A Billion Ways to Die

One of the more pleasing functions of a critic is to announce a success. Sadly, too many of the books that hit both the real and digital shelves are, at best, of indifferent quality. A Billion Ways to Die should be read by everyone who enjoys good thrillers. In the first book of the series, Arthur Cathcart was shot in the head. This came as a surprise since he was leading a blameless life with a loving wife. A further surprise was that he survived. Presented with the opportunity to die in official records, he accepted and began a search to discover why someone had killed his wife and tried to kill him.

This is the third book, normally the time when the pace and inventiveness of the plot tends to flag. However, if anything, the pace here picks up. In the first two books, Arthur has upset one or two powerful people by digging around. Now he and his partner are kidnapped and questioned. They are suspected of having pocketed a billion or so dollars. This is news to them, so the rest of the book sees them attempting to discover who kidnapped them and what they are looking for. This is a highly recommended series!