Saturday 19 December 2015

Book ~ "Drink Dirt Eat Stone" (2015) Kyle Fleishman

From Goodreads ~ Former Native Syndicate hitman and Gulf War hero Tristan Stonehorse walks out of Stony Mountain Penitentiary a free man for the first time in fourteen years. 

But Tristan owes. Kill one last man and he can put his violent past behind him and possibly mend the relationship with his grown daughter. If only things were that simple. 

When the job goes sideways, his would-be killers are dead and Tristan finds himself on the run with a group of highly skilled, anonymous killers trying to put him down for good. As he traverses the country he must do the one thing he hates most. Explore his own past.

Tristan has just been released from prison.  He wants to put his life back together and hopefully reconnect with his now adult daughter.  Tristan just has to kill one more person and he can move on.  But things get complicated when he is being stalked and many are trying to kill him ... he has to figure out why and who is behind it.

I liked the writing style and story.  Tristan didn't have a nice upbringing so did what he had to do what he had to do to survive.  He ended up becoming a hitman, eventually eliminating most of the members of the Hell's Angels when they tried to take over Vancouver.  With not a lot of options, he joins the military and because of his unique skills, he becomes a war hero.  When he returns home, he has revenge in mind for things done to him when he was a child, which is what lands him in prison.

The book jumps back and forth from the present to the past.  I found it confusing at first until I picked up on the rhythm ... the present is written in present tense and the past is written in past tense.  I'm assuming the author did this to build suspense as nothing is revealed right away.  It is written in third person perspective with a focus on Tristan.  As a head's up, there is a lot of swearing and brutal violence and some adult activity.

This is the debut novel from this author and I look forward to reading more in the future.

No comments: