Brian Springer

Article first published as Book Review: Highway to Vengeance: A Thomas Highway Novel by Brian Springer on Blogcritics.

Vengeance is often sought and yet does not always leave you with a better feeing after your revenge or of who you have become. Anger is often what drives it and yet the ends do not always justify the means.

In Highway to Vengeance: A Thomas Highway Novel Brian Springer has delved into that very subject. Thomas Highway, known to his friends as Highway is an unassuming man. He show more is in love with his beautiful wife and does not quite understand what she sees in him. He has a solid background with the Navy Seals and throughout the story, we hear about the training and how formative it was to who he had become.

As his wife, a street smart lawyer leaves him to his morning as she hurries away to a meeting with the District Attorney on a case she has been assigned, Highway watches her hurry on her way. Still absorbed in his musing about their relationship, he suddenly snaps out of his fugue as he sees her frantic glance down the road she is just crossing. As he tries to understand her fear, a car comes out of nowhere and hits her, killing her instantly. In his heart, Highway knows this is not an accident. Yet as the police follow their procedures, that is exactly what they are ruling it.

Unable to come to terms with her death, he becomes quite morose, drinking and planning but without a hope. As his best friend, Dave Willis shows up, he brings further news. Not only has Highways wife been killed but her client has also supposedly committed suicide. Because of his often-spirited conversations with his wife, he is sure he knows who is responsible. With his and his friend Willis’s background, he will be able to find and kill the man responsible. Someone must pay, in his life it is the only way.

What Highway finds is that there are others also in the fray. Those that are protecting the killer for his information, and yet others that are also on the trail of his death. Highway is drug into the middle of this war without a real understanding of who these groups are. They are government, possibly a part of Homeland Security, and yet on the other hand they may be the ones that are government sanctioned and yet not acknowledged. Even seeing a badge he does not believe, would he know what the badge should look like? When cornered Highway only does what he believes, but could it get him killed? Bodies are piling up, can he find the man responsible and make him pay, and yet save himself?

Springer has developed exceptional characters; he gives them both their weakness and their strengths and does not apologize. It is part of what give the story character and makes the characters more believable. Throughout the book, we follow Highway on his training to become a Seal, the in-depth and harrowing training that can either make or break a man. Few succeed and yet Highway is one of those that do.

We also find out more about why he is no longer in the program and the fight he had to save his life from something too small to see and yet more deadly than any other foe he would ever face. We get a remarkable look into the workings of different government entities and the possible groups that are only bantered about in rumor.

Will Highway find what he is looking for, and is vengeance really the answer. As bodies begin to pile up and Highway finds himself on the wrong end of certain factions, can his friend Willis help him to save the day?

This is a good solid suspense, with just enough background to keep you turning the pages. Full of action and danger, it is difficult to put down. Part of what I found so interesting were the passages that dealt with the Navy Seal training, it is quite torrid itself. If you are looking for a new hero, Highway may just fit the bill.

This book was received as a free copy from the Author. all opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material. show less

Highway to Vengeance by Brian Springer is a fast-paced and gripping action thriller. Well written and with a solid plot, it's a perfect read for long summer evenings with a cuppa coffee!

The protagonist of this story, Thomas Highway is an ex-Navy SEAL. He decided to join the Navy ranks after the 911 attacks, but was forced to drop out not long after finishing his training, due to a life-threatening health issue. The story starts with Thomas and his wife, Josie, having their weekly lunch at a show more BBQ place in San Diego. It's a beautiful, sunny day, the food was fantastic and everyone is in a great mood, especially Tom and Josie, who seem to be as in love with each other as ever. Everything is just perfect. After the meal they separate, as Josie has an important meeting at her office. She leaves first and Tom, still sitting at the restaurant's patio, is watching her cross the street. That's when everything comes tumbling down. From where he sits, Tom witnesses Josie being hit by a speeding car. She dies in his arms few minutes later. Highway is convinced that the so-called car accident wasn't an accident at all, but a deliberate murder. Devastated and desperate for vengeance, he's set on doing everything he can to find the person behind Josie's murder. With help from his best friend, Willis (who owns a Security and Investigations Company), Thomas will do whatever it takes to avenge his wife's death.

As he goes deeper into his investigation, he realizes that the murder of his wife is actually a conspiracy on a much bigger scale than he ever expected. Before he knows it, he's caught up in a situation involving Homeland Security, Mexican drug cartels, Weapons of Mass Destruction and a suspicious government agency intent on using him as a paw in their conspiracy game. Not knowing who to trust, Highway is going to have to make some tough choices. It will take everything he learned during his Navy SEAL training to get out of this alive.

Highway to Vengeance is a quick and pleasant read, which I enjoyed a lot, but would have enjoyed even more if it was a bit longer. I loved how gripping the story was and I definitely had a lot of fun with all the twists and turns in the plot, but at the same time I found myself wishing that the author would give us a little bit more insight into what was going on in Highway's head. It lacked the emotional depth. Don't get me wrong, the book really is a great piece of action thriller, packed with kick-ass adventures and life-threatening situations that will keep you on the edge of your chair, but I just couldn't get emotionally involved with it, as it didn't offer much of anything else but action. Nonetheless, Highway to Vengeance is no doubt a well-written and believable action thriller, with no loose ends. I liked the BUD/S training interludes, they made the whole thing a whole lot more interesting and dynamic.

Final verdict: It's a bad-ass story, that slams into you at full speed from the very start and takes you on a wild thrill ride. It tears along at breakneck speed, has plenty of obstacles, and the bad guys get what they deserve in the end. It might not be the most original story ever, after all vengeance is quite a popular subject in both movies and books, but it's definitely worth reading! show less

Interesting backstory to what promises to be a good series.