I only recently discovered Collins and the Quarry series. Like other readers I found these novels to be page-turners and I "could not put the book down," as they say - even though I was reading them online and I often fell asleep with the computer in my lap, rather than the pb book on my chest.
Loved Quarry from the first. I related very much to his violent temper and being constantly only one thought away from going into combat mode, much as I was during the first years after I got "back home" from Vietnam. Only for me there was no home to come to since I was on my own before. And I did not go into violence - or rarely - when provoked, but usually just let all the violent revenge at being treated with disrespect just happen inside my head.
But this novel, of the old Quarry, after he had already retired from his career of killing people who were "already dead," and certainly must be bad if they had done something to provoke someone to take a contract out on them, seemed like it was written by a writer who was already old and did not bother to think clearly, did not bother to do the necessary research to have the background in his head to use for the setting for his protagonist.
I mean in the scene where Quarry has the muscular young killer - a little taller than Quarry, same weight, but dumber - in his apartment with his 9 millimeter on him - he lets the guy kick the gun out of Quarry's hand.
No!. This could not happen in real life. I am sorry, but I found all the previous stories, the other 5 or 6 Quarry books believable; all the things Quarry was able to to do because he was luckier, smarter, prepared and more capable than the opponent, I could buy.
But to have let this guy throw a karate kick that Quarry did not anticipate, did not see coming..... C'Mon.
Anyone who works in any kind of profession that involves confrontations and fighting knows that you have got to be aware of the physical distance between you and your antagonist . All the time.
If the slow-witted, ex-Marine who had just murdered a young woman was standing close enough to Quarry to think about trying such a kick then Quarry had to shoot him or take a 1/2 step back.
Quarry had to make the dude sit on the couch or stand with his face to the wall while they talked.
He could not have gotten close enough to Quarry to be able to touch Quarry with one motion - no, not even a long, round-house kick.
Quarry would have - had to have - shot him when he thought about making the move to get to within striking distance.
What followed was silly. The killer, trained in the arts, attacked Quarry and Quarry just dodged the punches and kicks and slipped around until the fool wore himself out.
I know there are people in the world that are fast enough and skilled enough to do this. What training did Quarry have? Besides the basic combat training that we all had in boot camp and Infantry Training, Quarry used to swim. he swam. He did not do katas; he did not work out with weights; he did not punch his makiwara daily or spar with other P.I.'s. But he did kill people, sometimes with a knife or whatever was handy, usually with a gun - because he was too smart, lazy, mature, practical professional to waste time with that b.s.
Fine.
But not being into training and not working out did not make him faster than the professionals who did workout and pump iron and practice the martial arts.
Could Quarry really have been so much faster than his opponent that he really was able to avoid all those punches and kicks by just moving aside?
Quarry had his gun kicked out of his hand!. That proves he was not ready and not on top of things. He did not know how to judge distances and automatically maintain a "safe" distance , i.e. outside of his opponent's kicking range yet within the range of his own automatic.
This Quarry - the last Quarry - would not have made it through the first book alive.
Makes me think - how was he able to make it out of 'Nam alive ? not step on a landmine or let a kid get close enough to him with explosives taped onto his chest?
It makes me think that the writer really did not do enough research to really know of what he wrote.
And the next-to-last-scene, where Quarry shoots it out with those 6 professional security guys with sunglasses and walkie-talkie's? - it really was not necessary to shoot them all. He could have made the case that the boss was dead and there was no use in going through with this.
They could have walked away - just let it be.
Collins should have quit while he was ahead.
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JaketheDax
One of the better novels in the series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2017Dave
A decent ending to a series - even if more keep being written.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2016
