Seth Sjostrom’s PENANCE: Unredeemable begins strongly with a brutal opening chapter. This is the second outing for Alex Penance and the events of the first novel are subtly woven through the dialogue to bring the reader up to speed. Tension radiates throughout the well-written narrative and, as Penance and his colleagues begin to locate the cartel’s safe houses, the scenes are nail-bitingly horrific. At this early stage, the plot is nicely straightforward and has the hallmarks of a reliably gripping thriller. This changes with the introduction of two side-plots. One involves Penance’s protection of country music singer, Marla Hendricks, and the other an incident with the Ku Klux Klan. These separate narrative strands have reference and connection the main storyline. Nonetheless, they did feel a little superfluous, especially the Ku Klux Klan angle, although the scene in the biker bar is amusing. The security position with Marla lacked credibility and was, resultingly a little frustrating. Notwithstanding, it does reinforce Penance’s feelings for Annie, the Assistant District Attorney, and provides the reader with some insight into Penance’s character. He is, in the tradition of fictional FBI agents, detached and enigmatic but this occasionally renders him one-dimensional.
The dynamic between Penance and his training partner, Agent Barnes, is well-balanced and provides some light-hearted moments. The crimes are pretty gruesome and she is the perfect foil to Penance’s intensity. Small-town Sawyer and the surrounding Mississippi swampland are used to good effect and the supporting characters are nicely realized especially Pastor Roberts, Bubba Jeffries, and Shannon Whatcom. Nevertheless, the developing relationship between Penance and Annie lacked chemistry in places. It would have been beneficial to have more scenes with just the two of them to add emotional depth and a contrast to the main narrative. Despite a couple of mentions by name, the cartel members are referred to as just that. This de-humanizes them which may well be intentional as they perpetrate utter barbarity. However, this does make them characterless; it would have been more effective to have had a tangible villain/s for the reader to fully invest in.
PENANCE: Unredeemable is fast-paced; there are some incredibly well-choreographed shootouts which occasionally require belief suspension. The scene towards the end involving a speedboat and jet-skis is more than a touch (James) Bondesque. Overall, it’s entertaining stuff, with Penance at the forefront as both FBI anti-hero and the savior of Sawyer. He and the story manage to maintain momentum and continuity in spite of the frenetic tempo. However, this does not detract from the realistic and harrowing nature of the cartel’s activities which, although heavily curtailed, may well return for a further instalment.
PENANCE: Unredeemable is a solid thriller with a dependable protagonist, blistering set-piece action scenes, and a decently involving plot. Well worth a read for fans of the genre.
~Rose Auburn for IndieReader