman he is rescuing has no desire at all to be saved, and he has not been told the entire truth about a number of things. None of this matters to Dantalion, who is dead set on murdering his original targets: Hunter and whoever gets in his way.

Hilton must soak his keyboard in equal parts adrenalin and electricity. JUDGMENT AND WRATH is loaded with car chases, gun battles, fisticuffs and mayhem, but also humor. I managed to pick up within the pages of the book a couple of the nastiest and funniest insults I have encountered to date and even had the opportunity to use one of them. Reading JUDGMENT AND WRATH is the most fun you can have between the covers of a book.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Concerned and fuming Richard Dean hires Florida private investigators, former Special Forces operative Joe Hunter and Jared "Rink" Rington, to extract his seventeen year old daughter Marianne from Miami playboy millionaire Bradley Jorgenson. Richard shows the two sleuths a police photo taken of Marianne after allegedly Bradley beat the crap out of her.

Hunter and Rink figure the case will be a cinch as they assume the wealthy Jorgenson will be a typical bully and run from them. However, the simple snatch and rescue proves convoluted when someone hires experienced hit man Jean-Paul "Dantalion" St. Pierre to kill Marianne and Bradley and the detectives find the teen happy with no signs of abuse.

The second Hunter-Rink investigation (see Dead Men's Dust) is a terrific but overly knotty mystery as too much goes on especially with the additional denouements. Still, Judgment and Wrath is filled with plenty of action as the lead duo finds nothing is what they expected as Bradley and Marianne seem like a nice loving couple and the professional killer quite adept. Readers will enjoy this exciting South Floridian thriller as Matt Hilton keeps the heat on his heroes.

Harriet Klausner

Judgement & Wrath is the second book in Matt Hilton's series featuring Joe Hunter and his friend Jason Rington. Rington a/k/a Rink has his headquarters in Florida. Rink has a private investigation service and Joe is currently his partner in that business.

Joe meets with Richard Dean and accepts a retainer for what Joe and Rink figure will be an easy job. Richard wants his daughter Marianne brought home. Marianne is living with Bradley Jorgensen, a Miami playboy. Joe is shown a picture of Marianne taken by the Miami P.D. showing a bruised young girl. This picture makes Joe even more determined to rescue Marianne.

Joe soon discovers that the danger Marianne is facing is not from Jorgensen but from a vicious contract killer that intends to kill Jorgensen and everyone connected to him. The killer has never reckoned with a force like Joe before and once the chase begins, the excitement doesn't let up.

"The thunders of judgement and wrath are numbered" are words that Jean-Paul St. Pierre a/k/a Dantalion quotes as he prepares to send another person to their death and add another number to his book. Dantalion includes Joe Hunter in his threat but Joe is determined to stop the killer.

Dantalion finds that he has met his match with Joe Hunter. Dantalion is a twisted individual who carries a book to track the number of people he has killed. He is adept at changing his appearance but it takes more than a change in appearance to defeat Joe Hunter.

Judgement & Wrath was just published in the United Kingdom and will be published in hardcover later in the United States. Hilton writes action packed thrillers that leave the reader anxiously waiting for the next book.

This is the second book in the Joe Hunter series and it is great! Plenty of action and thrill to keep you turning the pages and the storyline is tight and suspenseful. Joe Hunter is one badass and he delivers with a punch! The storyline is good and sometimes you just don't know who the actual villain is and it is revealed in a very different way. If you like your books action packed, with plenty of thrills and things that will keep you guessing what will happen next, then this book is for you! I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Matt Hilton's books are pretty far fetched and unrealistic stories where heroes and villains get shot and injured a number of times and keep on going and police that either come across never seem to be competent to do their job, especially when guns are drawn. They are however fun don't have to think about reads, which are very entertaining and all would make more than watchable b grade action movies if Hollywood ever decided to take the plots on. Judgement and Wrath is no exception to the Hilton norm, if you've got a long stay over in an airport or train station and just want something light to pass the time, this will more than keep you happy.

