Book Review: Agent of Judgment

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Agent of Judgment     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Robert Rice
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Eco-thriller   Apocalyptic Fiction   Thriller
Forge, Sept 2000, $23.95, 318 pp.

Michael Walker hides from the Feds in rural Montana because the vet refuses to be a paid assassin for a secret agency Arm even if his brother is the recruiter and blackmail is the recruiting device. Michael knows he cannot just shoot people.

However, his days of hiding end when his sister Ursula calls. The San Francisco based attorney has just given birth and believes she is being followed. Although he writes it off as some strange postpartum syndrome, Michael travels to California to help his sibling. However, he arrives in time to see two thugs abduct the newborn. While agents of Arm try to shut his file by killing him, Michael traces the kidnapping to a cult in Montana, who also has begun a series of ecological disasters to rival the apocalypse of the bible.

Though no Arthurian legend (see the author's classy THE LAST PENDRAGON), AGENT OF JUDGMENT is an exciting ecological-apocalyptic thriller. The story line is entertaining, taut, yet winks at itself through the characterization. It is the cast that turns this entry into a better than usual end of the world battle between the "saviors" and the "sinners". Though it has been too many years since his last publication, Robert Rice provides readers with a strong thriller that keeps interest from start to finish.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner