Review – Blind Justice

Blind Justice by Ethan Cross (2015, The Story Plant) –  Deacon Munroe is an agent of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.  He is smart, experienced, plugged into the circles of power in Washington, D.C., and blind.  Munroe will need all his skills and influence to help his team solve a mystery that gets deeper with every moment.  It begins with the death of the top officer of the United States Marine Corps.  Unless they can untie all the knots in the case it may end with the deaths of thousands of people, including Munroe’s loved ones.

“Blind Justice” is a classic thriller, with all the strengths and weaknesses of the genre.  As with the previous book by Ethan Cross I reviewed (“The Prophet“, October 2012) the story cooks right along.  Cross is a talented writer with a real feel for action.  He has a couple of nice touches to the standard thriller tropes.  Munroe’s blindness offers an interesting twist to the story.  At the same time he resists the urge to make his hero into a superhero.  The DCIS agent has to deal with the real issues raised by his blindness.  I also liked the twist of making the bad guy, Antonio de Almeida, a stroke of conscience.  It is only a veneer but it comes across as, sincere?  By that I mean it’s not a tactic to deceive the world but a tactic to perhaps deceive himself.  Unlike a lot of thriller bad guys Almeida feels like there’s more substance there.

Which is good because the rest of the cast of baddies are pretty much cardboard cutouts.  That’s not a problem because they die with regularity.  That’s one of the odd parts about this book for me.  The body count here is high.  Cross introduces a character, walks them through the plot points they need to supply and then, bang, boom, splat, they die.  Given that I’ve been reading some of the “Game of Thrones” books at the same time, it may not have bothered me as much as it might.  But it’s a little strange never the less.

If you love fast paced thrillers with interesting people on both sides of the law you’ll be hard pressed to find a better example than Ethan Cross’s “Blind Justice”.  Just don’t plan to do too many other things once you start.  The story will suck you in and keep you hanging on to the very end.

“Blind Justice” hits the shelves on August 25.

Rating – **** Recommended