In Judgement and Wrath, Joe Hunter is hired by a man to save his eighteen year old daughter Marianne from a violent wealthy boyfriend. However the father's assurances that he's more than happy for Bradley the boyfriend to be taken out of the picture permanently raise a few suspicions for Hunter. Hunter decides to just rent a place next door and decide for himself, since after all Marianne is 18 and unless he does indeed kill her boyfriend, she will just go straight back to him if he's not holding her against her will. However another named Dantalion has also been hired. He loves killing, even carries a book where he records a tally. He spots Hunter asleep on a deckchair next door and thinks he may well kill him on the way home, after he's carried out his assignment of murdering Bradley, Marianne and whoever else is in the mansion. Underestimating each other may well be either Hunter or Dantalion's biggest mistake.

The ending is a bit cheesy and very unrealistic, but an enjoyable read none the less.

Book 2 in the Joe Hunter Thriller Series

If you are a thriller seeker and love high octane stories there is nothing like a romp through the pages with protagonist Joe Hunter. The style follows pretty much the same format as its prequel "Dead Men's Dust" providing the reader with plenty of action, lots of shooting, endless chases and testosterone at its best. The main characters are Joe Hunter and his sidekick Jared Rington (Rink), two professional investigators with an army background and one very sick and macabre master assassin named "Dantalion".

In this highly captivating adventure, Joe is hired by Richard Dean to save his daughter Marianne from the hands of Bradley Jorgenson, who happens to be rich, a bully and Marianne's boyfriend. Richard believes she is being abused and sucked into a world of power and fast living. He wants his daughter safe at home and out of a toxic environment at any cost.

Bradley's company is a major player in military contracts and the money involved and his connections have attracted many envious people inside his company as well as outside. Joe finds himself in the middle of a hornets nest, he is not the only one targeting Bradley and Marianne, others have a different agenda, and amongst them is a hired assassin.....

This is a fast pace thriller, be prepared for never ending action. From the time Hunter sets up shop next to the Jorgenson estate to plot Marianne's extraction to the end you are plunged into an intense, violent and head spinning suspense that is filled with plenty of twists and unexpected turns. You are immersed in a narrative that is without any doubt one of this series' trademarks, it alternates between the first person point of view of Joe hunter and the third person narrative of the bad guy (Dantalion). Mr. Hilton's ability to set a scene and make his characters shine are what makes Joe Hunter's exploits an adrenaline packed experience, edge of the chair gripping from start to finish.

I am hooked; I am now a Matt Hilton junky...

One of the better outings for Joe Hunter, the book is fast paced and entertaining but again the hero has almost unlimited funds, expertise and assistance from those in Law enforcement and his friends. His detective agency is so busy helping people for free that they must have trouble doing fee earning work.
Matt Hilton writes a good free standing book but his constant references back to his first book are slightly annoying as they appear more as an an advertisement than to develop the character. The book is filled with gun play, car chases, technology and a hated (almost invincible) counterpart who seems frail but also seems invulnerable! My other Matt Hilton reviews could equally apply to this book which I read with two other Matt Hiltons in a week or so for a retrospective review of his work. I would be inclined to buy it if it was discounted, we paid full price for our review copies and then found two of them in a Book Warehouse for just over a dollar. At six dollars or less they will be a good buy and a distracting read. Less dead bodies than usual in this one, just a couple of dozen.

Joe Hunter is asked by Richard Dean to rescue his daughter Marianne from her boyfriend Bradley, who has been abusing her. However it transpires that Bradley is a man with several enemies, at least one of whom badly wants him dead and has hired a particularly nasty assassin to kill him.

The first half of this book is reasonably enjoyable as it cuts between Hunter's story and that of the assassin, Dantalion. Yes, the plot unfolds without any major surprises and the villain is a totally unbelievable character, but at least the story moves with pace. However around the halfway mark that storyline runs out of steam and the author resorts to re-hashing the plot of his first book, Dead Men's Dust. While this is a marginally better book than that was, it still has many of the same flaws: unbelievable characters, a reliance on massive coincidences, gratuitous violence and zero plausibility.

Don't be fooled by the comparison to Lee Child on the cover. I feel like I wasted a few hours of my life reading this one.

I have read the book at the bookstore for free. It was very good, the plot kept moving and it was thrilling. However the price for the kindle version was ridiculous. So the book was good but I recommend getting it from the library or spending some time in the bookstore.