Red Right Hand

Red Right Hand by Chris Holm is the second book in the Michael Hendricks series. The book opens with a horrifying terrorist attack on San Francisco: a tugboat laden with explosives slams into the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, as the FBI investigates the explosion, it soon becomes apparent that The Council, a conglomerate of various criminal organizations, is involved. Specifically, The Council apparently targeted a federal witness that was soon to testify against the organization. As the plot unravels further, the book’s protagonist, Michael Hendricks, must team up with FBI Special Agent Charlotte Thompson, who hunted him in the first novel, as well as computer whiz Cameron in order to bring The Council down.

Chris Holm has done it again. Just like the first novel, The Killing Kind, this one is full of surprises and various twists and turns. The plot is very unpredictable and intense. Likewise, character development is extremely well executed. Michael Hendricks has a very unique skill set. He’s a former member of a covert US military unit that performed false flag operations. When a roadside bomb kills most of his crew, Hendricks finds his way back to the United States and starts his life over. Officially listed as killed in action, he decides to become a hitman who will target other hitmen who are sent by various criminal organizations to eliminate those undesirable to them.

Despite his impressive fighting skills and machismo, we see a human side to Hendricks. He’s madly in love with his childhood sweetheart, who married another man upon learning of Hendricks’ supposed death. Now Hendricks must do everything he can to win her back.

Also, just because Red Right Hand is the second book in the series, it’s not really necessary to have read the first book, as the author rehashes its main points throughout the story to bring the reader up to speed. Nevertheless, I would suggest reading the first book anyway to get all the juicy details.

All in all, I found Red Right Hand to be a very enjoyable read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a taut and complex plot line and characters to whom they can relate.